Southern African Trade and Connectivity Project (Malawi)
A 10-member team of key officers in the implementation of the Southern Africa Trade Connectivity Project in Malawi recently visited their counterparts in Mozambique to appreciate how they are implementing and managing the Zambezi Valley Development Agency Grants Programme.
Malawi and Mozambique are at different stages of SATC project implementation with Mozambique leading in the implementation of component 3 activities which seek to strengthen value chains for regional integration. The Malawi delegation comprising officers from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance and the Southern African Trade and Connectivity Project Implementation Unit conducted the study visit from 22nd May 2023 to 3rd June 2023.
The visit helped build the capacity of staff in the implementation of the grants program and other component 3 interventions in Malawi. It involved working sessions with officials from Zambezi Valley Development Agency (ZVDA) and Fundo Catalitico para Inovacao e Demonstraco (FCID) in Mozambique in which they held discussions on implementation arrangements of the grants program and the component in general. They also had field visits in order to understand the grants program from the beneficiaries’ perspective.
The working sessions showed that the Mozambican grant program followed 4 key stages which are application and selection process of grant recipients; formation of investment committee; identification of last mile infrastructure to be developed and capacity building of value chain actors.
Through the development of last mile infrastructure, business in areas that lie along the Nacala and Beira Corridors will be more robust. There are approximately 98 wholesale points or markets across Mozambique that were identified and are earmarked for face lifting to support cross-border trade between Malawi and Mozambique. Specialized support on these wholesale points could include, but not limited to, storage warehouses that prolong shelf life of perishables like tomato. Four last mile infrastructures will be developed.
The Republic of Mozambique, through the Southern Africa Trade and Connectivity Project is currently supporting five groups of value chain actors in Mozambique and these are small scale producers, emerging farmers, SMEs, Financial Institutions and Cross Border Traders.
The Southern Africa Trade and Connectivity (SATC) Project is a 6-year, $150 million World Bank funded project. It was designed to increase private sector activity along targeted corridors of Malawi and Mozambique, through reduced trade costs and time, increased value chain development, and improved access to infrastructure.
