AfricaPress-mozambique: The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a loan of US$1 million to increase local content and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mozambique, the bank announced in a statement sent to Lusa.
“The loan is funded by the Multidonor Fund for Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which will provide technical and institutional assistance to the Institute for the promotion of small and medium enterprises (IPEME) for the direct support of ‘startups’ and SMEs, with a particular focus on businesses led by young people and women,” the note sent to Lusa read.
The main objective of this loan is to “facilitate the connection between these initiatives and large companies, including public entities and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)”, it adds.
This initiative is in line with the bank’s core objective of supporting private sector development in Africa, including by promoting local entrepreneurship, developing value chains and supporting SMEs, which represent the vast majority of Africa’s business fabric,” said the ADB vice president in charge of Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation, Solomon Quaynor.
The project now announced will support over 150 local companies, facilitating access to knowledge and certification, contracts with larger companies and funding from local financial institutions, said the director of the ADB in Mozambique, Pietro Toigo, concluding: “These partnerships demonstrate the strong commitment of the government to support national companies, communities and job creation, particularly in the north of the country.
