Maputo, May 13, 2026 (Lusa) - Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Mozambique rose 60.2% in 2025 to $5.693 billion (€4.829 billion), as major projects and the extractive industry continued to drive growth, official data shows.
The Bank of Mozambique’s report said the recent trend of rising FDI for major projects stems from increased capital inflows linked to oil and gas projects.
These focus on hydrocarbon exploration in the Rovuma basin and on revitalising the coal and heavy sands industries.
The report added that companies outside the major projects category showed mixed performance in recent years, reaching their highest point in 2021 as these businesses invested in meeting demand from major projects in transport, storage and communications.
Mozambique’s total FDI was $3.553 billion (€3.014 billion) in 2024, according to the central bank’s historical data.
Foreign investment grew 41.5% in 2024 and 2% in 2023.
Regarding sectoral distribution, the document says the extractive industry "maintained its position as the largest recipient of investment flows," totalling $5.211 billion (€4.421 billion).
This represents 91.5% of total FDI, a 68.2% increase compared to 2024.
Manufacturing followed with $120.9 million (€102.5 million), equivalent to 2.1% of total FDI, down 10.4% in a year.
Real estate, rental, and business services recorded an inflow of $66.4 million (€56.4 million), equivalent to 1.2% of total FDI, a 17.9% increase.
Mozambique expects record FDI of $5.88 billion (€4.988 billion) in 2026, driven by natural gas projects.
This growth will be "influenced by the implementation of structural projects in the Rovuma basin" for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production, according to support documents for the 2026 Social and Economic Plan and State Budget (PESOE).
Mozambique has three approved development mega-projects to exploit Rovuma basin LNG reserves, which are among the largest in the world off the coast of Cabo Delgado.
TotalEnergies leads one project, and ExxonMobil (18 million tonnes per annum – mtpa) leads another $30 billion (€26.1 billion) project in Afungi awaiting a final investment decision.
Italy's Eni has produced about 7 mtpa since 2022 from the Coral Sul floating platform.
It plans to double this from 2028 with the Coral Norte platform, an investment of $7.2 billion (€6.2 billion).
PVJ/LYT // ADB.
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