New alumnus works to make a difference in Mozambique
6/19/2001 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn NOTE: For related coverage, see UMNS stories #278 and #279.
By Andra Stevens* MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) -- Just 18 months after graduating from Africa University with a bachelor's degree in agriculture and natural resources, Luis Miguel Correia is Bank Austral's accounts manager in Beira, Mozambique.
Bank Austral has seven branches in the Beira area and surroundings, and Correia's day-to-day responsibilities include evaluating competing financial institutions in the area, suggesting and introducing new products and services, looking for new business and establishing links with potential prestige customers for the bank.
The 26-year-old Mozambican specialized in agribusiness at Africa University. Bank Austral relies on Correia's skills and expertise in evaluating agricultural projects and related areas for financing. The bank has the largest customer base but currently ranks second in loans made and third in deposit collections in Mozambique.
"It's pleasing to be part of a bank that traditionally has been agriculture-oriented and plays a leading role in supporting agriculture countrywide," Correia said. "Though the standards of the agriculture sector are still low, it is fast improving due to a tremendous natural potential, increment on investment, upgrading of human skills and government policies favoring the sector."
Correia noted that inadequate market information and knowledge of the environment are hurting sales and the overall production of his country's agricultural sector. The fact that land cannot be taken as collateral in Mozambique is also making it difficult for the financial sector to assist in rural settings.
"All in all, agriculture and the overall economy are growing," Correia said. "We have already achieved self-sufficiency in cereals and staples. Exports deriving from agriculture are growing tremendously and are contributing about 40 percent of the country's GDP. A number of agro-industries have been established in the country as a result of agriculture development."
He emphasizes the value of his training at United Methodist-related Africa University. "It has broadened my analysis, taught me to think and quickly adjust to whatever I have not been exposed to previously. It has been rewarding to find that the quality of training obtained at Africa University matches that of any colleague, no matter where they were educated."
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*Stevens is the director of information for Africa University.
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