Mozambique is seeking business partnerships in the areas of tourism, agribusiness, mineral resources and energy with Nigeria, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Silvino Moreno, reiterated at the bilateral business forum which started last week.
Nigeria's investment in Mozambique between 2016 and 2021 is valued at more than US$44 million, most notably in the country's banking sector, as is the case of the United Bank for Africa, Access Bank and other banking institutions.
However, the government believes that it is imperative to widen the scope for economic cooperation in other sectors.
According to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, there are other areas which deserve greater attention and can serve as a catalyst for access to international markets, and contribute to the development of both countries.
"Agricultural value chains and production niches with agro-ecological potential, the implementation of industrial parks and supply markets, the transformation and value addition of agri-food products, including fisheries, the energy and mineral resources sector and the exploitation of the natural gas in the Búzi District Basin and the infrastructure and logistic corridors sector, as well as in the tourism sector," Minister Moreno detailed at the opening of the Nigeria-Mozambique Business and Investment Forum.
The country's legal framework and the new economic stimulus measures announced in August by President Nyusi should also be taken into consideration.
"The government also grants a set of guarantees and tax benefits to investments depending on their nature and sector of activity and has a legal framework which promotes and protects foreign and national direct investment and allows the export or repatriation of capital and dividends linked to the investment," Moreno stressed.
Among the various measures announced, there is the revision of the Visa Law which will, together with the process of reviewing the 1993 Investment Law currently under way contribute to "better and greater mobility, facilitation and protection of investment".
Câmara de Comércio de Moçambique
Nigerian High Commissioner in Mozambique, Yamah Mohammed Musa, said the Nigeria-Mozambique Business and Investment Forum would open space in the trade area so that more business can arise, thereby consolidating the economy of both countries.
"We are using this forum to invite Nigerian private entrepreneurs to come and explore business opportunities in Mozambique, because there is a lot of potential and a lot of resources which foreign investors can use as a source of financing for various investments in the country, and also showcase Nigeria's potential," Musa said.
Câmara de Comércio de Moçambique
One of the main goals of this business forum is to stimulate the growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with strategies to this end already being implemented by some Mozambican entrepreneurs.
"We want, firstly, to make Nigerian entrepreneurs aware of the potential of Mozambique, secondly, to promote exchanges between entrepreneurs from the two countries, thirdly, to promote business partnerships and exchanges of services between Nigerian and Mozambican entrepreneurs, to promote investment and boost the economic development of micro, small and medium-sized companies in Mozambique and Nigeria, through the internationalisation of their products and services, and finally, to stimulate business between Africans, that is, intra-African business," declared Álvaro Massingue, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Mozambique.
Interviewed by 'O País Económico', Otieno Salimu, a Nigerian businessman who works in Mozambique, stressed that Mozambique had a positive business environment, making it worthwhile continuing to invest.
"For me, Mozambique has a good business environment and can profit from Nigeria's experience in the areas of oil and petroleum, given that the country has developed in these areas, and I believe that it can take advantage of these areas, as well as in agriculture," Salimu said.
The Business Forum in Maputo, which brings together businesspeople from Nigeria and Mozambique, runs under the motto "Creating Opportunities for Partnership, Investment and Economic Growth", and ends this Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment