Mozambique and Madagascar are set to receive support from World Bank for development programmes, while Zambia is also one of the African countries whose agricultural sector will be supported in mitigating the impact of climate change,
The World Bank’s program would provide USD 60 million to help the agricultural sector in Africa cope with climate change. At a time when the pandemic has threatened agriculture and food supply, the International Development Association (IDA), part of the World Bank Community, has issued a grant aimed at fulfilling the Bank’s pledge to CGIAR, a global food security organization.
Accordingly, the bank has launched Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa project (AICCRA) a programme which will provide information and technology to Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia.
In a statement, Deborah Wetzel, the bank’s director of regional integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Northern Africa, said: “Knowledge generation and technology transfer are deserving of IDA regional support because the benefits flow across national boundaries and therefore are unlikely to be supported adequately by individual governments acting alone.”
MOZAMBIQUE DEVELOPMENT
On 10 December, the bank approved a USD 100 million grant from the IDA to support Mozambique’s urban transformation project in Maputo.
The project is developing urban infrastructure, including the construction of a first sanitary landfill to replace an existing site, and municipal reform, including the planning of an urban district earmarked for future development. The funding will also support measures to offset the economic impact of Covid-19.
Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, the World Bank’s country director for Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles, said: “This investment will ultimately contribute to harnessing the role of Maputo as the country’s economic powerhouse by investing in urban infrastructure and services while supporting critical reforms to ensure that urbanization in Maputo can contribute to economic growth, poverty reduction, and structural transformation.”
André Herzog, the senior urban specialist and task team leader explained: “Urbanisation has not benefited everyone equally in Maputo as the city has expanded informally, without effective urban planning and the necessary investments in basic infrastructure and land tenure security.”
A Mozambican natural gas project received USD 20 billion in financing from international investors earlier this year.
The country received African Development Bank funding for Covid-19 support in July.
MADAGASCAR SUPPORT
The urban development of Antananarivo, Madagascar, will also receive USD 50 million in credit from the IDA. The bank approved the finance to cover a gap in funding created by the need to put resources into fighting Covid-19.
World Bank country manager for Madagascar, Marie-Chantal Uwanyiligira said the loan will ensure continuity in the urban development operation, “an important project for urban development that is more necessary than ever to better protect the population and strengthen their resilience to future shocks”.
The IDA is also providing a USD 33 million credit to the Madagascan Integrated Growth Poles and Corridor Sop-2 Project which supports, among other things, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism and agribusiness industries.
“The tourism sector has been hardest hit by the pandemic in Madagascar,” said Uwanyiligira.
Earlier this year, the World Bank committed USD 100 million to human capital in the country.
