Mozambique: A new beginning

Aired January 2008

Welcome to Mozambique, A new beginning.

Stretching along the coastal border of the Indian Ocean and in southeastern Africa lies a land of great diversity and beauty. That country is Mozambique … a nation as varied in its panoramas as it is in its history. Major ethnic groups encompass numerous subgroups with diverse languages, dialects and cultures.

In recent times Mozambique has made significant progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy. Today the country has returned to its position as one of the jewels of Africa. Mozambique is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Commonwealth of Nations.

With the top aim of the government focused on reducing the country’s debt level, the Finance Minister has implemented policies set out to consolidating macroeconomic stability. The hope is that this strategy will sustain strong broad-based growth to reduce poverty.

FINANCE

Financial sector development in Mozambique is a major component of the government’s efforts at alleviating poverty. The increasing emphasis placed on the development of the sector is borne out of two important premises:
Firstly, that an efficient and generally accessible financial system is an essential prerequisite for ensuring economic growth and development. And secondly, that the sustained economic growth is the best path to redurece poverty.

This calls for the strengthening of the sector through improvements in the regulatory framework and supervision of banks and other financial institutions, the strengthening of financial sector regulatory agencies, and improving the access of the poor to financial services.

Within the framework of the financial services development program, the government of Mozambique has endeavored to create a mass of investment opportunities.

Direct Foreign Investment flow is key to the development of the Mozambique economy, and has increased significantly over the past years. This trend reflects partly the global economic and political and stability in Mozambique, as well as the effectiveness of the Government Investment policy.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Mozambique is a small open market economy and importer of oil products which causes a huge burden on the Mozambican economy. Foreign investment is key to lessen the burden and to diversify the economy.

While Mozambique remains a country conspicuously agricultural, employing over 80% of the economically active people in the sector, Industry also performs a key role in the process of economic development. The Industry and trade sectors ranked first and second place in terms of contribution to the revenue of the top 100 companies in Mozambique in the last 2 years.
The Government’s mission among others is to enhance sustainable development of the trade and industry sector through many incentives and formulation and implementation of appropriate policies and strategies.

Furthermore, as a result of its colonial links, Portugal is the principal market to which Mozambique exports directly. Meanwhile trade relations between the United States and Mozambique are good and steadily improving.
The United States is the largest bilateral donor to the country and plays a leading role in donor efforts to assist Mozambique.

Despite the continued rejuvenation of the economy, external aid still plays a large part. Support programs provided by foreign donors and private financing of foreign direct investment mega-projects and their associated raw materials have largely compensated for balance-of-payment shortfalls. Future strong expansion requires continued economic reforms, major foreign direct investment, and the resurrection of the agriculture, transportation and tourism sectors.

LOGISTICS

Transport and communications have experienced huge growths in Mozambique. The existing transport network aims to ensure the flow of goods from and to bordering countries, despite facing the challenge of poor internal connections.

The government is now realizing the importance within the national context of transforming this lapse. As agriculture absorbs 80% of the economically active people, a better transport network promotes development of agricultural markets by means of more rapid connections between rural areas and urban areas and ALSO between production and end-user.

TOURISM

Mozambique’s sandy palm-fringed beaches and coral reefs still qualify as some of the most beautiful places in Africa. Small, reliable planes are a common way of transport to bring tourists to one of the many heavenly islands, where they can experience the magic of Mozambique.

Sunny skies, endless beaches and clear waters make this country a perfect holiday destination. Visitors are astonished by the wonderful scenery. They can encounter surprises of nature, like the evening dance of the crabs, wandering around in their unusual homes. A sunset at the beach is always nice, but here in Mozambique it tends to be extraordinary. This is only one of the many assets the country can rely on to become a new centre for tourism.

One of the highlights of Mozambique tourism is a visit to the Gorongosa National Park. In the 1960’s, the park was nearly as renowned as Kruger Park in South Africa. Unfortunately, during the civil war, wildlife was decimated. Slowly, the animal population is increasing again. Now you can already see warthogs, impalas, baboons, and if you are lucky, lions, zebras, elephants or hippos. The revitalization effort of the Gorongosa National Park is supported by the American billionaire Gregory Carr, who fell in love with this nature paradise. Mozambique gives you an opportunity to experience life in a traditional African village. Since there is no mass tourism yet, local people are curious and interested to meet foreigners. Children flock together around the visitors, and laughter is never far away.

A typical Mozambican way of caring for the body is the application of the Musiro mask. It makes the skin beautiful, and especially in the north, girls can often be seen with these smiling white faces. Mozambique provides extensive opportunities to invest in the country. As the country awakens from a troubled past, it earnestly looks forward to an exciting future.