H. E. Mr. Abdelaziz KHELEF, Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and accompanying delegation, arrived on Friday 9th May, 2008, at “Maputo”, capital of the Republic of Mozambique, , as part of a regional tour which took him to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

During the visit, the DG will sign a loan agreement for Sanitation Project  in Central “Beira” City, which aims at achieving social, health, environmental and economic benefits such as improving the sewerage system, reducing the costs in the fields of health and treating of epidemics caused by water pollution in the project area, supporting and developing the economic activities and creating of job opportunities. The loan will be extended in easy  terms of  lending  in line with the goals of BADEA’s 5th Five-year Plan (2005 – 2009) to pay special consideration to the economic conditions of the beneficiary countries. The loan   will be repaid over a period of 30 years, including grace period of 10 years, with   an annual interest rate of 1%.

The Director General is scheduled to have an audience with H.E. the President of the Republic, the Honorable Prime Minister and the Honorable Minister of   Finance and other high-ranking officials. Talks will focus on the current and   future cooperation between the two sides and means of fostering these relations.

The delegation will seize the opportunity to pay on spot visits to BADEA’s on-going projects.

As of todate, BADEA’s assistance to Mozambique stands at US $ 189.52 million, allocated to participate in supporting its social and economic development.

On the other hand, BADEA’s delegation will attend the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (ADB) which will be held in Mozambique on 14 and   15 May, 2008. On the sideline of ADB meetings the delegation will review with   the participant African delegations from the beneficiary countries means of step- up the on-going operations and the future cooperation.