Maputo, Mozambique – The Arab Bank for the Economic Development of Africa (BADEA) is to contribute US$8 million to a project providing sanitation to the centre of the city of Beira in Mozambique’s Sofala province, under the terms of an agreement signed Monday in Maputo.

The funding was made official with the signing of an agreement by finance minister, Manuel Chang and by the Director-General of BADEA, Abelaziz Khélef.

The sanitation project for Beira city-centre aims to provide better conditions for public health by reducing rates of malaria, cholera and other diseases spread by stagnant water.

Mozambique’s relationship with BADEA goes back to 1975, when the first credit agreement was signed to support the Balance of Payments, to the value of US$10 million.

Since then the bank has financed around 32 projects in the areas of roads, agriculture and rural development, transport and communications, energy, health, fisheries, education and higher education, with a total of around US$176 million.