Mozambique: Post-election disturbances cost CFM €14 million
EUR 202.5 million cooperation between Portugal and Mozambique up to 2021
11:54 CAT | 07 Nov 2017
Lusa / Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nyeleti Mondlane and Portuguese Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Teresa Ribeiro (L)
The new Strategic Cooperation Programme between Portugal and Mozambique is budgeted at EUR 202.5 million, about half of which relates to preferential credit, it was announced yesterday in Maputo.
In addition to support for traditional sectors such as education and health, special attention is given to “investment and trade,” said Teresa Ribeiro, Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
Secretary of State Ribeiro and her Mozambican counterpart, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nyeleti Mondlane, adressed the press after signing the document.
Mozambican Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nyeleti Mondlane highlighted the EUR 102.5 million credit channelled through the Portuguese Business Cooperation Fund and the Portuguese Investment Support Fund in Mozambique.
The credit has more favourable interest, grace period and amortisation characteristics than those offered in the commercial market.
Deputy Minister Mondlane lauded Portugal’s “firm and consistent” contribution to the Mozambican state, even in the most challenging moments of the Portuguese economic crisis, describing political relations between the two countries as “excellent”.
The signing of the new Strategic Cooperation Programme comes after the donor group to the Mozambican state budget, including Portugal, suspended support in 2016 following the hidden debt scandal.
Teresa Ribeiro said that this did not interfere with the preparation of the programme signed yesterday. Direct support to the state budget is a separate issue “under consideration” by a number of donors, she said.
Nyeleti Mondlane also highlighted Portugal’s role in the formation of “human capital” in Mozambique, particularly in education and Portuguese language teaching. In this respect, freedom of movement between Portuguese-speaking countries is a matter that worth further discussion, she added.
Source: Lusa
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