The Mozambican government is to receive more than US$49 million (352 million meticais) for sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene management programmes from the Netherlands and Italy’s development cooperation agency.
Three memoranda of understanding have been signed between the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources (MOPHRH), the municipality of Maputo, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.
According to Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, João Machatine, the agreement with the Kingdom of the Netherlands aims at institutional capacity building in the Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Administration (AIAS) and supporting water supply system operators.
The agreement signed with the municipality of Maputo aims to improve municipal sanitation services, while the MoU signed with the Italian development agency materialises a financing agreement for the Barrio de Chamanculo C requalification programme.
“The deals total US$49,250,000,” Minister Machatine reported, saying they would guarantee access to water for the 64% of the population who are struggling with supply. In addition to the provision of water, the agreements will promote sanitation and hygiene improvements.
Of the US$49 million, approximately US$25 million will be made available by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, under a five-year programme.
Netherlands Ambassador to Mozambique Henny de Vries explained that part of the amount would be allocated to schools, and some to Cabo Delgado, to cover the sanitation and hygiene needs of victims of terrorism.
“We hope to provide 157,000 people with access to water, 186,000 people with access to sanitation and 60,000 students with access to water,” De Vries said.
The director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Ginevra Letizia, foresees more than US$19 million in financing for the integrated requalification of Maputo’s Barrio de Chamanculo C neighbourhood.
“In the coming years, we will extend our commitments to the sustainable development of the disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Maputo, through a rainwater drainage system initiative, the paving of urban roads, and the construction of new housing units,” Letizia said, adding that the agreement signed complemented the intergovernmental agreement struck in November 2019.
One of the major beneficiaries of the agreements signed this Monday is Maputo municipality, whose mayor, Eneas Comiche, is committed to transforming the country’s capital and attracting private investment through the construction of access and drainage facilities.
“We believe that the conditions are being created to face with more confidence the challenges arising from demographic growth, aging infrastructure, urban planning and the provision of water services and structures resilient to climate change,” he detailed.
The agreements were signed within the scope of ‘World Water Day’, marked on Monday (22-03) under the motto “Saving Water, Saving Lives.”
