Mozambique suffers from a familiar paradox: a relatively rich resource base, but very low living standards. The civil war and more recent floods have contributed to this delay in development, but peace and stability in the region have already raised prospects considerably. The country has considerable potential for development, particularly in tourism, agricultural production and sustainable use of natural resources. These assets suggest that the rich resource base - low living standards paradox can be addressed in the coming years.
Tourism Promotion
AKDN has also made a number of investments to assist Mozambique’s economy gain momentum. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) has invested in the tourism infrastructure, through the purchase of the current Polana Serena Hotel, Maputo in 2002.
Built in 1922 and affectionately referred to as the Grande Dame of Maputo, the hotel evokes the grand past while combining everything expected from a five-star establishment today. Since 2002, AKFED has invested in a restoration programme, incorporating improvements, upgrades and enhancements, using the best local artisans and artisans in the restoration of the hotel, its guest rooms and conference facilities.
Textile factory
Another IPS project is Moztex S.A, a textile garment factory producing t-shirts, polo shirts, shirts, trousers, etc. for the regional and global markets. Nearly 1,700 people have gone through the in-house training programmes since 2008. Today, the Company employs over 500 employees, of which 90% are women.
Infrastructure
Similarly, IPS has invested in SEACOM, which launched Africa’s first broadband subsea cable system along the eastern and southern coastlines in 2009, bringing with it a vast supply of high quality and affordable Internet bandwidth. Connecting South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya to the Middle East & Europe, SEACOM’s cable system also connects inland countries such as Uganda & Rwanda.
Since then, SEACOM has moved beyond being a cable operator to become a major pan-African service provider, offering a full suite of resilient and scalable data services that allow Africa’s growing ICT community to develop and evolve.
The SEACOM Business division leverages this infrastructure and last-mile partnerships to provide the African enterprise market with best-in-class connectivity and Cloud services at highly competitive prices. Its offerings include fibre Internet access with options ranging from 25Mbps up to 1Gbps. For more information, visit http://seacom.mu/
Crafts are an important income source in Cabo Delgado and since 2006 AKF has worked to help artisans improve the design and quality of their work. With funding support from the Government of Canada, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) works with almost 500 artisans and 28 associations.
These partners are members of the Union of Artisans of Cabo Delgado (UACAD), created in 2008 with AKF support. The union provides services including channeling orders, bulk sales, marketing and contracts to its members. AKF is currently working to foster partnerships and clarify roles between UACAD and crafts groups so that UACAD can operate independently of AKF as it organises fairs, sales and orders.
People in Cabo Delgado have very limited opportunities to save and borrow and therefore find it difficult to protect or accumulate assets. To address this gap, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) mobilised over 300 community based savings groups (CBSGs), reaching almost 5,000 members (53% women) between 2010 and 2012.
CBSG members reported that as a result of participating in the savings group, they improved their financial literacy and saving practices, had a place to safely save money, and had access to a loan service that matched their financial capabilities. The Government of Canada supported the intervention and AKF will extend its CBSG programming if funding is secured.
