Indian business managers in Mozambique see Minister’s visit strengthening cooperation

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Indian business managers in Mozambique see Minister’s visit strengthening cooperation

11:20 CAT | 14 Apr 2023

Photo: O País

Members of the Indian business community in Mozambique say they expect cooperation between Mozambique and India to be strengthened as a result of the visit of the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs Doctor Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to the country.

One of them is Santosh Shetty, who has been working in Mozambique since 2005 and is currently manager of the Aditya Birla group, which imports and sells rice. The firm has invested US$25 million in Mozambique since 2021, but plans to grow even more.

“Our group also started exporting beans from Mozambique, and has been part of the food safety initiative since July 2021,” the firm’s manager in Mozambique explains. “The group supplies around 90,000 tons of rice per year to the entire country.”

“It has been a very good experience doing business here in Mozambique, and I see enormous potential, especially in the agribusiness area,” Shetty says, but he expects the visit of the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs to Mozambique will strengthen bilateral relations still further.

“My expectation is that the visit by Minister Jaishankar will further strengthen the vibrant and robust relations between India and Mozambique,” he says.

To make the most of investments in Mozambique, Santosh Shetty suggests that the Mozambican government invest more in infrastructure and digitization. “This will help the agribusiness area a lot, a sector which has a lot of potential here in Mozambique,” he points out.

Another Indian capital company operating in Mozambique is Afri Farmácia, a firm which imports and sells medicines to both the public and private sectors in large quantities. Its managing director is Nandkumar Nair.

“We have branches in Maputo, Beira and Nampula. These companies help us supply all of Mozambique, from hospitals to private clinics and everywhere else. We have also participated in Ministry [of Health] tenders, and our medicines are allocated across the whole country,” Nair says.

Afri Farmácias has been operating in Mozambique for 20 years, with an estimated investment of US$20 million. The firm is eager to see improvements result from the visit of the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“He is highly respected internationally and is on the list of world leaders as Minister of Foreign Affairs. India is today a very important nation for the world and Mozambique is a very important nation for all of Africa, with its natural resources and cultural diversity. Therefore, we must take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen the ties between our nations,” the managing director says.

Afri Farmácias plans to build a hospital and a medicine manufacturing facility in Mozambique in order to improve logistics and reduce costs.

“We are looking for development funds for some of our projects in Mozambique. We would like to see stable inflation and the interest rate controlled, because the interest rate of more than 20% makes project financing very onerous,” he says.

The medicines supplied by Afri Farmácias come from various parts of the world, but mostly India and Europe. The group has been supplying medicines to the Mozambican state for 15 years, these purchases accounting for around 80% of sales.

Afri Pharmacies operates in 10 African countries. In Mozambique, it supplies more than 200 different medicines and employs around 100 workers.

By Clemêncio Fijamo

Source: O País