Maputo, Mozambique, 12 March – The African Development Bank (ADB) has released the first tranche of the US$44.2 million funding it is providing for the project of reconstruction and asphalting of the Lichinga-Montepuez road in Mozambique, according to a report in Mozambican newspaper, Notícias.

Expected to cost US$105.93 million, the project has also secured funding from the Mozambican government and the international development agencies of Japan (JICA) and Sweden (ASDI).

On the Cabo Delgado province side, the project has already built the Pemba-Montepuez section, also with funding from the ADB, and the conclusion of the Lichinga-Montepuez road will provide easier access between the provincial capitals of Niassa and Cabo Delgado.

In a statement the ADB said that investment in the project would make it possible to improve transport service, by connecting the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa to the national road network and, consequently, to the ports of Pemba and Nacala and other production centres that are currently badly connected.

The project for reconstruction of the Montepuez-Lichinga road is part of a prgramme to develop infrastructures, which is one of the pillars of the ADB’s strategy for Mozambique, alongside its support of good governance, defined in the programme for reduction of absolute poverty (PARPA II). (macauhub)