Switzerland will support northern Mozambique, affected by an armed insurgency, with a program worth 123 million dollars, Swiss President Alain Berset announced in Maputo..

"It's around 123 million dollars over four years" to create basic services such as water and electricity in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula, said Alain Berset, quoted by Lusa.

Alain Berset was speaking on Wednesday (08.02) at the Presidency of the Republic, after a meeting with the Mozambican head of state, Filipe Nyusi, at the start of a three-day visit to Mozambique. "Peace and security are priorities" for Switzerland, Berset stressed.

In 2021, Switzerland had already disbursed 10 million dollars for an inclusive development project in the same provinces.

In addition to the support for the north, the Swiss President reiterated the continuation of aid to the peace process resulting from the agreements signed in 2019 between the government of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) and the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO).

Filipe Nyusi explained that the country is in the process of "raising funds to make the granting of pensions to former RENAMO guerrillas, who have since demobilized, sustainable and feasible".

As part of the process, of the total of 5,221 ex-guerrillas, around 4,700 (90%) have already handed in their weapons, and some have been incorporated into the Mozambican defense and security forces.

Alain Berset is the first Swiss president to travel to Mozambique, on a visit that ends on Friday (10.02).