Mozambique: Prime Minister Malaysian praises the partnership of the African Development Bank Group during the visit of Bank Vice-President Akin-Olugbade and team | African Development Bank Group

Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane has strongly endorsed the African Development Bank’s development strategy in his country. Malaysian received the bank’s vice president for regional development, integration and business delivery, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, in his office on Thursday. to make its initiatives more humane.

Akin-Olugbade’s courtesy visit to the Prime Minister is part of a six-day official visit to Mozambique. She was accompanied by the Group’s Director General for Southern Africa, Leïla Mokaddem and Country Manager for Mozambique, Cesar Augusto Mba Abogo.

Akin-Olugbade praised the Mozambican government for implementing several reforms that have helped maintain the country’s stability, and for demonstrating “strong resilience in the face of exogenous shocks such as climate change, Covid-19, conflict and terrorism .”

Earlier on Thursday, Akin-Olugbade and her team met with development partners and some members of the diplomatic corps in Maputo to discuss joint support for Mozambique. Partners included representatives from the World Bank, the French development agency (AFD)the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the European Union, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, KfW, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) participated in the meeting .

The African Development Bank team also held meetings with private sector groups and government. Talks with Economy and Finance Minister Max Elias Tonela on Wednesday focused on the implementation of the African Development Bank’s recently approved country strategy for Mozambique for the period 2023-2028.

Tonela welcomed the new Country Strategy Paper and its alignment with the Mozambican government’s medium and long-term strategies for the economy and private sector development. He said both strategies focused on job creation and sustainable social development.

Tonela commented: “This strategy stands ready to strongly support Mozambique in implementing crucial economic reforms, enabling the country to realize its enormous potential and achieve a positive economic outlook. It will serve as a robust framework in our partnership to drive tangible growth and capitalize on the abundant opportunities ahead.”

Abogo, Country Manager of the African Development Bank, said: “With this country
Strategy Paper, we aim to maintain our signature as a strategic reference partner for both the government of Mozambique and other development partners, such as the African Development Bank, supporting this country in meeting the challenge of achieving inclusive and sustainable growth.”

One of the African Development Bank funded projects the team visited was Agricultural value chain and youth empowerment project. It is a project that supports young farmers and their communities by providing horticulture, irrigation and livestock-related infrastructure. After the visit, Akin-Olugbade noted that peace and security are essential for sustainable economic development.

She said: “Conflict and violence undermine progress and have detrimental consequences in the long run. Addressing these issues is critical to promoting inclusive growth and sustainable development.”

The African Development Bank’s Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery complex – which Akin-Olugbade manages – oversees the bank’s $30 billion portfolio and lending in its five regional hubs. It provides strategic leadership in the Bank’s work on fragility and regional integration.

Mokaddem said the visit was an appropriate time to recognize Mozambique’s important position in the Bank’s ongoing innovative initiatives.

She said: “We have such examples as the [Bank’s] Security Indexed Investment Bond, the Dakar 2 Food Summit, and support for the elimination of Zimbabwe’s delinquent debt through its ongoing platform for structured dialogue with the country’s creditors and development partners.” She added that this is a process facilitated by former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano.

The African Development Bank has been active in Mozambique for more than 45 years, with investments in the country of up to $3.6 billion. It has allocated more than half of these resources over the past ten years.

Mozambique is a key focus of the African Development Bank’s several flagship initiatives for the transformation of Africa, including the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones program.

The African Development Bank’s current country portfolio for Mozambique is worth $1.21 billion and is the second largest in the southern region. It includes 29 projects in the energy, transport, agriculture and social and economic governance sectors.

The Vice President of the Bank and her team will visit Mozambique until Friday 7 July.