Mozambique and South Africa have scope to deepen business relations and convert the proximity between the two markets into new investment, export, and partnership opportunities for Mozambican companies, according to participants in a webinar on 'Business Environment: Investment and Opportunities for Companies', held on Tuesday (29).
During the event, Miguel Jóia Santos, director-general of ExportaMoz, described South Africa as a natural market for Mozambique, citing geographic proximity, the scale of the South African economy, and the existence of well-developed distribution chains, industry, retail, agro-processing, and services. According to him, these conditions create opportunities for Mozambican companies that are able to scale up production and meet the standards demanded by international markets.
Miguel Jóia Santos argued, in this context, that inward investment into Mozambique must be accompanied by the development of domestic companies. In his view, national companies should not limit themselves to supplying goods and services to large projects, but should use those opportunities to gain experience, increase production scale, and improve competitiveness — building the foundation to subsequently export to other markets.
Among the sectors with business potential, he identified value chains in cashew, sesame, beans, timber, fisheries, agro-industry, and minerals. He cautioned, however, that the existence of production capacity and international demand is not sufficient to guarantee export success. To realise those opportunities, companies also require financing, product quality assurance, storage capacity, logistics, and mechanisms to mitigate the risks inherent in commercial operations.
Also at the webinar, Celso Cuamba, vice-president for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and local content at the Mozambique–South Africa Chamber of Commerce (CCIMOSA), highlighted the weight of the economic relationship between the two countries, noting that millions of rand circulate daily through transactions conducted by Mozambicans in South Africa, including informal activities. He argued that the scale of this movement demonstrates the strength of the economic linkage between the two markets, while also underscoring the need to create mechanisms that facilitate the integration of these activities into the formal sector.
Celso Cuamba also advocated for an increase in contact platforms between business people from both countries, through business meetings, chambers of commerce, and sectoral forums — mechanisms that, in his view, can bring companies closer together, facilitate the identification of partners, and allow entrepreneurs to gain a better understanding of business opportunities and available support structures in both markets.
Despite these opportunities, access to foreign currency remains one of the principal constraints facing Mozambican companies. Oldemiro Belchior, chief economist at Millennium bim, pointed to difficulties in obtaining foreign exchange to finance the importation of consumer goods, equipment, and raw materials — a situation that disproportionately affects micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and limits their capacity to grow and respond to new business opportunities.
Beyond these challenges, participants identified medium- and long-term opportunities associated with large-scale projects, particularly in the energy, industry, agro-industry, mining, logistics, and infrastructure sectors, arguing that these investments can stimulate the emergence of new value chains and create conditions for stronger participation by Mozambican companies, both in the supply of goods and services and in higher value-added activities.
To convert these opportunities into concrete business outcomes, participants agreed that Mozambican companies must improve productivity, management, financial capacity, and compliance with international standards. Strengthened cooperation between companies, banks, insurers, investors, logistics operators, and public institutions was identified as essential to increasing exports and deepening economic integration between Mozambique and South Africa.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/29/negocios/mocambique-e-africa-do-sul-querem-reforcar-relacoes-empresariais/
