MOZAMBIQUE – Following the successful flagging off of Nigeria’s first phase of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SPAZ), the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a US$47.09 million grant for the first phase of Mozambique’s SPAZ’s project.
To be established at Pemba-Lichinga Integrated Development Corridor in Niassa province, the project is part of the Agro-Industrial Processing Zones that the developmental bank seeks to establish in 18 African countries.
Being a flagship of the bank’s Feed Africa Strategy, the zones will enable agricultural producers, processors, aggregators, and distributors to operate in the same vicinity to reduce transaction costs and share business development services for increased productivity and competitiveness.
Coupled with bringing adequate infrastructure (energy, water, roads, ICT, etc.) to rural areas of high agricultural potential, SAPZs will attract investments from private agro-industrialists/entrepreneurs to contribute to the economic and social development of rural areas.
In Mozambique, the grant will help improve agricultural productivity and agribusiness development in the Niassa province by advancing institutional capacity, skills, and entrepreneurship to spur agricultural value chain growth.
The project will pilot improved policy and development coordination between the Niassa province and national departments, especially with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The initiative is in line with the Mozambique National Development Strategy 2015-2035, which seeks to improve the living conditions of the population through structural transformation of the economy and expansion and diversification of the production base.
It is consistent with the concerted efforts of the international community to support Mozambique to promote inclusive economic growth and peacebuilding in the north.
The project also aligns with the African Development Bank’s Country Strategy Paper 2018-2022 for Mozambique, with a focus on the northern provinces, and the Bank’s Feed Africa Strategy for agriculture transformation.
Commenting on the Board’s approval, Mozambique’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Carlos Mesquita, described the project as a “game-changer” that would transform the economy, promote social inclusion and foster peace by tackling important industry enabling factors such as infrastructure for development.
African Development Bank Country Manager for Mozambique, Cesar Augusto Mba Abogo, highlighted the importance of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones as a shared facility to enable agricultural producers, processors, aggregators and distributors to operate in the same neighborhood to reduce transaction costs, share business development services and increase productivity and competitiveness.
“SAPZs can promote the participation of small producers in value chains and value addition, thus offering an inclusive development model,” he stated.
The project will build on a long list of Bank interventions in northern Mozambique to provide infrastructure and unlock the agricultural potential of the host corridor.
The most recent of these Bank-supported projects are the N13 Cuamba-Muíta and the N14 Montepuez-Ruaca roads linking the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa.
Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE
