Portuguese investors not put off by Maputo riots

The recent riots in Maputo will not scare Portuguese firms from investing in Mozambique, according to Telmo Fernandes, managing partner of Market Access, a Portugal-based consultancy firm.

Agencia de Informção de Moçambique (AIM) reports that Fernandes is currently accompanying a delegation of eight Portuguese companies that are looking at investment opportunities in Mozambique.

Fernandes said that Portuguese firms “retain confidence in Mozambique, despite the current disturbances”.

He also told AIM that Portuguese investors are interested in Mozambique as a long term proposition, while this week’s disturbances “are temporary”. The riots, he added, “do not call into question the progress that Mozambique has made over the last 20 years”.

Voice of America reports that three days of demonstrations and riots last week left 10 people dead and more than 400 others injured.

The unrest began in Maputo on Wednesday after the government introduced price increases on bread, water, and electricity.