The African Development Bank has launched the report, “Transition towards Green Growth in Mozambique: Policy review and recommendations for action,” which summarizes the development process of the Green Economy Action Plan (GEAP) prepared to operationalize the ambitious goals of the country’s Green Economy Roadmap – a plan that outlines the country’s path to become an inclusive middle income country by 2030 through sustainable infrastructure, efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, and the strengthening of resilience and adaptive capacity to socio-economic shocks and climate variability.

The Republic of Mozambique has grown at an impressive average rate of 7.2 percent during the last decade, driven by foreign direct investment, agricultural growth and infrastructure investment. To the detriment of the more than half the population living below the poverty line however, the country has a poor record of transforming fast economic growth, driven by capital-intensive mega projects, into sustained poverty reduction.

In an effort to reverse this trend, the Government of Mozambique, in conjunction with the AfDB and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), launched the country’s Green Economy Roadmap in Brazil on the sidelines of the RIO+20 conference in June 2012. The report highlights the necessity of cross-ministerial cooperation, comprehensive analytical review, and most of all, pragmatic priority setting. The GEAP was a key document in the design of the new medium-term governmental program, Plano Quinquenal de Governo 2015-2019, and the Government’s nascent national Natural Capital Programme, which aims to integrate the value of natural capital in national planning and investment decisions.

On September 26, 2015, during the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York, Mozambique’s Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development met with AfDB Vice-President Aly Abou-Sabaa, and the President of WWF International to consider how to support implementation of the Natural Capital Programme through 2019. The parties agreed to formalize collaboration arrangements in early 2016.

Speaking about the report, AfDB Resident Representative in Mozambique Joseph M. Ribeiro said the report will serve in the design and prioritization of investments efforts both for in public and private sectors. He further highlighted also that “as one of the first countries on the continent to engage in a major effort to incorporate green growth principles into the country’s national policy planning, Mozambique’s experience will be relevant to other development practitioners, policy makers and experts interested in green growth both in and outside the AfDB. This report shares the country’s experience and valuable lessons which may be applied elsewhere on the continent.”

The GEAP marked the Bank’s first official engagement in green growth, which is a key part of the Bank’s Strategy 2013-2022. Although challenges lie ahead for implementation, the GEAP refers to a growing body of evidence from leading international institutions indicating that there are opportunities inherent to the green economy model, such as job creation, new business sectors, equitable benefits, public security and sustainability of resource.