His Excellency Mr Filipe Jacinto Nyusi
President of the Republic of Mozambique
I warmly welcome you to Mozambique. This is a country with a great deal to offer. Our agricultural potential is immense; our vast mineral and energy resources are still waiting to be tapped; the natural beauty of our long coastline and the rich fauna and flora of the interior are open and idyllic secrets to share with our visitors. Our arts, culture and culinary add to the hospitality that motivates you to come back, as soon as you cross our borders.
Our economy has been responding positively to the peace and stability we have been enjoying, at the length and breadth of Mozambique. As a result, it has been growing steadily at the average rate of 8%, a year, in the last decade. Our business environment has, likewise, been improving by the day, attracting small and medium sized enterprises. We are also the destination of mega projects such is the case of the heavy sands, in Chibuto and Moma, gas, in Temane, coal, in Tete, and the ever expanding MOZAL aluminium smelter, in Maputo.
With all this potential and developments and yet with more than 50% of our people living in absolute poverty, we have declared a war against this scourge. We greatly value your partnership and encouragement in this struggle, which, we are certain, we will win.
Understandably, in this concise presentation of our “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”, I can only scrape the surface of the many and diverse available opportunities for you. I, therefore, encourage you to explore the Commonwealth of Nations website and the attendant links.
The above message was provided by the previous President.
Mozambique in the Commonwealth
did you know?
- Mozambique has been a member of the Commonwealth since 1995
- Mozambique gained its independence in 1975
- Mozambique has been competing in the Commonwealth Games since 1998, and has won four medals
- Graça Machel, former Chairperson of the Commonwealth Foundation, delivered the 4th Annual Commonwealth Lecture, on ‘Gender Inequality: from Roles to Rights’, in 2001
- Maria Lurdes Mutola, born in Maputo, took the Commonwealth Games Women’s 800 Metres record when she won the event in 1 minute 57.35 seconds in the Manchester Games in 2002
- Tomáz Augusto Salomão, born in Inhambane Province in October 1954, became Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community in 2005
- Dr Salomão Manhiça was appointed chair of the Commonwealth Connects steering committee in 2008: the Commonwealth Connects programme helps to bridge the digital divide across the association’s 53 member countries
- Mozambique’s post-war economy has undergone rapid growth; it grew at an average of 7.8% p.a. during the decade 1998-2007. Among Commonwealth countries only Trinidad and Tobago grew faster during this period
- The country has some 2,470km of coastline
Commonwealth Projects
Post-HIPC Assistance (2007/08)
Technical assistance was provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat to the Government of Mozambique to resolve issues relating to reorganisation of responsibilities for debt management. An expert reviewed the debt database maintained by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Mozambique and supported input of debt relief data obtained from various debt relief initiatives in the CS-DRMS. Training and coaching Mozambican debt managers on use of the software for effective debt management was also undertaken.
Resource-Based Building Materials (2007/08)
This Commonwealth Secretariat commissioned project provided the Government of Mozambique with the necessary tools to develop local resource based building materials that will reduce the cost of building construction, the importation of building materials and will empower SMEs to use building technologies profitably. The project also supported trainers to develop training materials and manuals.
Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) – Presidential/Legislative Elections (2005/06)
The COG was invited by the government of Mozambique to observe elections in order to assess adherence to procedures that ensure that elections are held in a credible manner and uphold democratic principles, thus contributing to a more stable political environment.
Agriculture Economist – National Sugar Institute funded by SCFM (1995)
The objective of this advisory project, which was funded by the Commonwealth, was the provision of a long-term expert to assist in developing skills in price policy formulation, reorganisation and carrying out feasibility and marketing studies in the sugar industry.
