The total amount of soft loans that India has committed in the past 14 years is about $24.2 billion, in over 60 developing countries. [...] The fact that India has loaned out capital amounting to nearly 1% of its current GDP is a clear indicator of  the primacy of ‘aid’ as a diplomatic tool. “If you are seen by most people as playing a benign developmental role, then you strengthen your credentials of contributing to global good…If you want to be seen as a leader, then you must act like one,” said a senior MEA official.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at the conclusion of his three-day, three-country tour of southeast Africa that included stops at Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar, said Turkey would share its experiences on economic development. He noted that he had the opportunity to hold discussions with the presidents of all three countries and that they were appreciative of what Turkey could provide.

A unique partnership with Gorongosa National Park and its major benefactor, Idaho philanthropist Greg Carr, has opened up opportunities for academic exchange that promote research, learning, training and service. It also has provided new avenues for global exchange, with students from Idaho doing research in the park, and Mozambican students coming to Idaho.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his five-day, four-nation tour of Africa on July 11. He spent two days in South Africa and made brief visits to Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. As he left Nairobi at the end of the tour, Modi had covered 42 countries in his 51 trips abroad. Antarctica is now the only continent he has not visited in his two years in office.

[The Halo Trust] began operations in Mozambique in 1993, funded by the US, UK and others to the tune of nearly $57m (£37m). Calvin Ruysen, regional director of Halo in southern Africa, said: “This is the first heavily mine-affected country to reach an end state. That’s a massive story because it demonstrates that, with the right approach and resources, you can bring a problem to conclusion. It’s an example to other heavily affected states: the fact we’re here now is very important.”

More than 100,000 people have been displaced by flooding in Malawi, and scores have died there and in neighboring Mozambique after weeks of rain, officials said Friday. The United Nations World Food Program said it plans to airlift more than 100 metric tons of food to the southern African country Malawi to feed at least 77,000.

African governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have agreed on the urgent need to harness the continent's rapid economic growth, as unrest and other political challenges temper exuberance about the future. At a meeting in Maputo, the IMF, finance ministers and central bank governors declared that a deeper structural transformation is needed so that ordinary citizens can benefit from the boom.