“For those who still doubt us, my message is clear: Mozambique is back!” – Watch

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“For those who still doubt us, my message is clear: Mozambique is back!” – Watch

7:25 CAT | 08 Jun 2017

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Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi warned on Thursday that the country can only exploit its full potential once it has secured an effective and definitive peace.

Speaking in the western city of Tete, at the opening session of a business Forum on Infrastructures, Nyusi said “We know that only with peace and stability will we be able to turn our potential into reality”.

“We Mozambicans are making the restoration of effective peace and political stability our number one priority,” he stressed.

Currently Mozambique is living through a truce declared by Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the rebel movement Renamo. This has ended the Renamo ambushes on the main roads, and since the truce took effect, on 27 December, there have been no further clashes between Renamo gunmen and the defence and security forces.

Turning to the subject of the Forum, Nyusi declared, “We are challenged to mobilise investments and identify the best solutions to build infrastructures. Imperatively, this requires the involvement of the private sector”.

“Recent years have not been easy for Mozambique”, he said. “The global fall in commodity prices affected our economic growth. At the same time, we faced armed disturbances localised in some part of the central and northern regions of the country”.

A further complication was the hidden debts incurred by the previous government under Nyusi’s predecessor Armando Guebuza, which had led the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other western partners to cut off financial assistance to Mozambique.

Nyusi said that the government “regards with responsibility the concerns of Mozambicans and of our international partners”. Hence, “in order to show transparency and integrity, we agreed on an independent and wide-ranging international audit”.

He assured his audience that nothing like the scandal of the undisclosed debts would ever happen again and that “under our leadership your investments are safe. Now it is time to look to the future”.

“Mozambique is giving vital signs that it is overcoming these obstacles”, declared Nyusi. “For those who still doubt us, my message is clear: Mozambique is back!”

He stressed last week’s signing in Maputo of the final investment decision by the consortium headed by the Italian energy company ENI to push ahead with the project for a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit in the Rovuma Basin, off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Despite the risk involved, the FLNG project has attracted financing from 15 banks and export credit agencies. “Each of these stakeholders undertook a rigorous audit, both of the project and of the country”, said Nyusi, “and decided to proceed. This is a great vote of confidence in Mozambique and in our government”.

Nyusi said that Mozambique has much more to offer than the recently discovered massive deposits of hydrocarbons. “We are a country overflowing with opportunities and potential in infrastructures, agriculture, manufacturing, services, transport, communications, tourism, fisheries and other sectors”, he said.

The decisive priority, Nyusi stressed, is to invest in “resilient infrastructures that promote sustainable development and regional integration”.

“What we are seeking with you”, he continued, “is a two way partnership, in which each party is concerned with the interests of the other. Our commitment is to guarantee a stable, secure and transparent business environment. My government is constantly seeking to improve the environment for investors, and will continue to produce legal and institutional reforms to reduce red tape and simplify procedures”.

He hoped that by the end of the Forum each of the potential investors will have analysed and expressed interest in at least one project. From this, it should be possible to advance in implementing the investments.

“I also expect you to reflect on how to transform the performance of the infrastructures that support production in Mozambique and in southern Africa”, Nyusi added.

“Mozambique is a land of opportunities, and is open for business”, he concluded. “This is the moment to invest in our potential. I guarantee that there has never been a better moment. It’s now”.