Mozambique: Local, French officials call for more bilateral investment, trade

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Mozambique: Local, French officials call for more bilateral investment, trade

5:04 CAT | 24 Apr 2023

Photo: Twitter / @FranceMaputohoto:

The governments of Mozambique and France on Monday in Maputo called for the intensification and diversification of bilateral investment and trade, exploring the potential between the two countries.

“The potential and competitive capacity that France offers in terms of capital, technology and experience makes it a privileged partner of Mozambique,” said Mozambique’s minister of industry and trade, Silvino Moreno.

Moreno was speaking during a business forum between Mozambique and France, which is being held on Monday and Tuesday in Maputo.

The minister said that Mozambique is counting on investors from France to help with the industrialisation of the country, with a view to reducing its dependence on the export of raw materials, in order to sell more processed products with added value.

Agriculture, energy, infrastructure, industry, mineral resources and tourism are all areas with enormous investment potential in the African country, he added.

The minister stressed that the country wants to reduce the imbalance in its trade with France by selling more to that European country.

Between 2018 and 2019, the minister of industry and trade noted, Mozambique had exports equivalent to about $200 million (€181.7 million) to France and imported from it about $700 million (€636 million), illustrating the huge asymmetry in trade flows between the two countries.

For his part, France’s ambassador to Mozambique, Yann Pradeau, argued that the two countries should capitalise on the momentum created by the colossal investment by France-based multinational TotalEnergies in natural gas projects in the Rovuma basin to boost bilateral economic and business relations.

“The dynamic of Franco-Mozambican partnerships is here,” Pradeau stressed. “This dynamic is symbolised by one of the largest investments by a French company, TotalEnergies.”

The diplomat noted that the authorities in Mozambique have undertaken measures to make the country more attractive to foreign business, such as the exemption of short-term business visas, as part of the Economic Acceleration Package (EAP) approved in August.

“The government of Mozambique recently announced several strong measures to promote foreign investment,” the ambassador said.

Agostinho Vuma, the president of Mozambique’s Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), the country’s largest business association, argued that the government should do more to create a more favourable atmosphere for foreign investment, particularly by approving more attractive rules and making the foreign exchange regime more flexible for capital inflows and outflows.

Adopting such instruments would, he said, “reduce the uncertainty” in relation to investments.

The forum that began on Monday is being attended by 70 businesspeople from mainland France and the overseas territories of Réunion and Mayotte (located in the Indian Ocean but administered by Paris).

On Mozambique’s side, about 50 businesses are represented at the conference.

Source: Lusa