Maputo — The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has invested around 300 million US dollars in Mozambique since the country joined the institution in 1995, according to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane.
Speaking at a Maputo press conference on Saturday, held to announce that the 40th annual meeting of the Saudi Arabia-based IDB will take place in the Mozambican capital on Wednesday, Maleiane said that currently 22 IDB-funded projects are under way, valued at over 160 million dollars.
IDB investment is concentrated in agriculture, education (particularly vocational education), health and water supply.
“These are areas which, taken together, contribute towards improving the country’s Human Development Index”, said Maleiane.
IDB chairperson Ahmad Mohamed Ali promised the press conference that the bank will continue to invest in priority areas in Mozambique.
“We want Mozambique to be the point of entry for the IDB group in southern Africa”, he said.The IDB has 56 member states, mostly Moslem-majority countries. 23 of the members are African, but Mozambique is the only member in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region.The IDB is dominated by Saudi Arabia, which holds 23.5 per cent of the shares.Mozambique’s shareholding in the bank is a mere 0.05 per cent. Copyright © 2015 […]