The World Bank has disbursed 339 million meticals (5.3 million dollars) to strengthen the private sector in three of the country’s provinces , Radio Moçambique (RM) reported on Wednesday, 30 October .
To this end, grant agreements were signed on Tuesday (29) in the city of Tete, under the third edition of the Catalytic Innovation and Demonstration Fund.
The organisation says that the amount is intended for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the agribusiness, auto mechanics, construction, commerce, hospitality and tourism value chain in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Tete.
According to RM, the aim of the financing line is to establish a business market link between the private sector and the major projects taking place in the country, as part of the ‘Conecta Negócios’ programme, implemented by the Zambezi Agency.
When the contracts were signed, the director general of the Zambezi Valley Agency, Roberto Albino, said that the memorandum aims to make small and medium-sized enterprises self-sufficient with the capacity to increase production and create more jobs.
Recently, the DE reported that the World Bank is supporting an audit aimed at strengthening the management of procurement processes in 22 Mozambican municipalities. The initiative is part of the Urban Development and Decentralisation Project (PDUL), a partnership between the World Bank and the state, which aims to improve service delivery and strengthen the institutional capacity of the selected municipalities.
According to the Ministry of State Administration and Civil Service, the audit will cover public procurement activities carried out by the Project Management Unit (PMU) at central level, as well as all procurement processes funded under the Municipal Development Grants (SDM), conducted by the Procurement Executive Management Units (UGEA) of the 22 municipalities audited in the 2021 fiscal year.