Nampula and Zambézia are priorities, says EU ambassador

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Nampula and Zambézia are priorities, says EU ambassador

10:07 CAT | 09 Jul 2019

The European Union regards the northern province of Nampula and the central province of Zambezia as priorities in its cooperation with Mozambique, declared the EU ambassador, Antonio Sanchez-Benedito, on Monday.

Speaking in Nampula city after an audience granted by the provincial governor, Victor Borges, Sanchez-Benedito said “We have a very important package for interventions in Nampula and Zambezia”. Although the rural development programmes supported by the EU cover the entire country, “in the case of these two provinces, the sum involved is 325 million euros (about 365 million US dollars)”.

The EU ambassador said these two provinces (which account for about 40 per cent of the total Mozambican population) were chosen, not only for the enormous challenges they pose, but also because of the opportunities they offer for development.

“Efforts for rural development in these two provinces face very important challenges in terms of poverty and malnutrition, and they are the most populous provinces in the country”, Sanchez-Benedito added. “There are also huge opportunities, since they are the granary of Mozambique, with a developing agriculture. We want to support these processes with a package of intervention that we call Promove”.

According to the ambassador, these interventions cover rural roads, electrification, agribusiness, nutrition, biodiversity and trade. “The time period depends on each of the interventions”, he said. “What we are launching right now is for between four and five years”.

Sanchez-Benedito also announced that the EU has made 25 million euros for the rehabilitation of he Nacala Corridor, connecting the port of Nacala to Malawi, via Nampula and Niassa provinces. The Corridor, he said, “has a strategic importance in connecting with the countries of the interior”.

Sanchez-Benedito did not rule out the possibility of EU funding for the road from Nametil to Angoche, on the Nampula coast.

Currently the 72 kilometre stretch of road between Nampula City and Nametil is being paved. “We are also studying the possibility of financing the Nametil-Angoche road”, Sanchez-Benedito said, “to complete the road network in this region, since we know how important it is”.

Source: AIM