Seville, July 2, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of Mozambique said on Wednesday that Portugal is open to agreements to convert Mozambique’s sovereign debt into green economy projects and that the leaders will discuss this topic during his visit to Lisbon this week.
“There is openness. There is openness from Portugal and other European Union countries, and we believe this is extremely important to ease, on the one hand, the pressure we are under in terms of the state budget with the cost of sovereign debt, but also, on the other hand, to give our budget some breathing space that will allow us to make more investments and develop Mozambique,” said Daniel Chapo.
The president was speaking to the Lusa news agency in Seville, where he is attending the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.
At the conference, which began on Monday and ends on Thursday, Mozambique has been seeking agreements to convert debt into green projects and, according to Daniel Chapo, ‘there are prospects’ for agreements.
“There are encouraging talks. The discussions are ongoing, and the most important thing is that the world at this conference has understood the message,” he said.
After Seville, the president of Mozambique will travel to Lisbon for an official visit to Portugal, where he will meet with the heads of state and government, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Luís Montenegro.
“Our idea is to continue these talks” on green projects, within the framework of public debt conversion agreements and the so-called “carbon credit”, which aims to reduce global pollutant emissions, he revealed.
Daniel Chapo emphasised that Portugal “is a brother country” with strong historical and cultural ties and cooperation with Mozambique, and the two nations recently demonstrated these bonds during the celebrations of 50 years of Mozambican independence on 25 June, an event Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa attended.
“It is a very strong sign of the brotherhood and excellent cooperation between Mozambique and Portugal. And we want to consolidate this new perspective of climate funds for the green economy and also for the exchange, as far as possible, of sovereign debt or these issues related to carbon credits,” said the President of Mozambique.
In addition to this issue, and more broadly, Daniel Chapo hopes that his visit to Portugal, which begins on Thursday, will strengthen the already “increasingly strong” relations between the two countries.
Portugal and Mozambique, he said, have “a common history” and, even “during the colonial process”, the two peoples shared an enemy, which was the Portuguese “fascist and dictatorial regime” that fell in 1974.
‘We have always been brother peoples,’ emphasised Daniel Chapo, adding: ‘We want to strengthen our relations of friendship and cooperation further and reinforce our economic, social and political relations so that we can develop Portugal, develop Mozambique, develop our politics and create better living conditions for our peoples.’
MP/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
