Japan is interested in supporting agriculture in Mozambique, particularly the ProSavana project to convert 10 million hectares of the provinces of Nampula, Niassa and Zambézia into farmland, said Mozambican president, Armando Guebuza.

At the end of the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), Guebuza said that Japan in partnership with Brazil, was interested in transforming the region covered by ProSavana into a place where small-scale farmers, by increasing production and yields, can become commercial farmers.

Guebuza also said that the Japanese private sector had shown interest in continuing with and even expanding its current projects in Mozambique.

“The private sector also showed interest in taking part in new projects, including those linked to small and medium-sized companies, which is fundamental for us, as it is an area that allows us to create a lot of jobs in the country,” he noted.

There are currently seven large Japanese groups operating in Mozambique, including Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp., with interests in the coal sector, and Mitsui and Co, with a stake in Block 1 of the Rovuma basin, where large natural gas deposits have been found.

At a previous meeting with the chairman of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Akihiko Tanaka, Guebuza was told that for cooperation with Mozambique priority would be given to funding projects in the Nacala Development Corridor.

According to Tanaka, JICA is carrying out several projects in Mozambique, and the preference for Nacala is, amongst other things, due to “it being an integrated regional development programme, that includes improvement and development of the port of Nacala and the road network, the ProSavana agricultural development programme as well as the Health and Education sectors.” (macauhub)