Maputo, Jan. 21, 2026 (Lusa) - The Finnish Government will assist Mozambique in developing technological expertise in the field of meteorology through an institutional cooperation project that aims to prepare the country to deal with frequent and intense extreme weather events.
"We have had several cyclones in the last 10 years, perhaps many more than we had in the previous 30 or 40 years. But more than the number is the severity of these meteorological phenomena and, as a country, we need to have a Meteorological Institute capable of alerting the entire Mozambican population," said the Minister of Communications and Digital Transformation, Américo Muchanga, in Maputo.
The minister, who was speaking during the launch of FIMOZA, an institutional cooperation project between Mozambique and Finland in meteorology, reiterated that the Mozambican National Meteorological Institute (Inam) also needs to be able to provide all the information that the Government and other organisations need in order to take precautions and ensure that the impact of these climatic events is minimised, with the help of the Finnish Government.
"The partnership between the Governments of Mozambique and Finland in the field of meteorology has been established to help respond to the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, which have caused disasters with devastating impacts on communities, thus compromising national plans for growth and socio-economic development," he explained.
Muchanga pointed out the inability to stop natural disasters but stressed that the authorities can prepare themselves with knowledge and tools so that lives and property are protected. To this end, it is necessary to continue working closely with different segments of society, as well as with international cooperation partners and United Nations agencies, among others.
According to the minister, the project also symbolises the resumption of more than 25 years of cooperation between the meteorological institutes of the two countries.
In view of the climatic events, including rains and cyclones, that affect the country, Américo Muchanga reiterated that it is imperative to take appropriate action to improve the technical capacity of this "key sector", which deals with meteorological and climatic issues, in order to further reduce and manage climate risks and strengthen climate resilience in the country.
"It is in this order that, following the investments made by the Government, our country has been strengthening the National Early Warning System, while implementing regional and international commitments on the development of the methodology," he said.
The total number of deaths in the current rainy season in Mozambique has risen to 114, with six people missing, 99 injured and almost 680,000 affected, according to data from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).
According to the same source, from 1 October to the end of 19 January, covering the current period of widespread flooding in the country, 677,831 people were affected, equivalent to 141,818 families, with 11,367 houses partially destroyed and 4,910 totally destroyed, worsening the previous balance.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most exposed to the effects of climate change, experiencing recurrent floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season between October and April, but also prolonged periods of severe drought.
Between 2019 and 2023, extreme weather events caused at least 1,016 deaths and affected around 4.9 million people in the country, according to data from the National Statistics Institute.
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