Malabo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday invited businesses from Equatorial Guinea to invest in Mozambique, or to source products that they need from the Mozambican market, on the basis of mutual advantage.
Nyusi, who is on a state visit to Equatorial Guinea, was speaking at a banquet offered in his honour in Malabo by his Equatoguinean counterpart, Teodoro Obiang.
He announced that the two governments have reached agreements to facilitate the business environment, including, as a first step, a waiver of entry visas for diplomatic and service passports.
"Mozambique is a country with many resources that are yet to be exploited", said Nyusi. "There are countless possibilities for the exploitation of minerals such as graphite, coal, gold, marble, limestone, heavy mineral sands, granite and many others".
He stressed the recent discoveries of enormous quantities of natural gas, in the Rovuma Basin, in the far north of the country, and the hydro-electric potential of Mozambique's many rivers. Nyusi added that Mozambique has excellent potential for wind and solar power, and its crystalline waters, and national parks provide many ecotourism opportunities.
Nyusi stressed the excellent diplomatic relations between Mozambique and Equatorial Guinea. With Mozambican support, Equatorial Guinea joined the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in 2014 (even though the official language of Equatorial Guinea is not Portuguese, but Spanish.
"We are in Malabo to reiterate and strengthen our relations of friendship and cooperation, in the most varied fields, but with particular stress on the economic area", he declared.
In order to consolidate the common interest between the two countries, said Nyusi, "we signed an agreement on establishing a Standing Joint Cooperation Commission, an agreement on waiving entry visas for diplomatic and service passports, and a memorandum of understanding on culture and tourism".
"With these instruments", Nyusi claimed, "we are sending a clear signal that our interchange should be expressed in programmes and projects that have a tangible impact on the lives of our citizens".
