The United Nations will grant Mozambique €360 million in aid over the next two years to boost the country's efforts to develop its economy, improve governance and fight Aids, an official said today.
The southern African country is one of the poorest in the world, ranking 168 out of 177 in the UN's Human Development Index.
Life expectancy is 35 years and an estimated 16 per cent of Mozambique's 20 million people is infected with HIV.
UN communications officer in Mozambique Luis Zaqueu said the world body would give €113m to develop human capital, €86.5m million for governance, €86m for economic development and €75m to fight Aids.
Half of Mozambique's 2007 budget of €2 billion is financed by donors helping the former Portuguese colony rebuild after decades of a civil war that ended in the 1990s.