Brazil Keen to Assist Africa

Republic of Brazil President Dilma Rousseff with Federal Republic of Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan on a state visit by the South American leader to Abuja. The two leaders discuss enhancing bilateral relations., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Brazil keen to assist Africa

September 10, 2013
Business Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

THE recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Brazil and Zimbabwe meant to allow Zimbabwean small-scale farmers to access a credit facility of US$100 million in the framework of the More Food Africa programme is only the first step towards cementing bilateral co-operation in every field, a Brazilian official said.

Speaking during her country’s 191st independence celebrations in Harare last week, Ambassador Marcia Maro da Silva said her country was also keen in assisting the African continent unconditionally as her country also faces the common challenges that affect the continent.

“We hope the signing of the MoU between our two countries will mark the first step towards the strengthening of our bilateral co-operation in every field.

“We also believe that we face the same challenges of eradicating poverty, promoting economic competitiveness and equitable distribution of revenue generated from natural resources, and so we should try to find an individual response to the challenges of development as we firmly believe that we can seek collective answers to overcome these barriers,” she said.

Ambassador Da Silva said Brazil can contribute to the sustainable development of Africa through technical co-operation that comes with no strings attached as it is based on solidarity with no conditionality imposed.

Agricultural and Rural Development Authority board chairman Mr Basil Nyabadza said the US$100 million credit facility recently extended by the Brazilian government to benefit small-scale farmers was a very welcome development.

Mr Nyabadza said that this would go a long way in ensuring food shortages were mitigated through increased production.

“The recent signing of an agreement between our two economies will certainly boost productivity and ensure food security within the small-scale farming community and considering that Zimbabwe is under economic sanctions from the west, Brazil’s gesture of confidence with us is very commendable.

“I think as business we must go a step further and form a Brazil-Zimbabwe Business Forum that will create a platform for the exchange of ideas while also learning from each other’s experiences to expand and manage economies of scale in our two countries,” he said.

Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, who also attended the celebrations, hailed the economic ties that exist between Brazil and Zimbabwe and expressed confidence that Zimbabwe would learn a lot especially considering Brazil is a fast emerging economy with a lot of technical expertise to offer.

“Most small-scale farmers benefited under the land reform programme and as such should tap into Brazilian farming technologies to ensure maximum productivity and the deal signed last week could not have come to any other sector other than agriculture since it is the backbone of our economy,” she said.

Brazil, as the second largest ethanol producer in the world, played a crucial role in the developmental stages of Zimbabwe’s ethanol project in Chisumbanje.

A Zimbabwean delegation recently went to Brazil and learnt from their sound technology and other experiences that transformed their own economy and on return implemented what they had learnt in order to expand our own production.