The Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, Roberto Albino, warned against what he described as a culture of “excessive ease” in the allocation of land in Mozambique, both for agricultural purposes and for conservation and hunting areas, without, in many cases, “any real productive investment.” The statement was made on Thursday (21st) during his address at the African Forum on Diplomacy and Tourism, held in Maputo.
“The price of a business class airline ticket is often the same amount paid to the State for 100,000 hectares of land. This is unacceptable,” said the minister, adding that, at present, vast tracts are titled, but only five percent are actually being used.
Albino revealed that the Government is carrying out a strict evaluation process of all land concessions, including those intended for agriculture and conservation. “We will visit them one by one, verify the level of investment and contractual compliance. Where there is inactivity, the land will be reverted to the State,” he assured.
This action is part of a broader legislative reform agenda that the Government intends to implement later this year. The minister announced that the draft of the new Land Law is already nearing completion and should allow for the automatic recovery of unproductive concessions. “This is the year of reforms. We want to adjust the legal framework and implement our development model over the next three and a half years,” he stated.
Roberto Albino also criticized the proliferation of intermediaries who request vast areas of land without the technical or financial capacity to develop them. “A good negotiator is one who brings the investor along. He himself is not the investor,” he stressed, noting that the ministry will no longer serve as “a consultancy desk or a counter of empty promises.”
The minister also addressed the impact of the carbon credit boom, reporting that 8.5 million hectares have already been earmarked for this purpose. “Mozambique runs the risk of repeating past mistakes, when the country was subjected to massive concessions for biofuels that never materialized,” he warned.
In the tourism sector, Albino advocated for a stronger link with national agricultural production, proposing that tourists consume locally produced food that meets international quality standards. “Sustainable tourism is also about this: healthy, affordable, Mozambican food on the visitor’s plate,” he said.
In conclusion, the minister reiterated that all natural resources must serve national development and the eradication of extreme poverty. “We are committed to a new paradigm. The resources exist, but they must generate wealth for Mozambicans and not for private pockets without productive impact,” he concluded.
The African Forum on Diplomacy and Tourism took place from August 20 to 22 under the theme “Unlocking Africa’s Tourism Potential through Diplomacy and Investment.”
Over three days, the event brought together members of African governments, representatives of the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), international institutions, as well as public and private sector entities linked to tourism. The forum provided a platform for high-level dialogue and enabled the definition of strategies to position tourism as a driver of sustainable economic development and regional integration in Africa.
Text: Felisberto Ruco
