Mozambique: Portuguese businesses look to expand as post-election recovery gains ground

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Portuguese businesses look to expand as post-election recovery gains ground

4:27 CAT | 28 Aug 2025

File photo: Lusa

Portuguese companies are betting on expanding their business in Mozambique to increase revenues, with the business environment returning to normal after a “difficult situation” during the post-election protests, their managers told Lusa.

“We expect to increase our network by the end of the year, adding units [to the fuel and cooking gas distribution network], so we are growing our petrol station network by around 10% a year,” the chairman of Galp Moçambique’s Board of Directors, Paulo Varela, told Lusa.

He was speaking at the Maputo International Fair (FACIM), which the Portuguese oil company, which has been present in the country for almost 70 years, considers important for exhibiting products and seeking partnerships.

“Every year we have grown our network of petrol stations, we have a presence in all the provinces, and it is in this constant investment that we have made (…) that we have invested a lot and have continued to develop our business at the service of the energy sector,” he said.

Galp had a turnover of €300 million in 2024 and employs 2,000 people in Mozambique, with logistics terminals and 80 petrol stations for its products and plans to build 10 more.

The fear that gripped the company after the protests has passed, he said, noting that the vandalised filling stations are now in operation.

“The situation was difficult, there were attacks of various kinds, but we managed to keep people focused, we managed to strike a balance between the safety of our operation, of the people who work with us, of our customers, and at the same time also ensure the supply of the country,” said Paulo Varela.

Another Portuguese company with a presence at FACIM is Cegid, which has been in the country for almost 25 years. It is the result of the merger of Primavera and Eticadata, and specialises in software production and management.

“We have solutions for the areas of human resources, accounting, sales, logistics (…) for the management of any company in terms of software,” said João Soares, head of the company in Mozambique, which has 20 employees and a global turnover of €950 million in 2024.

The manager praised the country’s potential in the technology sector, where he is seeking partnerships and aims to expand his client portfolio, noting a decline in sales volume in the last quarter of 2024, but with the situation expected to return to normal from March onwards.

“They were months of some uncertainty, some instability (…). Today, we find confidence in the market again,” concluded Soares.

BIM Mozambique, a bank belonging to the Portuguese group BCP, which began operations in 1995 and currently employs approximately 2,600 people in the country, also indicates a return to stability following the post-election demonstrations.

“We hardly remember that period anymore, even though it was difficult at the time,” said Aly Faruque, Corporate and Investment Director.

With this new normal, BIM aims to focus on financing projects for small and medium-sized companies that export products, stating that the conditions are in place for the Mozambican economy to continue growing.

Some ideas were put on hold “because of what we know was a challenging period in the last quarter of last year, but now the conditions are in place for companies to continue investing,” he emphasised.

Also at FACIM is the company Paulo Balanças, from Braga, which has been in Mozambique for almost 40 years and has 18 employees in Maputo and Beira, specialising in the assembly and distribution of industrial weighing equipment.

This company also felt the impact of the electoral demonstrations, but feels that this period has passed and the country has returned to stability.

“I think we need concrete actions and work, because confusion doesn’t help anything and those conflicts only harmed the country,” said Mário Pinto, from Paulo Internacional in Portugal.

FACIM, Mozambique’s largest business fair, showcasing the country’s economic potential and business and investment opportunities in the domestic and international sectors, kicked off on Monday with 3,150 exhibitors and 70,000 visitors expected by Sunday.

Since the general elections on 9 October, Mozambique has experienced a climate of demonstrations and stoppages called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the election results that gave victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the ruling Frelimo party.

According to non-governmental organisations monitoring the electoral process, around 400 people died in clashes with the police. These conflicts ceased after two meetings between Mondlane and Chapo with a view to pacifying the country.

Source: Lusa