“Food, Jobs, Hope”: Mozambique is looking through investment to economic recovery Business and Economics News

Mapoto, Mozambique – Below the main corridor of the bustling conference pavilion in the capital of Mozambique, Mapoto and Lucia Matimily stand surrounded by green green leaves, pepper on the leg, and groups of mature bananas.

“We have land, we have water, we have farmers!” It’s excited. “What we need is investment.”

Matimele is the director of industry and trade in the Gaza County, an area about 200 km (125 miles) and is one of the main bread tools in the country. She and her team mobilized some of their most promising crops and joined thousands of others – from inside and outside Mozambique – to show their goods and make the industry links as the government is working to enhance economic growth and development in what was a difficult political year.

There are more than 3000 exhibitors from about 30 countries in Mozambique this week at the 60th MAPUTO International Exhibition (Facim) – the largest of its kind in the country. The government said it is expected that tens of thousands will attend the event for seven days.

Crowds of exhibitors and the attendees gathered enthusiastically at the site of the Maboto conference on the first day of the event on Monday. Dozens of wings host local works and the leaders of the boycott industry, such as Matimele, regional and international companies looking to trade in or with Mozambique.

When standing in front of the delegates and businessmen at the opening ceremony, Mozambeki’s President Daniel Chapo focused on the need to ensure a good environment for foreign investors, while building a comprehensive and sustainable local economy.

“Mozambique has a Geosterodi site, with ports, development corridors, and various other capabilities; vast resources, minerals, natural, agricultural, tourism, and above all, the” unique opportunities “of the country.

But at home, he stressed, “Economic independence begins with agricultural workers, farmers, youth and women – we are all together.”

With this, in mind, the government, with the funding of the World Bank, created a new joint guarantee fund worth $ 40 million to help finance small and medium enterprises in the country. The President said that this would provide credit guarantees at least 15,000 companies and aimed at assisting women and youth mainly.

“One of the concerns we hear over and over again in all annual private sector conferences is the difficulty of reaching financing,” Chapo said during the launch of the Facim Fund on Monday.

“We know that high interest rates were almost uninterrupted barriers to small and medium -sized companies, which represent the heart of the national fabric fabric, and thus the creation of this fund, specifically dedicated to this group of companies, because it is responsible for 90 percent of the dynamics of our economy, which mainly generates income for young people.”

He added: “This tool is not just a financial mechanism, it is a bridge to restore the Mozambi economy.”

“We can better feed our people.”

The World Bank says Mozambique has “extensive resources”, including arable land, abundant water sources, energy, mineral resources, and natural gas deposits.

However, the growth of the total local products (GDP) is expected to be only 2025 percent (it was 1.8 per cent in 2024 and 5.4 per cent in 2023).

Experts refer to a large group of challenges facing the southern African nation: for years, it was besieged with $ 2 billion “Hidden debts” The corruption scandal that was involved in senior government officials; He is still recovering from the post -2014 elections Protests That affected tourism. It faces a continuous rebellion by armed fighters in the northern Cabo Deljado province, the homeland of LNG reserves (LNG).

The armed rebellion stopped Totalenergies’ 20 billion dollar LNG projectHe noted, however, put additional pressure on the financial affairs in the region and economic prospects close to progress, noted by Borges Nhamirre, Mozambeki researcher in the field of security and governance at the Institute of Security Studies.

“Mozambique’s economy has been prepared for the next 20 years to rely on natural resources … But now the latest problem is the rebellion in the northern part of the country. This affects Mozambique’s economy deeply,” said Namirre.

He added: “Unfortunately, Mozambique did not diversify the source of revenue, and he did not invest in other sectors such as agriculture, industry and industrialization – by mostly dependence on natural gas.”

“Mozambique needs to betting on producing his own food,” the researcher said, noting that it is not reasonable to continue to import when the country has the ability to feed itself. “The land of agriculture is present, and the water is present. So, the problem is just a mentality and a little capital.”

In her booth in a wings in Facim, Matimele has similar ideas. “We can better feed our people,” she said, surrounded by fresh products from small farms in Gaza Province. Through the corridor of them, another booth is proud of supplies from Titi Province: grains, seafood, vegetables and livestock; While companies sell local elements, including coffee and honey all over Facim, including coffee and honey.

In Gaza, Mattemelie says, people are cultivating rice, bananas, cashews and academia, many of which send them abroad to countries such as South Africa and Vietnam – and want to increase exports and reach new places.

It says that the challenge for them is not production, but processing and distribution.

“We need to enter a large industry in this work,” Matimili said, adding that small farmers need guarantees that what they produce will be sold and not lost.

“Facim helps us by giving us a safe market,” she explained.

Without financing, “will stumble”

For other observers, the Facim focus this year on investment and the joint guarantee fund represent a step in the right direction, especially for small business owners in the agricultural sector.

“Agriculture is our main supplier. It employs millions of people and feeds millions.” However, there is still a long -term “problem” with the sector, as noted by Mapoto.

He said: “(historically), we had a lot of disintegration in that (agricultural) session,” with a highlight of the civil war 1977-1992, and in the midst of that, the severe drought that struck the country from 1982 to 1984 was.

The researcher said that the current challenges facing Mozambican agriculture include a lack of capital for cultivation, as well as some people who prefer to take an easier path by importing food from South Africa adjacent for sale locally instead of cultivating it from scratch.

“In many regions, funding is a major motivation,” said Sheikhani. “If you don’t have money, you can (still) start a very good job, but there will be a specific way you will hang – you will need equipment, you will need to pay people, you will need a truck, you will need to put a fence; for anything, you will need money.”

This is where the mutual guarantee box can be within reach.

“More investment in agriculture is good.” This sector will also help the development of individuals who grow small plots from land to small and medium -sized agricultural companies that make more enlightened options around “the type of land, a place to grow, and how to use your land.”

For Nhamirre analyst, the way the CHAPO government is dealing with the most urgent economic issues in the country will have a long way to determine the result.

But he notes that external factors, such as armed rebellion in northern and internal governance issues, will also play a role.

He said: “There are internal things that the government needs to do well … People are still very frustrated,” noting after the election violence last year, saying that there are protests on the opportunity that may explode again.

At the same time, Shayani looks at this issue through the lens of the historian. “There is a cycle of crisis: If there is an economic crisis, it leads to a political crisis, and this leads to social disturbances. If you are dealing with the economy and nourishing people, there will be no more social turmoil, and there will be no political crisis. So, you start with the economy.”

“Give people food, give people jobs, and give people hope – they will work and earn money.”

In her booth in Facim, Matimily and her team stand ready to match the red shirts decorated with the words: “Gaza, the path of progress” in the Portuguese language. In front of them is a week of communication that they hope will lead to more food, more jobs, more jobs, more hope.

“Investment is the correct way to follow up,” said the head of the province industry. “If we have an investment, we can solve all problems.”