MOZAMBICAN defence minister Filipe Nyusi, the frontrunner to become president after October 15 elections, invited investors to help develop a country in need of railways and roads to export its coal reserves.
"We will create solid platforms of mutual trust, investing in a situation by which each and every one of you can contribute to the growth of our country," Mr Nyusi said at a fundraising dinner for his Frelimo party in Johannesburg that was attended by President Jacob Zuma. "We will stabilise our countries because poverty destabilises us."
The ruling Frelimo named Mr Nyusi their candidate as President Armando Guebuza is barred from extending his two terms in office. The party has been in power since independence from Portugal in 1975 and it is estimated to win more than 60% of the vote in October, according to Mark Rosenberg, director for Africa at New York-based Eurasia Group.
Mozambique’s 25.2-million people remain among the world’s poorest. The country ranks 178th of 187 countries in the latest United Nations human development index. It is also the site of the biggest natural gas discovery in the past decade. The nation’s coal deposits have drawn interest from companies including Rio Tinto and Vale.
Rio sold its Mozambican coal project after having to write down its value because it was unable to export the raw materials.