The Government, through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, invited Kenyan businessmen to invest in key sectors of the country this Friday, 11 August, in Maputo, during the Mozambique-Kenya Business Forum.
“I want to invite Kenyan entrepreneurs to come, in partnership with our national business community, to invest in Mozambique, doing business in some of the priority areas of development,” said the Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno.
The minister listed some of the investment areas that he considers a priority for development: “firstly, the agricultural value chains and productive niches with agro-ecological potential that exist in the Zambezi Valley and the Northern Corridor; secondly, the establishment of industrial parks and supply markets in the transformation and value addition of agri-food products, fisheries, graphite, bauxite, wood, aluminium, steel, iron and marble; thirdly, in the energy and mineral resources sector, more specifically in the Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project and in the exploitation of natural gas in the Buzi district basin; and fourthly, in the infrastructure and logistics corridors sector and in the tourism sector”.
Mr Moreno said that over the past five years, “we have been pleased to see the inflow of Kenyan investment totalling US$77 million in industry, agriculture and agro-industry, transport services, tourism and hospitality”.
On his part, the president of the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), Mr Agostinho Vuma, said that the Mozambican business community is interested in deepening partnerships and exploring business and investment opportunities with their Kenyan counterparts. “There is a desire to reverse the current scenario of low trade flows between the two countries. For instance, in 2021, this figure stood at $30.7 million. Foreign direct investment flows are also insignificant,” Mr Vuma said.
The CTA leader said he believes in the opportunities that exist to increase trade and investment relations between the two countries, namely in the exports of tea, corn, sugar and aluminium cables.
On the same occasion, Agostinho Vuma also assured that the institution he heads is aware of the challenges facing the national business community regarding the need for training and certification to establish links with major projects, in order to serve the different components of the oil and gas industry value chain, as well as ensuring the dynamisation of other sectors of the economy.
The Mozambique-Kenya Business Forum is organised between the Ministry of Industry and Trade, through the Agency for the Promotion of Investment and Exports (APIEX), in partnership with the Mozambique Chamber of Commerce (CCM), with the aim of promoting business and investment opportunities in Mozambique and Kenya, as well as facilitating the establishment of business partnerships between the two countries.
