MOZAMBIQUE
Beyond the bad news: Mozambique maintains investment pull
A series of worrying headlines regarding Mozambique ' s bond activity and overall economic performance do not portray a country ripe for investment, but factors such as a huge natural gas discovery mean the mood within Maputo and beyond is one of optimism. James King reports.
MOZAMBIQUE
IS NOT A COUNTRY ON THE VERGE OF
COLLAPSE
For foreign investors looking to enter Mozambique, recent headlines coming out of the country have been worrying. Cooling commodity prices have hit growth prospects hard and caused a massive devaluation of the metical, which was Africa’ s worst performing currency in 2015. Pressure on government finances has grown in tandem, as diminished revenues have squeezed Mozambique’ s fiscal position and left question marks over the country’ s ability to service its debt.
“ Mozambique is a small economy and one that is relatively dependent on the export of raw commodities. So any slowdown in the regional or global economy will have a big impact on local conditions,” says Antonio Correia, chief executive of Banco Único.
Fishy business
These difficulties have been compounded by ongoing challenges related to Mozambique’ s so-called‘ tuna bond’, intended to develop a state tuna fishing fleet but largely
Pipeline carrying natural gas from Mozambique to South Africa
50 Business Times Africa | 2016