Maputo, April 13, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique has recorded no kidnappings for six months, President Daniel Chapo announced on Monday, saying that improved security has strengthened confidence and attracted domestic and foreign investment.

"Mozambique has gone six months without a single kidnapping case confirmed by the authorities," Mozambique's head of state declared in Maputo. 

Chapo, who leads the governing Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo) party, spoke during the opening of the 2nd National Council of the Mozambican Youth Organisation (OJM).

This stability fulfils a promise made during his inauguration in January 2025, and the shift restores security for the national and international business community, the primary target of kidnappings. Business data indicates that approximately 150 entrepreneurs have been victims of this crime over the last 12 years.

"This new reality is beginning to act as a determining factor for the confidence and investments of the national and international business class," he said.

On 15 March, he said that authorities were working with "calm and serenity" to stop this type of crime. "We had situations where foreigners wanted to invest in Mozambique but did not do so because of this specific crime, and we are working with calm and serenity to combat this evil," he said in Brussels.

The Portuguese businessperson released last week (10 March) was the only hostage still in captivity in the country, according to him. He highlighted the reduction in such crimes as an essential factor in attracting investment.

Authorities have detained approximately 300 people involved in kidnapping cases since the first reports of these crimes in Mozambique in 2010, a Sernic spokesperson told Lusa on 23 October. This statistic represents only an approximate figure, the spokesperson said.

A hundred investors left the country over the last 12 years out of fear, according to 2024 figures from the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA).

LCE/RYOL // ADB.

Lusa