A third of everything Mozambique buys from the EU comes from Portugal, according to 2020 data from the Mozambican National Institute of Statistics (INE), the most recent available.

Medicines, diagnostic and laboratory reagents, wheat, rye and construction materials are the main Portuguese products arriving on the Indian coast, totaling around €230 million in 2020.

Conversely, more than half of what Portugal buys from Mozambique is seafood, with a total of 22 million euros in 2020, sixth among EU countries of destination for Mozambican exports.

The previous summit between the two countries was in 2019 and at the time the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, defended the strengthening of economic relations with Portugal.

He asked for training and investment in the transformation of the country’s raw materials, for valorization.

At the same time, António Carlos Silva, administrator of the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP), said that economic relations between Portugal and Mozambique were below potential.

It was a “challenge”, but it remained to be faced, because in the meantime almost everything stopped, to face the covid-19.

The Portuguese government delegation led by the Prime Minister, António Costa, will be today and Friday in a Portuguese-speaking country where, before the pandemic, there were about 600 mainly small and medium-sized – the country with the most Portuguese firms, after Portuguese companies Angola. .

The two main Mozambican banks, Millennium and BCI, are owned by Portuguese banking and other major brands are renowned in chemical products, hotels and construction, among other sectors.

Mozambique continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world, where much of the expectations for those doing business remain in the hope of advancing natural gas exploration.

But armed attacks in the north have forced investors to postpone major projects.

Still, in the midst of uncertainty, as prospects are for economic growth in Mozambique.

In the most recent analysis of the country, published on Friday, a non-financial agency Fitch raised Mozambique’s rating from CCC to CCC+, preventing GDP growth from accelerating to 7.7% in 2024 and high until 2026”.

Prime Minister António Costa and Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi lead delegations to the V Mozambique-Portugal Summit, scheduled for today, in Maputo.

The business forum between the two countries will take place on Friday, during the Maputo International Fair (Facim), the main event for economic activities in the country, also with the presence of Nyusi and Costa.

LFO // VM