Maputo, 28 Jul (AIM) – The Italian government will disburse 30 million Euros (35 million US dollars at the current exchange rate) to promote entrepreneurship and employment of young graduates in Mozambique.
The agreement on disbursing this sum was signed by the Mozambican Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Maria de Fatima Manso, and her Italian counterpart, Giorgio Silli, on his recent visit to Mozambique.
According to the Italian “Agenzia Nova” agency, the funds are intended to provide beneficiaries with practical skills suited to the needs of the modern labour market, promoting the socio-economic inclusion of young people.
According to Silli, the project will have an impact on addressing a series of challenges in higher education and youth employment in Mozambique.
“We signed an agreement worth approximately 30 million euros for young entrepreneurs, because I believe wealth can only be created through entrepreneurs and businesses. And we hope that in the future, a company and a joint venture between young Italians and young Mozambicans can also be created”, he said.
“This is an initiative by our Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. We firmly believe that Africa can develop on its own. And we are trying to help it in this way, putting significant resources on the table. Italy has decided to invest 5.5 billion euros in resources for this important cooperation plan”, he added.
The initiative, called “Innovation for Development IN4JOB,” aims to promote innovation applied to the creation, incubation, and acceleration of startups and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises with a strong technological focus.
The IN4JOB initiative consists of two components: the first is a 20 million euro soft loan, which aims to secure the creation of technological assets with a high socio-economic impact, and the second is a 6.4 million euro non-repayable grant component, to be developed through the implementation of activities (Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills) aimed at target groups.
(AIM)
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