The World Bank has expressed its willingness to support the reconstruction of infrastructure and job creation in Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique, which has been plagued by armed violence since October 2017, the government said on Tuesday.
“The World Bank has encouraged and expressed its willingness to support the reconstruction of infrastructure and economic development activities and job creation for young people [in Cabo Delgado],” a press release from the office of Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, quoted the World Bank’s president, David Malpass, as having said during a virtual working meeting.
In addition to expressing his willingness to support Cabo Delgado province, Malpass congratulated Mozambique’s government on the steps it has taken to deal with the attacks, and suggested that it define “concrete projects” in the region to ensure that young people are involved.
The armed conflict in the province has so far seen at least 1,000 people killed, with responsibility for some of the attacks by armed groups having been claimed by the Islamic State group.
Also read: UN and Japan to support communities displaced by in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
According to the United Nations, the violence has forced 250,000 people to flee from unsafe districts in the north of the province.
In addition to the situation in Cabo Delgado, Malpass and Nyusi discussed the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the World Bank having said it is open to support the country, which has already recorded 2,411 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus that causes the disease and 16 deaths, according to the latest update.
“The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepening their partnership, with members of the Bank team saying they would continue interaction with the Government of Mozambique to intervene in concrete areas and programmes,” the statement concludes.
The latest World Bank support to Mozambique is in agriculture, where it has provided US$500M (€425M) to support the Sustenta project, which aims to integrate small farmers in the production value chain and increase their capacity.
Source: Lusa via Club of Mozambique