China Invests in Mozambique Ginning Center

By Jim.Robinson|May 1, 2013

Almost exactly a year ago, the China-Africa Development Fund (CAD Fund), a subsidiary of the China Development Bank, promised up to 10 projects to develop African agriculture. With an investment of more than $57 million spanning multiple sectors, the CAD Fund has teamed up with the Qingdao Cotton Company to help introduce China’s technologies – such as breeding, planting, field management, and processing – to Africa’s plantation bases. One such project that is currently in the advanced stages of planning is a ginning and cotton seed oil center in the Maringue district of Mozambique.

The factory is expected to boost cotton production in the district, which is one of the biggest producers in Sofala province. It is also hoped that the center will encourage producers to make use of all of the cotton produced.

The region, which produced approximately 9,000 tons of cotton in the 2011/12 year, is hoping to have the same result as a previous CAD Fund project done in Malawi, which saw a significant increase in quality, output, and purchase orders after the investment.

Carlos Coimbra, the district director of the Economic Activities Department, told Mozambican newspaper Notícias that Chinese investors had secured the funds for the ginning center and are awaiting a final research element to bring the center into fruition.