Companies led by Mozambican women are establishing new trade relations with buyers from the United Kingdom and South Africa

Thirty-five companies led by Mozambican women welcomed a delegation of six importers from the United Kingdom and South Africa to Manica province, concluding two days of intense business meetings, field visits and negotiations with strong prospects for new export partnerships. Throughout the mission, international buyers conducted field visits to companies in the provinces of Maputo and Manica, seeing first-hand the quality, scale and ambition of Mozambican women entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector. The business-to-business meetings provided buyers and sellers with the opportunity to go beyond presentations and begin exploring the terms of lasting commercial partnerships.

As part of the trade mission, international buyers also visited Mozambique Airport Handling Services and LAM Mozambique Airlines in Maputo to explore possible collaborations and next steps to improve export logistics, which led buyers to discuss possible routes to establish the logistics necessary to enable trade. They also discussed potential opportunities to strengthen trade between the UK and Mozambique and between the UK and South Africa with British Deputy High Commissioner Dominic Ashton. The Private Sector Development Advisor at the British High Commission in Maputo, Vania Cardoso, said: “The UK continues to invest in the people, businesses and talent of women leading the agricultural sector in Mozambique, including here in Manica.

With this year’s SheTrades mission, which brought buyers from the UK and South Africa, we are creating real opportunities for local businesses to grow, export and prosper. British investments already present in the province show what is possible.” In turn, the Director-General of IPEME, Félix Malate, highlighted the importance of female entrepreneurship for the country’s economic development. “Investing in female entrepreneurship is investing in the prosperity of families, the development of communities and the sustainable growth of the national economy,” he said, adding that IPEME is committed to digitising the business ecosystem through the e-MPME platform, which will allow companies to access public services, support programmes, financing and market opportunities.

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This mission also builds on a successful first edition held in 2025, which brought buyers from Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria to Maputo and Manica. That mission kicked off a follow-up support programme for Mozambican women entrepreneurs, including training in packaging and labelling and ongoing mentoring from ITC with the aim of strengthening the capacity of local businesses to meet international standards and respond to buyer demand.

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