• GDP: US$6.4 billion (2006).
• Main exports: Cotton, cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, cassava (tapioca), corn, coconuts, sisal, citrus and tropical fruits, potatoes, sunflowers, beef and poultry.
• Main imports: Machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, chemicals, metal products, food and textiles.
• Main trade partners: Exports to: Spain, South Africa, USA, Belgium and Italy; Imports from: South Africa, Australia and Portugal.

Agriculture, which employs 80% of the working population, is the mainstay of the economy. Forestry is increasing in importance. Fishing is both an important source of food and a vital export earner. Manufacturing industry produces one quarter of GDP: products include processed foods, textiles, drinks, cement and fertiliser. Mining operations produce coal, salt, bauxite, gemstones and marble. In addition, natural gas is extracted from onshore fields and piped to South Africa.

Following the end of the debilitating civil war in 1994, the Mozambican economy picked up strongly over the next five years, recording annual growth of around 10%, although at the price of high inflation (around 35%) at times. Mozambique was also deemed eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, which was agreed by major donors in 1999 and lifted some of the country’s substantial debt burden.

However, much of Mozambique’s fragile economic progress was undone by the devastating floods of 2000. Since then the economy has been further undermined by drought and trade-related disputes over the issue of subsidies to farmers. A number of African countries complain of the international financial community’s insistence that they remove subsidies while Western countries continue to support their own agricultural sector. (Mozambique points to the near-collapse of its once thriving cashew nut industry.) In 2002, Mozambique was once again obliged to call upon its aid donors for emergency food aid.

Mozambique is a member of the Southern African Development Conference. South Africa, the USA and Portugal are Mozambique’s most important trading partners.

Lightweight suits are advised. Prior appointments are recommended. A knowledge of Portuguese is normally necessary for business dealings, although there are translation facilities available in Maputo. January is the main holiday month, so this should be avoided for business trips.

Office hours: Mon-Fri 0730-1230 and 1400-1730.

Câmara de Comércio de Moçambique
CP 1836, Rua Mateus Sansão Mutemba 452, Maputo, Mozambique
Tel: (1) 491 970.