By Jorge Joaquim
The US Millennium Challenge Corporation approved a $500 million programme for its latest ‘Compact’ with Mozambique on Wednesday, following a memorandum signed with the government in Washington in January.
The Mozambique Connectivity and Coastal Resilience Compact will focus on the development of Zambezia province, combining resilient transport infrastructure, green and blue economy opportunities, and policy and institutional reforms.
In Mozambique, two-thirds of the population resides along the coast, which is impacted by frequent and increasingly intense cyclones, flooding, and natural disasters that overwhelm local transport networks, large and small-scale agriculture, community opportunity, and societal cohesion.
It is MCC’s second compact with Mozambique; the last one, concluded in 2013, invested in water and sanitation, land tenure, transportation, and agriculture for the provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Zambezia.
