Moz puts business people at the helm

Government gets serious about addressing skills shortages

There is a fresh wave

of increased business

confidence in

Mozambique as the new

government starts making a

difference.

According to the Instituto

Nacional De Estatistica,

Mozambique business

confidence rose sharply after the

January appointment of a new

cabinet by then newly elected

Mozambican president Filipe

Nyusi.

Ministers for key posts linked

to the economy were drawn

from business by Nyusi, who

holds a mechanical engineering

degree from Brno University of

Technology in Czechoslovakia

and a postgraduate degree in

management from the Victoria

University of Manchester in

England.

Adriano Maleiane, former

governor of the Reserve Bank,

was appointed minister of

economy and finance.

The minister of trade and

industry is Ernesto Tonela,

who was financial director of

Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa,

the company that operates

the Cahora Bassa dam on the

Zambezi.

His deputy is Omar Mitha,

who was chief economist at the

country’s largest commercial

bank, the Millennium-BIM.

Appointed as minister of

land, the environment and rural

development was prominent

businessman Celso Correia,

founder of the Insitec group.

Nyusi and his government

also seem to be serious about

addressing Mozambique’s skills

shortages.

Luis Ferrao, formerly the vicechancellor

of the publicly owned

Lurio University, has been

appointed minister of education

and human development, with

prominent linguist Armindo

Ngunga as his deputy.

Higher education is taken out

of this portfolio and merged

with science and technology to

form the ministry of science,

technology, higher, technical

and professional education,

under Jorge Penicela Nhambiu,

an associate professor of

engineering and chairperson

of the National Science and

Technology Park.

But, the minister most

mentioned in freight and trading

circles is Carlos Mesquita,

who heads up transport and

communications.

He is the former head of

Cornelder de Mozambique

(CdM), the company that runs

the port of Beira, and will

have known the Mozambican

president for some time.

Prior to his appointment to the

cabinet by president Armando

Guebuza, Nyusi worked for the

state-owned Mozambique Ports

and Railways authority (CFM).

He became executive director

of CFM-Norte, the northern

division of the company, in 1995,

and joined the company’s board

of directors in 2007.

CdM is a joint venture

between Dutch company

Cornelder and CFM.

Showing its close relationship

with its neighbour, Mozambican

business confidence after

January dropped sharply

together with that of South

Africa.

However, since June

Mozambican business

confidence is on the increase

– and is higher than South

Africa’s.

Leaders in the logistics

sector interviewed by FTW see

the appointment of ministers

with practical experience in

the movement of freight as a

positive.

The cabinet will have to steer

the economy carefully in order

to escape the current doldrums

caused by the Chinese slowdown

and the drop in commodity

prices – including that of oil and

coal, which have the potential

to fundamentally change the

Mozambican economy.

Some fixes are relatively easy.

As one forwarder pointed out

Maputo is one of the cheapest

ports in Africa in terms of

port fees, but when one adds

government taxes it becomes one

of the most expensive.

A number of managers also

commented that schooling had

improved since the end of the

civil war and the first multi-party

elections in 1994. They are finding

it much easier to recruit local

Mozambicans with the necessary

educational qualifications.

Investment in roads, rail and

ports will take a little longer to

have an impact on reducing costs

– but it is happening, with the

support of the new cabinet team.

It is not only the local business

sector which is more positive.

According to a Chatham House

report, “foreign investors are

committing to Mozambique,

and this can only have been

encouraged by recent political

developments”.

The authors of the report are

confident that Mozambique will

become a major energy exporter.

“The market for LNG (liquid

natural gas) is strong – especially

in East Asia.

“Looking ahead by some years

to 2020–25, LNG markets in the

United States and Europe should

also become more attractive,

as domestic production winds

down in the former and North

Africa’s supply to Europe begins

to dwindle.

“The long-term view of

Mozambique’s LNG prospects is

good – albeit more modest than

spectacular.

“In addition to LNG

development, there are significant

investments under way in

agribusiness (biofuels production),

coal, non-hydrocarbon minerals

and fisheries,” it says.

All of which means that there

will be plenty of opportunities for

companies in the logistics sector

in the years ahead.