Good afternoon. President Daniel Chapo has spent the past few days trying to sell Mozambique as a broader investment destination. On Friday, he received ExxonMobil’s new Mozambique managing director, Johanna Boothey, and the secretary-general of the African Golf Confederation, Michael Aggrey. On Sunday, he used the Presidential Golf Day to present tourism as a platform for investment, jobs and economic diplomacy. This morning, he received a delegation from U.S. International Finance Partners, which is looking at opportunities in real estate, energy, hospitality, health and technology.
It is a good ambition. Mozambique needs a broader-based economy, with tourism, agriculture, fisheries, logistics, manufacturing and services all featuring prominently. Mozambique has coastline, ports, corridors, fertile land, energy resources and a young labour force. Chapo himself acknowledged in his golf speech that Mozambique’s economy is concentrated in gas and the extractive industries, and said the country must also bet on tourism, agriculture, industry, transport, logistics, energy and other sectors.
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But when the conversation turns to where the big money will come from, it still returns to gas.
ExxonMobil’s Rovuma LNG project is currently the clearest example. Boothey told Chapo that ExxonMobil was encouraged by progress on the project and remained committed to working with the government. A final investment decision (FID) on the project is likely before the end of this year. A recent Standard Bank study put the possible state revenues from the ExxonMobil-led project at up to $150bn over its 30-year life.
