WASHINGTON, September 30, 2010 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved today four International Development Association (IDA) credits totaling US$143 million equivalent in support of the Government of Mozambique’s development projects. The funding will be utilized in the implementation of the following projects: Health Commodity Security Project (US$39 million); Spatial Development Planning Technical Assistance Project (US$20 million); and an additional financing for the Water Services and Institutional Support Project (US$34 million); as well as a second financing for the Maputo Municipal Development Program (US$50 million).
“I’m pleased to witness the approval of these credits; two of which are additional resources to scale up, expand, and broaden the scope and activities of ongoing IDA financing in water and Maputo municipal development, which attests of IDA’s commitment to the country’s long-term development goals,” said Mr. Olivier Godron, Acting Country Director for Mozambique, Angola, São-Tomé and Príncipe, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. “The two other financing, namely for spatial development and health sector, propose to tackle new challenges such as supporting the Government of Mozambique improve its spatial planning capacities, through better coordination of existing and planned investments to avoid the risks of negative competition for resources, misuse and/or under-use of limited infrastructure resources and services. Our support for the health sector will tackle important bottlenecks, especially the system of acquisition and distribution of drugs and other medical supplies country wide.”
These financing will specifically support the Government of Mozambique with the following:
- The Additional Financing for the Water Services and Institutional Support (WASIS) Project will seek to increase water service coverage in the cities of Beira, Nampula, Quelimane, and Pemba under a delegated management framework in place. This financing will enable the Government of Mozambique to increase the developmental impact of WASIS by scaling-up current investments and restructure the project to finance similar investments in an additional nine cities and towns, which will further enhance the impact of the project. Additionally, this financing will be utilized to strengthen capacity of local operators as well as support investments such as the construction of approximately 355 kilometers of network and 25,150 new connections in 11 of the country’s largest cities; the construction of approximately 60 kilometers of network and 5,000 new connections in two smaller cities; and institutional strengthening for the various water sector and regulatory institutions.
- The Second Maputo Municipal Development Program Project will increase the coverage and quality of Maputo Municipality's services to its citizens by continuing to strengthen its institutional and financial capacities. Specifically, it will strengthen municipal capacity to deliver services in response to citizen demand by addressing two sorts of constraints: limited technical and administrative capacity to carry out municipal functions; and governance constraints which limit responsiveness and accountability of municipality. The project will support actions towards ensuring the financial sustainability of the Maputo Municipal Council, including raising revenues and rationalizing expenditures with the support of an integrated financial management system. Other support includes urban planning activities to ensure equitable and sustainable management of municipal land through improvements in land administration procedures; the establishment of a geographic information system and modest neighborhood improvements; urban infrastructure investments and maintenance to ensure the construction and maintenance of key municipal transport and drainage infrastructures; and bringing a metropolitan approach to the provision of selected municipal services, namely urban transport and solid waste management.
- The Health Commodity Security Project will seek to improve the availability of selected drugs and medical supplies in key distribution points in the recipient's territory. The project will finance the procurement of much-needed selected essential commodities to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS (anti-retrovirals and diagnostic test kits), malaria (Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets), TB (drugs and reagents), and promote reproductive (contraceptives) and child health (vaccines). The project will also strengthen the distribution system between the central, provincial, and district warehouses. It will finance: (i) trucks to deliver commodities from the provincial warehouses to the district warehouses; (ii) technical assistance to prepare and implement fleet management plans; and (iii) distribution costs from the port to the district warehouses. The component will also support the computerization of the logistics management system in 70 districts by financing computer hardware. This project is financed under the pilot Crisis Response Window (CRW) of the World Bank, which was recently approved (December 10, 2009) by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors to help countries mitigate the impact of the financial crisis.
- The Spatial Development Planning Technical Assistance Project will seek to improve national social and economic development planning through the introduction, institutionalization and mainstreaming of multi-sectoral spatial development planning methodologies and practices. It will specifically seek to strengthen and develop capacities of the coordination commission for studies and projects at the Ministry of Transports and Communications; implement south-south cooperation schemes; and introduce cross-cutting institutional development programs. It will also support the development of six actual spatial development initiatives.
These projects are consistent with both the Government’s own priorities set forth in its poverty alleviation strategy (PARPA 2) and with World Bank’s 2008-2011 Country Partnership Strategy for Mozambique.
