Mozambique: Africa should be continent of industrialisation – Chapo

Today is the time “to break definitively with the pattern of exporting raw materials and instead to affirm Africa as a continent of industrialisation, innovation and the creation of added value, particularly jobs for our young people”, declared Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Wednesday. He was speaking in Nairobi at the opening of Kenya’s Fourth International Investment Conference, which is taking place under the theme “Unblocking Investment Opportunities to Drive the Transformation of Kenya”. Chapo said this theme captures “the historic crossroads at which our continent finds itself”.

It is, without doubt, the continent of the future. But today the challenge of our time is no longer to identify opportunities -it is to unblock them with firm political decisions, patient capital, and strategic partnerships that meet African priorities”. Unblocking opportunities, Chapo continued, meant “creating a climate of trust between the public sector, governments and the private sector, with peace, stability, predictability and very clear rules”.

It also meant “structuring viable projects, with technical quality and bankability, and building smart partnerships which combine capital, technology and local knowledge”. He added that, with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, “we are building the largest integrated market in the world with a combined GDP of more than 3.4 trillion US dollars”. In the recent past, Africa had fought for its political liberation.

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“But today, we have another historical imperative”, said Chapo, “to invite our brothers from across the globe to the development of our continent”. Mozambique was presenting itself as a strategic partner in this continental transformation. Chapo stressed that Mozambique has over 36 million hectares of arable land, of which only 15 per cent is currently in use, which creates “singular opportunities for the development of agro-industrial value chains, complementing the experience of Kenya in agricultural innovation and access to markets”.

In the domain of renewable energies, he said, “Kenya and Mozambique share a common vision of energy transition. Mozambique possesses a series of energy assets which make it the energy hub of southern Africa”.

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