EU gives Mozambique $117m aid for health, education
Wednesday November 04 2020
This handout photo taken and released by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) on February 26, 2020, shows a child collecting plastic bottles next to a house destroyed by cyclone Idai in 2019, in the Praia Nova neighbourhood in Beira, Mozambique. PHOTO | KAREL PRINSLOO | UNCDF | AFP
The European Union (EU) has granted Mozambique €100 million ($117.2 million) aid to go towards education, social action and health in a two-year programme.
The deal was signed in Maputo on Monday.
The funds will also help the southern African country mitigate the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As of November 2, Mozambique had recorded 13,130 Covid-19 cases, 94 deaths and 10,439 recoveries. So far the country has tested 191, 353 people.
Mozambique has a population of 28 million people.
It is one of the poorest states in the world and ranks 180th on the UN Human Development Index out of 188 countries.
The EU suspended aid to Mozambique in 2016 over hidden debts but has resumed giving help because of the coronavirus pandemic, EU ambassador to Maputo, António Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar, said.
He added that the accord has terms of transparency and monitoring of the money.
In 2016, the EU, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank suspended financial aid to Mozambique after the country’s authorities admitted their failure to disclose external debt in excess of $1 billion.
Last year, the IMF said it was willing to discuss resumption of financial aid.