Mozambique has been granted US $1.2million from African Development Bank (ADB) and the Italian Technical Cooperation Fund to help small agro-processing enterprises boost production and quality control.
Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations (CTA), President Agostinho Vuma, spoke durng the grant signing ceremony and said the funds will be channelled under a program implemented by them set to help businesses enter into the national and continental markets and capitalise on the opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Agricultural modernisation
About 300 businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises led by women and young people operating along the Nacala, Beira and Pemba-Lichinga development corridors will benefit from the program. The project will address one of the major problems faced by small scale producers and processors who wish to trade beyond their local markets which is their lack of certification. According to the Italian ambassador to Mozambique, Gianni Bardini, it will act as a catalyst to extend the private sector which has “a huge and largely untapped potential”.
“we are pleased to partner with the CTA and the government of Italy to support Mozambican small and medium-sized enterprises recover from the Covid pandemic and scale up their competitiveness, as part of the ADB’s commitment to help industrialise Mozambique and Africa,” said to Pietro Toigo, the ADB representative in Mozambique.
Mozambique’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Carlos Mesquita, welcomed the initiative, stressing its catalytic role in promoting Mozambique’s agricultural modernisation and the industrialisation of critical sectors of the economy.
