President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique asked corporations from the United States to engage in critical economic sectors in southern Africa, particularly in Mozambique.
“I ask the Americans to engage in agriculture in Mozambique, to invest in infrastructures, energy, and tourism because these are very challenging areas,” Nyusi remarked on the second day of the 13th United States-Africa Business Summit, hosted in Maputo in virtual format.
He stressed that the US administration has shown “great openness” towards Africa “and this will be fundamental for increasingly cementing our relations”.
Turning to the inclusion of women in economic activities, the President reiterated the importance of the empowerment of women in all areas of development. “We have said that here in Mozambique empowering women means investing in families, and this is one of the questions where the United States has given us a lot of support”, he said.
Nyusi also pointed to the lack of investment in scientific research as one of the main factors holding up the development of the continent. As an example, he pointed to the low level of investment in health care, claiming that the explosion of the Covid-19 pandemic was a result of inadequate investment in the sector.
“We have to invest in health”, he stressed, “and I believe that after this weakness that the whole world has displayed with regard to sensitivity to health care, that things are going to change”.
“This is a lesson for all of us”, he stressed. “Few investments have been made, particularly in vaccine research and production”.
The business summit is intended to look at the next stage in the economic partnership between the United States and Africa, stressing health, gender equality, trade and investment as key areas of cooperation.
Other key areas under consideration at the meeting are climate change, agro-processing, the energy transition and digital transformation
