Omar Mithá, economist and Chairman of the Board of Directors of BNI, delivered one of the most incisive speeches during the launch of the second edition ofEconomia de Moçambique e os Desafios da Nova Crise(‘The Economy of Mozambique and the Challenges of the New Crisis’) by Ibraimo Mussagy. For Mithá, the book’s contribution is particularly relevant at a time when the Mozambican economy faces deep vulnerabilities and an urgent need to strengthen credibility, competitiveness and institutional trust to attract sustainable financing. The context: a book launch turned economic diagnosis Omar Mithá’s intervention took place at the public ceremony presenting the book, attended by academics, economists, public managers and government officials.
The event quickly became a forum for assessing the economic situation, and it was in this setting that the BNI Chairman framed his concerns about the country’s trajectory. Mithá openly praised Ibraimo Mussagy’s contribution, stating that the book arrives at a moment when “we must look at the economy without illusions, with rigour and based on evidence.” He said the work offers a clear diagnosis of accumulating vulnerabilities and highlights the urgency of structural reforms. Omar Mithá began by emphasising that current problems are not merely cyclical, nor the result of a single shock.
The crisis the country faces is the outcome of a combination of internal factors — inconsistent policies, currency fragility, low productivity — and external ones — pandemics, climate shocks and international volatility. “We are facing internal and external shocks that affect the economy — from adverse weather and Covid, to macroeconomic management and exchange rate policy. All of this impacts prices, inflation, income and may cause recession.” This perspective directly dialogues with Mussagy’s book, which analyses the interaction between structural and cyclical factors in the formation of the new economic crisis.
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The economy cannot finance itself without credibility The most incisive point in Mithá’s intervention was his assertion that Mozambique critically depends on the credibility and trust of markets to finance its development. “The country can only finance itself if it is credible, competitive and able to attract external savings. And in a world with strong competition, capital goes where there is trust.” Here, the economist reinforces one of the central arguments in Mussagy’s work: economic stability is not built solely on political will, but with strong institutions, fiscal coherence and regulatory predictability.
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