Mozambique: Five companies ‘have completely halted activities with no prospect of resuming’ as Africa’s aluminium giant Mozal readies for Sunday shutdown

At least five companies have closed, and more could halt operations at the Beluluane Industrial Park in southern Mozambique, following Mozal, Africa’s second-largest aluminium smelter, entering care and maintenance on Sunday, an official source told Lusa today. “We estimate a total of 25 companies supplying goods and services to Mozal. We have already been informed that most of these companies, in response to the smelter’s suspension, are also considering taking similar measures,” said Onório Manuel, Director-General of MozParks, the entity that manages the industrial park, the largest in the country, located 20 kilometres from Maputo.

The official explained that with Mozal – Mozambique’s largest industry, employing over 1,000 direct workers and another 4,000 indirectly – entering care and maintenance, more companies are expected to close. Some of these factories had to remain operational until the smelter’s suspension because they were directly involved in the safe shutdown process. READ:Working to the eleventh hour: Companies face a nightmare as closure of Mozal, Mozambique’s largest industry, looms “At this moment, we are already counting an average of five companies that have ceased operations, those most closely linked to production, because there are also companies handling electrical maintenance, industrial maintenance and so on.

Currently, around five companies have completely halted activities with no prospect of resuming,” he noted. According to Onório Manuel, these shutdowns put approximately 4,000 jobs at risk among factories linked to the smelter: “We are talking about numerous positions in companies linked to Mozal’s value chain, not necessarily within Mozal itself.” FILE – An employee works at the Mozal facilities in Maputo province, southern Mozambique, 26 February 2026. [File photo: Lusa/Lina Cebola] For the MozParks Director-General, with the smelter under care and maintenance, a “detrimental” impact is expected on the Park’s growth and development pace, which had been, according to him, “very fast and attracting more and more industries.” “But this impact [of Mozal shutdown] is not limited to the Park; it also affects the local economy of the province and the country as a whole.

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Mozal is not one of those industries whose impact is confined to a single industrial unit, namely Beluluane Industrial Park; it is an entity with a very significant footprint,” he said. The official further noted that news of Mozal’s shutdown reaches international markets with an interest in Mozambique, bringing a set of risks that discourages investment, particularly large-scale projects, and with significant impact on the country’s GDP. “In terms of the manufacturing industry’s contribution to the gross domestic product, Mozal contributed on average 49%.

Mozambique’s GDP stands at US$16 billion [€13.8 billion], and the manufacturing sector accounts for 10%. This is US$1.6 billion [€1.3 billion], and nearly half of that comes from Mozal. Therefore, even Mozambique’s GDP, particularly in the social sector, will decrease,” he concluded. READ:Aluminium traders brace for turmoil as Iran crisis chokes supply

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