With the Human series, we showcase the people who are involved in and benefit from the Partners for Water projects. The Human series sheds light on the stories of the people with whom and for whom Partners for Water works, and on how water affects their lives. Below, discover how water shapes the life of Liria Francisco and her neighbours in Beira, a city deeply affected by frequent flooding.
Liria Fransisco
In this Humans of Partners for Water series, meet Liria Francisco from the flood-prone city of Beira, who eagerly anticipates a safer, healthier future as a result of the protective measures planned by Partners for Water.
Raising Awareness in the Community
Liria Francisco lives in Beira, where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean. With over 750,000 residents, it is Mozambique’s fourth-largest city and hosts the Port of Beira, a crucial gateway for the region. However, the city is extremely vulnerable to floods. Francisco has experienced firsthand how floods and high tides threaten her community.
When these events occur, residents must lift up all their belongings and put children on tables for safety. After the water recedes, diseases like diarrhoea, malaria, and fever often follow. This has driven Francisco to raise awareness in her community about the importance of urban development projects
“I tell them that when the dyke is built, we’ll still be here, but we’ll feel safe”.
One of the key initiatives in Beira targets Maraza, a 350-hectare undeveloped swamp area. This pilot project seeks to show that through organized residential expansion, land that is currently uninhabitable due to frequent flooding can be transformed and made available at affordable prices. For the success of the project, it’s crucial that residents recognise how the plans will enhance their lives and health. Advocates like Francisco are pivotal in communicating these benefits to the community
Discover more Humans of Partners for WaterDutch-Mozambique Water Cooperation
In 2025, Mozambique and the Netherlands will celebrate 50 years of bilateral cooperation, a partnership that has focused on water management since Mozambique’s independence in 1975. Over time, this collaboration has expanded to include food security, rule of law, health (including HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health), and social protection. Dutch interests in Mozambique also extend to maritime, transport, food and beverage, and extractive industries.
The partnership is structured through four-year strategies, with the current Multi-Annual Country Strategy (MACS 2023-2026) emphasizing water as a top priority. The focus is on Cabo Delgado in the north and the Beira corridor in the central region, areas highly vulnerable to extreme climate events such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and storm surges. Mozambique is among the top 10 countries most at risk from these natural disasters, highlighting the critical need for this long-term water management partnership. Recent cyclones, including Idai (2019), Eloise (2021), and Freddy (2023), have caused severe damage.
Since the 1970s, many of Mozambique’s water leaders have trained in the Netherlands or through Dutch-funded programmes. Prominent Dutch scholars have also conducted essential research in Mozambique. Dutch water companies have partnered with Mozambique’s national water utility, FIPAG, for over 20 years, helping to professionalize its operations. Additionally, the Netherlands Water Boards have supported their Mozambican counterparts for over a decade.
The Netherlands-Mozambique delta collaboration is a key part of the MACS strategy, guided by two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Beira. The first MoU, signed in 2015, focuses on implementing the Beira Master Plan 2035, mainly in water and land management. The second, signed in 2018, commits both parties to co-invest in land development in Beira’s Maraza neighbourhood and to strengthen local institutions for cyclone and flood resilience.
Urban Resilience in Beira
The partnership between the Netherlands and Mozambique, which began in 2011 with the Beira Master Plan 2035 (BMP2035), has concentrated on building urban resilience in Beira, as priorities have evolved over the years. The plan aims to strengthen Beira’s defences against the growing threats of climate change, including heavy rainfall, storm surges, and cyclones.
Cyclone Idai’s catastrophic landfall in Beira in 2019, which resulted in USD 357 million in damages and destroyed 70% of the city’s buildings, highlighted the urgent need for these efforts. The Netherlands played a crucial role in coordinating a recovery package that secured USD 250 million for public infrastructure. However, despite these efforts, Beira’s economy remains fragile, with most damage to housing and businesses uninsured.
Dutch involvement in Beira has significantly increased, with funding rising from EUR 300,000 in 2011 to over EUR 3 million by 2021. This support has financed a range of urban development projects, including coastal protection, drainage improvements, and land management
Exploring opportunities in Mozambique?
Are you currently working on water projects in Mozambique or exploring how to do so? Or just curious about participating in the Partners for Water initiatives? Here are ways for you to get involved:
- Apply for our tenders focused on innovative solutions in delta countries like Mozambique.
- Join our annual Mozambique platform meeting or one of the other Partners for Water events.
- Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated.
- Apply for a Partners for Water subsidy.
- Get in touch with our Project Advisor for Mozambique: Jaap Kroon
The global housing crisis is acute in Beira, Mozambique. Climate-resilient, affordable houses are in short supply due to climate threats, informal incomes, lack of urban planning and limited mortgage support.
The Beira municipality, with support from the Netherlands, addresses this issue through the new Maraza Residential Zone. They aim to make 25,000 homes accessible using pioneering approaches. Partners for Water’s programme advisor, Jaap Kroon and project partner Marie-Odile Zanders, discuss the project’s approach and challenges.
The Mozambican city of Beira is partly below sea level and highly vulnerable to the increasing effects of climate change. In 2019 and 2021, the port city was struck by two cyclones that destroyed more than 70% of the buildings. With assistance from the Partners for Water programme and the Netherlands Embassy, the municipality and the ‘Municipal Recovery and Resilience Plan’ are rebuilding Beira towards a climate-resilient, flood proof city, based on the so called the Beira Masterplan 2035. The new Maraza Residential Zone is an important part of this city-wide development plan.
Marie-Odile Zanders, Director of Property Partnerships & Development at Empowa, Maraza’s home loan provider, has been working closely on this project with a number of partners. Together with Jaap Kroon, Partners for Water’s programme advisor Mozambique, she elaborates on the project’s progress and obstacles.
Housing Crisis
“Like in the rest of Mozambique and wider Africa, affordable housing is scarce in Beira and houses that withstand climate hazards are even scarcer. Obtaining mortgages in Mozambique is challenging and those that are available have interest rates exceeding 20 percent”, says Kroon. Zanders adds: “Many Mozambicans rely on informal and unpredictable incomes. This makes them ineligible for home loans. Today, approximately, only 600 mortgages are in existence throughout all of Mozambique.”
“The alternative for buying a house is to construct one yourself. This takes a long time and often results in homes that are not resilient enough to withstand natural disasters. The housing that will be offered in Maraza will mean that most low to middle income Mozambicans can finally gain access to a climate-resilient home and not have to build themselves,” says Zanders.
25,000 Resilient, Affordable Green Homes
“The idea is to build 25,000 homes in an already allocated, low-lying area of 450 hectares. The land will be raised to prevent flooding and equipped with drainage, sewage and drinking water connections. The houses in the Maraza Residential Zone will be cyclone-resistant and affordable for the residents of Beira,” explains Kroon.
Local and International Partners
Maraza will be developed of by both local and international partners. One of them is the Sociedade de Desenvolvimento Urbano da Beira (SDUB), the organisation responsible for land development. The Partners for Water programme and the Netherlands Embassy in Mozambique have been funding SDUB since 2019. Since 2023, it’s received partial funding from Partners for Water and the Municipality of Beira. In addition to SDUB, the local developer Casa Real and the financial technology provider Empowa are partners in this innovative project.
Proof of Concept¹: Inhamizua District
As a proof of concept, a similar project has been developed by Casa Real and Empowa. They independently built 150 affordable homes on the outskirts of Beira. The homes are made accessible by reducing construction costs for a starter house from US$ 45.000 to just below US$ 10.000 and through a rent-to-buy scheme. Lower income residents can rent the home while saving money to buy it. This allows them to demonstrate, despite their informal incomes, that the scheme has proven to be successfull. Fifteen months into the scheme, one in three tenants has already paid at least 20% of their home’s value. Furthermore, financial flows are handled using blockchain technology. This reduces costs and risk by delivering timely, verified and indisputable data to investors and other relevant stakeholders.
It is critical that new approaches to affordable housing development are explored. Our group of committed and patient partners in Beira are demonstrating that another way of making Africa’s affordable housing market work is possible. Our approach is attuned to the needs of people who live and work informally, while being commercially viable, scaleable and replicable
Start-up challenges in Maraza Residential Zone
Close to 2.5 million euros have been invested in Maraza’s development to prepare 3.5 hectares for construction as a mini-pilot project. The sand has been raised, an access road constructed, drainage and wastewater collection systems installed and plots for apartment blocks of about 400 units are ready. The homes will be sold in a similar manner to the successful Inhamizua project. However, despite the accomplishments of the Inhamizua district, there are several challenges in securing the initial capital needed to build the first apartments.
The Inhamizua project has incurred interesting returns, yet it has been deemed too risky by various potential financiers’ due to Africa’s underdeveloped affordable housing markets, among other factors. “To reduce the risk, Partners for Water offers soft funding of around 20% of the required investment for the first phase, on the condition that another party provides the remainder,” says Kroon. The data and systems used in the Inhamizua project help in further de-risking investments into Maraza’s homes. Zanders adds: “We invite anyone interested in a different approach to affordable housing development to come and learn from us in Beira.”
Next Steps
“Everything and everyone is in place ready to build the houses: the developers, construction workers, materials, plots and the Beira municipality is firmly supporting the development of the Maraza Residential zone. So, once funding is secured, construction will start as soon as possible,” says Kroon. And there is no doubt that the demand exists, as market research in Beira has already identified around 500 families interested and capable of renting or buying homes from the mini-pilot project.
Beira thrilogy
This article is the first of three publications highlighting Partners for Waters work in Beira ahead of the 50th anniversary of bilateral cooperation between The Netherlands and Mozambique.
[1] Impact assessment was undertaken by Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV) during 2023/2024. For more info: MCV’s blog on “The Impact of Climate-Resilient Housing and How Web3 Technology can scale its Development”.
Partners for Water is a Dutch government programme enhancing water security internationally in long-term cooperation with local partners and the Dutch water sector. By facilitating strategic planning and support in the early stages of innovation, the programme aims to contribute to systemic change for sustainable water management and infrastructure. This is how we initiate impactful changes for a better living environment.
