Maputo, Nov. 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Brazilian President Lula da Silva warned on Monday in Maputo that, in the global race for critical minerals, Brazil will not allow them to be exported, demanding that they be processed domestically, and challenging his Mozambican counterpart to do the same.
"Like South America, the African continent has significant reserves of critical minerals, such as lithium and cobalt, which will play a strategic role in the green transition. International cooperation in this area is essential," said Lula da Silva at the closing of the Mozambique-Brazil business forum in Maputo.
In his speech at the event, attended by three of his ministers, during his fourth visit to the country, which also has significant reserves of these minerals, Lula da Silva even said to Mozambican president Daniel Chapo: "I want to tell you that Brazil is willing to collaborate with you, and we have to make a decision: we are not going to be exporters of critical minerals. If you want, you will have to industrialise our country so that our country can earn that money."
Speaking before dozens of businesspeople from both countries, Lula da Silva said that it is "urgent that each country be able to define the needs and models of exploitation" of their respective "mineral wealth," but "in a sovereign manner."
"We already have a century of experience. We already have a century. We have no reason to believe anymore. Either we take advantage of these riches that God has given us and turn them into wealth for our people, or we will see the same countries digging holes in our country, taking our ore, and leaving us with hunger and poverty," he warned.
Lula admitted that China's presence in Africa "arouses a lot of jealousy": "On the one hand, from part of the European Union, which forgot to invest in Africa, on the other hand, from the United States, which also forgot to invest in Africa, on the other hand, from Brazil, which also forgot to invest in Africa, and China filled the gap."
"So, instead of lamenting, instead of criticising, let's work, let's work to recover," he challenged.
Emphasising Brazil's commitment to returning to Africa, in a criticism of the policies and priorities of the previous right-wing Brazilian government, Lula da Silva stressed that "Brazil owes the African people its way of life, much of its culture, its colour, its smile, its virtues and its flaws".
"We owe a lot to the African continent. And you can't pay for that with money. You have to pay with friendship, with solidarity, with technology transfer," he pointed out.
Now, to get back on track, he said that Brazil wants to "know what projects" there are in Mozambique so that it can "form partnerships" between businesspeople from both countries.
"So that our businesspeople consider coming here to produce what they are no longer producing in Brazil. And so that you, for God's sake, do not repeat the same mistake in the 21st century that you made in the 20th century. What makes a country grow is peace, tranquillity, democracy," Lula da Silva appealed.
He acknowledged that "Brazil really needs gas" and, as "Mozambique has a lot of gas", the Brazilian oil company, which he said had also left Africa in recent years, could support Mozambique in its search for new reserves.
Daniel Chapo, for his part, stressed the importance of agriculture in Mozambique, with "enormous potential" that can be capitalised on by "Brazilian brothers".
"They have world-renowned experience," he pointed out, challenging Brazilian businesspeople to help Mozambique become a food-exporting country, as well as to follow Mozambique's commitment to becoming an energy hub in Africa.
On the part of Mozambican businesspeople, an appeal was made at this forum for a new phase in economic relations between the two countries, marked by "real investments," innovation, and technology transfer.
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
