The support, which was confirmed yesterday as a mixture of credit and loans, will be used to fund the second phase of the government’s Roads and Bridges Management and Maintenance Program.

The bank said the funding would fill a financing gap for flood-related road rehabilitation works in southern Gaza, a province of Mozambique, following severe flooding in the lower Limpopo River basin in 2013.

‘Damages inflicted by recurrent floods to the road network isolate many rural communities, preventing them access to basic services, markets and transports,’ said Mark Lundell, World Bank country director for Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros.

‘We are pleased to support the government of Mozambique in its efforts to improve access of the population to all-season roads through greater maintenance, rehabilitation and upgrading of the classified road network.’

The improved infrastructure of the roads is expected to lower transportation costs, stimulate growth and curb poverty, and lower the risk of inflation.