Mozambique: Tourism investment up 17% in 2023

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Mozambique: Tourism investment up 17% in 2023

10:58 CAT | 09 Aug 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Notícias]

Mozambique attracted $940 million (€860 million) of investment in tourism last year, up 17% from 2022, and the sector continues to grow, but the problem of kidnappings still scares off some potential visitors, the country’s president acknowledged on Thursday.

“We continue to ask for everyone’s contribution so as not to frighten tourists,” said Filipe Nyusi at the opening of the 10th edition of Fikani, Mozambique’s International Tourism Fair, in Maputo. “The contribution of everyone, of all Mozambicans. Because it happens on the streets, in homes, in businesses.”

The head of state guaranteed that the government is “committed” to resolving the problem, which has plagued the country since 2011, with businesspeople in particular targeted – an estimated 150 have been kidnapped in this period – above all in the capital, Maputo.

“The government is continuing and is working seriously to combat this evil, and the measures… are being designed,” said the president, emphasising that a “guarantee of security and tranquillity” is necessary for Mozambique to come to be among the “main tourist destinations” globally.

Speaking at an event that is expecting 6,500 participants and more than 220 exhibitors from various countries, including Portugal, between Thursday and Sunday, Nyusi announced that last year the country received domestic and foreign proposals for investment in the sector totalling $940 million (€860 million) in value, an increase of some 17% on the previous year.

“This trend promises good medium and long-term prospects for our economy,” he said. “This symbolises unequivocal recognition in Mozambique’s foreign market that Mozambique has been on a path of achievement in improving conditions for investors and the competitiveness of our tourism.”

Nyusi added that during his current term as president, since 2020, up to the first half of this year, 1,088 tourist developments have come into operation in Mozambique, including hotels and other accommodation units, restaurants and bars, and travel agencies, with the creation of what he said are more than 14,000 jobs.

“Alongside this was the attention paid to human capital,” he said, referring to the training of 11,244 professionals in the sector, which he described as “an important factor in welcoming and offering quality tourism.”

The president argued that Mozambique should promote areas such as the capital, Maputo National Park and Ponta de Ouro abroad, as well as the Bazaruto and Inhambane archipelago (in the south), and the Gorongosa or Chimanimani national parks (in the centre).

Nyusi cited to tourism “as one of the pillars for the diversification and acceleration of the national economy.”

Source: Lusa