Japan has donated 10 tons of rice to Mozambique to minimise the deficit currently estimated at 200,000 tons per year, under an agreement signed Thursday in Maputo.

About 60 percent of the rice donated by Japan, worth US$6.2 million, will go on sale from November in central and northern areas of Mozambique, the areas most affected by floods this year, and proceeds from its sale will be used to build infrastructure.

The adviser of the Japanese Embassy in Mozambique, Jiro Marumashi, said 80 percent of the rice to be donated will be from Japan and the remaining 20 percent would come from the United States.

Meanwhile, Japan has announced the award of a donation of 1 billion CFA francs (US$1.6 million) to Guinea-Bissau as recognition “of encouraging initiatives” underway in the country, said Yuji Kubo, the charge d’affaires of the Embassy of Japan in Senegal, which also covers Guinea-Bissau.

In Bissau on a working visit, the diplomat said the Japanese aid, which is non-refundable, was a sign of Japan’s desire to “boost the encouraging initiatives undertaken by the Guinea-Bissau authorities” for the development of the country. (macauhub/GW/MZ)