Mozambique - Second Phase of Roads and Bridges Management and Maintenance Project

Page 1 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: AB2867 Project Name Roads and Bridges Management and Maintenance Project Region AFRICA Sector Roads and highways (100%) Project ID P083325 Borrower(s) GOVERNMENT OF MOZAMBIQUE Implementing Agency Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared February 7, 2007 Date of Appraisal Authorization February 26, 2007 Date of Board Approval May 22, 2007 1. Country and Sector Background Mozambique has made notable progress since the 1992 Peace Accords and has sustained real annual growth of more than 7 percent since 2003. The benefits of growth have been broad-based and can be seen in improvements in both monetary and non-monetary poverty measures. There was an unprecedented overall 16 percent decline in poverty between 1997 and 2003, from 70 percent in 1997 to 54 percent in 2003; rural poverty fell slightly more (by 22 percent) than urban poverty (by 16 percent) but more than 50 percent of the population remains in poverty. Despite the country