Crisis in Renamo: Party insists in not acknowledging the downfall
Nyusi and Marcelo @ EurAfrican Forum: A conversation between presidents – Photos
5:19 CAT | 05 Jul 2019
Photo: Presidency of the Republic of Mozambique
Mozambique’s President Nyusi said yesterday in Lisbon that Mozambique saw post-cyclone reconstruction as an ideal opportunity to restructure towns and cities which were permanently vulnerable because of their geographic location, making them more resilient and improving access.
At the recently held Beira International Pledging Conference, the Mozambican government managed to raise US$1.2 billion of the US$3.2 billion listed as the total needed for rebuilding the affected areas.
President Nyusi was talking with Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in a EurAfrican Forum panel, ‘A Conversation Between Presidents: Two Voices Overview for the Future of EU-AF’, during the two-day event, which ends in Lisbon today.
Filipe Nyusi explained that, when the Beira pledging conference was held, the Mozambican government was already aware that it would not raise enough money for its total needs, which is why it was continuing to work to make up the deficit.
The international community [support] aside, President Nyusi said that one way to raise money was to look within Mozambique, notably by increasing production and productivity, and improving the potential of the agricultural sector.
“We presented our potential at the Portugal-Mozambique business forum. Many people like to talk about natural gas, but I don’t, because we were already living without gas. It is an asset, a blessing. But we have arable land and we need to find more appropriate ways to manage water in the rainy season and during the dry season,” President Nyusi said.
Mozambique will have to better exploit tourism, another source of revenue, as well as its mineral resources, especially coal and graphite, and the sea, which also offers enormous potential for wealth generation.
As well as reconstruction itself, the country was considering creating a disaster fund as a form of insurance to prepare for future extreme weather events, Mozambique being located in a natural disaster high-risk zone.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa applauded the idea of establishing a sovereign fund fed by revenue from the exploitation of natural resources, including gas, with funds applied in productive areas, as happens in other countries.
Rebelo de Sousa also praised Nyusi’s leadership in efforts to establish peace.
President Nyusi said that the objectives of his visit to Portugal, namely the consolidation of economic diplomacy, had been achieved through the presence of more than 80 businesspeople from all sectors, who participated in the meeting and in meetings with representatives of Portuguese companies for discussion of specific issues.
Another positive was the announcement by the Portuguese Government of the creation of a public-private fund worth more than 1.5 million Euros to finance the reconstruction of businesses affected by cyclones Idai and Kenneth.
“We attended the EurAfrican Forum, where we had the opportunity to explain to the Portuguese and the world what is being done in the post-cyclone period, and once again we appeal for the additional support needed,” President Nyusi concluded.
- The EurAfrican Forum is an action-oriented gathering of leaders that aims to foster stronger collaboration between Europe and Africa to promote a shared green and inclusive growth for the two continents, fostering mechanisms for collaboration and creating new synergies and partnerships. Under the theme “Partnership of Equals: Sharing Values, Sharing Prosperity”, the 2019 Forum focused on common challenges, changing relationships, aiming to create fresh opportunities, showcasing examples of progress and inspiring transformation for a shared prosperous and sustainable common future of Europe and Africa.
Source: Noticias
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