Mozambique: Knighthood Global's focus in first three months will be to stabilise LAM
India Mozambique relations
8:18 CAT | 07 Jul 2016
File photo / President Filipe Nyusi and India's prime minister Narendra Modi, photographed during the official visit of the Mozambican head of state to India in Augut 2015
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is visiting Mozambique on 7th July 2016. This could be a historic milestone to further strengthen the ties between Mozambique and India.
India’s links with Mozambique reach back over half a millennium. Indian traders from south India plied the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. Vasco da Gama also found Indian traders in Mozambique when he paid the first visit in 1499. These traditional links have grown from strength to strength over the years.
India was, in fact, among the first countries to open its Embassy in Mozambique immediately after independence in 1975. The first Mozambican President Samora Machel paid a state visit to India in April, 1982, which was reciprocated by Late Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi in August, 1982. In year 2015 an MoU signed for cooperation in solar, wind, biofuels and geothermal sectors during Mozambique President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi’s visit to India in 2015.
Indians in Mozambique form the sixth-largest Indian diaspora in Africa. There are approximately 1,500 to 2,000 persons of Indian nationality and about 20,000 persons of Indian origin, holding Mozambican/Portuguese nationalities in Mozambique.
India and Mozambique now share a history of profitable trade relations and the bilateral trade in 2014-15 valued at US 2.4 billion dollars. In last 5 years trade between the two countries has multiplied five times. Mozambique is strategically located closer to India and is ideally suited for carrying ‘Liquefied Natural Gas’ (LNG) to India. Besides, India needs huge supplies of pulses (7 million tons) and Mozambique can meet substantial portion of this requirement.
India offered credit assistance of US$500 million to Mozambique in 2010 followed by ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) the two national oil companies are actively invested in gas blocks to the tune of US $ 5 billion in 2014. Some of the major Indian companies that have investments in Mozambique are Essar, Tata Steel, JSPL, JSW, Coal India Ltd, etc in coal mining, Damodar Ferro in iron ore mining, Essar in port development.
In 2004, COGEF Group established its first outlet in Mozambique with the mission of manufacturing and marketing high-quality products that reflect local consumer tastes and demands, which meet the firm’s ethics and sustainability standards. COGEF has 30 years of African experience, is one of the largest conglomarate in FMCG segment in Mozambique. More than 2,600 employees are currently working in COGEF’s country-wide 200 sales outlets, warehouses and manufacturing units. Chairman COGEF Group, Mr. Rizwan Adatia formed Rizwan Adatia Foundation – RAF in 2015 and is playing a significant role in improving quality of life of people. Skill development, Construction of schools, Drinking water supplies, Sanitation, Food and medical support to orphanages and Environmental conservation are some of the major activities promoted by RAF.
Source: Rizwan Adatia Foundation
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