The Minister for Planning and Development, Salim Valá, said today that by November 3, more than 110,000 project proposals had been submitted to the Local Economic Development Fund (FDEL).

Precisely, “... 112,197 project proposals were received, of which around 67% were from individuals, 32% from Associations and Cooperatives, and 1% from Micro and Small Enterprises,” he said.

Speaking at the Assembly of the Republic, the head of Planning and Development pointed out that demand is greater than supply.

The government of Daniel Chapo, President of the Republic, has made less than a billion meticais available, and the projects submitted for evaluation are valued at more than 10 billion meticais.

“[The] total amount is 10,103,814,923.38 meticais, which shows that demand is, so far, 12.25 times greater than the supply of 824.6 million meticais,” he noted.

Of the projects received, the most noteworthy were in the areas of trade (35,501), agriculture (23,365), poultry (8,556), services (7,839) and livestock (6,095), while the remaining 30,841 projects were distributed among the other areas eligible for FDEL.

Nampula is the province with the largest number of projects (37.8%) out of the 112,197 projects received, followed by Niassa with 14,741 (13%) and Inhambane with 11,885 (10.6%).

“The fact that many projects have been received, with amounts well above those available, is a clear sign that the FDEL's message has reached the grassroots, awakening the entrepreneurial energy of citizens,” he said.

In this financial year, the Executive allocated 824.6 million meticais to the FDEL, covering 210 territories, including 145 districts and 65 municipalities.

Nampula province absorbed 17.36% of the resources; Zambézia, 17.08%; Niassa, 10.47%; Tete, 10.37%; Cabo Delgado, 10.08%; Sofala, 8.49%; Manica, 7.47%; Inhambane, 6.23%; Gaza, 5.64%; Maputo-Province, 5.08%; and Maputo-City, 1.68%.