POSCO said Tuesday it built a development center for children near the Zimbabwean capital of Harare as part of efforts to expand its social contribution in Africa.

About 80 children suffering from poverty or AIDS will take part in programs to improve their health at the POSCO Children Development Center, the steelmaker said in a press release. Parents and local leaders will undergo educational programs on childraising at the center.

Next to the new center, POSCO broke ground for an Agricultural Training Institute, where about 100 people will be taught advanced farming techniques and leadership skills as agricultural leaders each year to run joint farms and raise high-returns crops. The new facility is aimed at enhancing AIDS patients’ ability to support themselves, according to the company.

POSCO is also scheduled to open another agricultural training institute in Mozambique on Thursday, where tractors and rice-farming machinery will be supplied to foster agricultural leaders.

The steelmaker plans to expand its social contributions to Ethiopia by creating a farm modeled after a Korean rural development campaign called Saemaeul (New Community) Movement, fixing homes and growing genetically engineered “super corn” to fight poverty.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)