Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Italian government is to disburse €35 million for the construction of an agrarian food processing centre in Manica province , the ‘Centro Agroalimentar de Manica, (CAAM)’, in central Mozambique, an official source told Lusa yesterday.
“This is a very important collaboration in what we call an integrated food processing system that we are going to launch with Mozambique (…). There is €35 million to be invested in a food processing centre,” Italy’s Director General for Development Cooperation, Stefano Gatti, told Lusa in Maputo, moments after signing the agreement to implement the project with the Minister of Economy and Finance of Mozambique, Max Tonela.
The infrastructure, work on which is scheduled to start next year, will be built in the province of Manica, in central Mozambique, and, in addition to financial support, Italy will undertake the training of Mozambican staff involved in the initiative.
“This is the first step in a long-term collaboration in the food sector and its transformation, where we will bring to Mozambique the experience of Italy, which is considered a world power in this sector,” Stefano Gatti declared.
“Mozambique and Italy are not just partners. They are also brothers,” Gatti stressed, recalling Rome’s role in achieving the historic General Peace Agreement between the then Mozambican president, Joaquim Chissano, and the late leader of the Mozambican National Resistance ( Renamo), Afonso Dhlakama, signed in the Italian capital in 1992, marking the end of the 16-year civil war in the African country.
The Minister of Economy and Finance of Mozambique said that the initiative was among efforts the two governments were making to accelerate economic cooperation, a commitment made in July 2022, when the Italian head of state, Sergio Mattarella, visited the country.
“Thank you for this visit by the Italian delegation to Mozambique. In addition to this team, there is a much larger team that is also in Maputo, also involving the private sector. This initiative is part of measures that the two governments have been taking to strengthen existing historical relations,” Minister Tonela highlighted yesterday.
The Italian delegation, led by Stefano Gatti, will work in Mozambique until Wednesday.
In 2020, the date of the most recent official statistics, Italy was the main destination for exports from Mozambique to the European Union (EU), mainly comprising aluminium.
On the other side of the scale, Italy was the second EU member country (after Portugal) on the list of imports, supplying Mozambique mainly with chemical products and metal parts for infrastructure.
In the oil and gas sector, in November 2022, Italy’s Eni led the start of natural gas exploitation in the Rovuma basin, classified among the largest reserves in the world, through a floating platform anchored around 40 kilometres off Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique.
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