The Government of Mozambique, the African Development Bank Group, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a multi-partner project designed to restore livelihoods, stimulate economic growth, and strengthen peace in northern Mozambique.
The Resilient Investment for Socio-Economic Empowerment, Peace and Security (RISE-PS) Project targets the districts of Palma and Ancuabe in Cabo Delgado province, where years of insecurity have disrupted local economies and displaced thousands of people.
The initiative is financed through a $28 million blended investment package, including $17 million from the African Development Bank's Transition Support Facility, $4.2 million from UNDP, $2.4 million from the Government of Germany, $3.1 million from private sector partners, and $1.3 million as counterpart funding from the Government of Mozambique. Implementation will be led by the Northern Integrated Development Agency, with support from the UNDP.
The project is expected to directly benefit around 24,000 youth, half of them women, along with more than 3,000 female-headed households, and over 7,300 local enterprises. Indirectly, improved infrastructure, employment opportunities and investment flows are expected to benefit the wider population of Cabo Delgado, estimated at 2.74 million people, and the broader northern region of 11.6 million residents.
"The establishment of relevant infrastructure is fundamental to attracting SMEs, stimulating private investment, and generating employment opportunities for young people and women," said Mozambique's Minister of Planning and Development, Salim Cripton Valá, speaking at the launch ceremony.
The project will support 108 private-sector partnerships to create structured youth internship opportunities and provide technical and soft-skills training. It will also develop a climate-smart SME Village in Afungi, and attract up to 100 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to newly developed industrial and serviced facilities.
RISE-PS will prioritise young women in conflict-affected districts through targeted vocational training; grants for women-led businesses; support for women's participation in priority value chains; and the promotion of women's leadership in community decision-making.
African Development Bank Group Country Manager for Mozambique, Rômulo Cunha Corrêa, said: "The RISE-PS project is a timely and transformative intervention designed to address the complex drivers of fragility in Northern Mozambique. By focusing on institutional capacity, resilient societies, and private investment, we are supporting economic recovery and giving approximately 24,000 young people and women a reason to believe in their future."
UNDP Resident Representative Edo Stork said the initiative marks a shift from emergency stabilisation toward sustainable development. "UNDP is proud to support RISE-PS as a programme that strengthens local resilience, expands economic opportunities, and ensures that peacebuilding underpins development," he said, highlighting the partnership between UNDP, ADIN, the African Development Bank Group, and private sector stakeholders.
On the sidelines of the launch, Minister Valá hosted a high-level roundtable aimed at accelerating transformative investments in northern Mozambique. Speaking at the event, Yero Baldeh, Director of the African Development Bank's Transition States Coordination Office, said the initiative reflects the Bank's commitment to leveraging its Transition Support Facility to catalyse private sector investments in fragile contexts. He noted that the Peace and Security Hub, piloted under RISE-PS, could be replicated in other fragile regions across Africa to mobilise impact investment for peacebuilding and resilience.
Ahead of the launch, the African Development Bank, ADIN, and UNDP convened a three-day Technical Induction Workshop at the Ministry of Planning and Development. The workshop aligned partners on governance structures, environmental and social safeguards, procurement standards, monitoring and evaluation systems, and risk-management protocols.
View the launch event photos here.
