Mozambique: EU hails country as ‘priority’ in Africa; €217m more aid committed

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Mozambique: EU hails country as ‘priority’ in Africa; €217m more aid committed

10:27 CAT | 08 Mar 2019

Photo: Twitter / @stefanomanservisi

A senior European Commission official said on Thursday in Maputo that Mozambique is a priority for the European Union’s aid to Africa, notably in economic growth and combating Unemployment.

Stefano Manservisi, the commission’s director-general of international cooperation and development, was speaking in Maputo after the signing of four conventions on finance for the country, totalling €217 million, intended to promote trade, biodiversity, agribusiness, transport and the rehabilitation of access roads.

“Mozambique is in a high position in the heart and on the agenda of European Union cooperation,” he said, adding that Mozambique, like some other African countries, is not only a partner but an ally, with which the EU wants to seal a pact for growth and development.

“An alliance is more than a relationship, it is a friendship [with] common thought and action, for common progress,” said the director-general.

In turn, Mozambique’s minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, José Pacheco, cited the latest agreement as further proof that the EU is a key partner for the country’s social and economic development.

“It is undeniable that the European Union has been an important partner of the government in its economic development efforts,” Pacheco said.

The bilateral relationship, he went on, has been reflected in a wide range of areas: good governance, agriculture, infrastructure, energy, water supply, sanitation and culture.

The funding, under the EU’s PROMOVE programme, takes the form of grants, aimed at provinces of Nampula, in northern Mozambique, and Zambézia, in the centre, in which a combined 40% of the country’s population lives.

Source: Lusa