Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, and President of the Republic of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi launched the “milestone” Pemba-Lichinga Integrated Development Corridor on Saturday in Mozambique’s northern Niassa province.

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund, the African Development Bank Group’s concessional window, recently approved a $47.09-million grant for the first phase of the Development Corridor Group in December 2021.

This is part of the African Development Bank’s initiative for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones. These industrial zones are intended to develop cost-effective agro-processing hubs in agriculturally promising areas. The project is in line with Mozambique’s National Development Strategy, which aims to improve living conditions through structural reforms and economic diversification.

Mozambique’s President, Filipe Nyusi, stated that the project was part of the country’s five-year plan to boost economic growth, productivity, and job creation. Agriculture and industry, according to Nyusi, are the “catalyzing base” that will transform the economy and elevate it to middle-income status.

Despite security challenges, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the global economic downturn, these sectors had “reaffirmed their primacy in the mosaic of the country’s economic priorities,” he said.

The project will directly contribute to the implementation of Mozambique’s National Industrialization Program (PRONAI). It will build on a long list of African Development Bank infrastructure interventions in northern Mozambique, beginning with Niassa province, to unlock the agricultural potential of the Nacala corridor.

The project also aligns with the African Development Bank’s Mozambique Country Strategy Paper 2018-2022, with a focus on the northern provinces, as well as the Bank’s Feed Africa Strategy for agricultural transformation. Adesina, the bank’s CEO, called the project “an important milestone for Africa.”

“It is the first of many Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones that will be established across our continent to transform our abundant resources into massive wealth-generating opportunities.” Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones are at the heart of our ambition and strategy to transform Africa from a net importer to a net exporter of food in Mozambique and elsewhere in Africa. “If there was ever a time when we needed to drastically increase food production, it is now,” Adesina said.

He claimed that the conflict in Ukraine, a major food basket, posed a threat to global food and energy supplies. Wheat prices have risen by 62 percent since the start of the war.

The price of maize has increased by 36%. Soya bean prices have increased by 29%. In addition, the price of fertilizer, which is essential for food production, has increased by 300 percent.

“The potential repercussions are numerous…

“When you factor in rising energy costs in many African countries, rising inflation, and an African food crisis, you could see social unrest,” he said.

Adesina was accompanied by African Development Bank Acting Vice President, Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialization, Yacine Fal, and Director General for Southern Africa region, Leila Mokaddem, who attended the South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg last week.

The Pemba-Lichinga Integrated Development Corridor is expected to boost southern Africa’s production and productivity. It will improve agricultural commodity quality and strengthen value chains for soybeans, sesame, macadamia, potatoes, wheat, beans, maize, cotton, and poultry. It will also aid in the advancement of new technologies and storage facilities. At the farm level, Phase One is expected to employ approximately 30,000 people. At least half of these jobs will be held by women.