The Italian government will provide a total of 38 million euros (2.3 billion meticals) to boost activity in the province of Manica, in the central region of the country, by building an agricultural centre for food processing.
According to a Further Africa publication, the governments of the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday 8 July to make this initiative a reality and, on the occasion, Italy’s Director General for Cooperation and Development, Stefano Gatti, described this collaboration as very important, as it will bring new advances to the sector with appropriate technology.
“As well as funding the construction of the centre, the Italian government will support the training of agricultural staff, and this is the first step in a long-term collaboration in which we will bring our experience in food production and processing to Mozambique,” he said.
For his part, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, said that the initiative was part of the efforts being made by the two governments to speed up economic cooperation, a commitment made in July 2022, when the Italian head of state, Sergio Mattarela, visited Mozambique.
“We appreciate this visit by the Italian delegation. This initiative is part of the measures we have been taking to strengthen existing historical relations,” he emphasised.
In 2020, Italy was the main destination for Mozambique’s exports to the European Union (EU), consisting mainly of aluminium.
In the oil sector, in November 2022, Italy’s Eni led the start of natural gas exploration in the Rovuma Basin reserves, classified among the largest in the world, through a floating platform stationed around 40 kilometres off the coast of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique.
