France and Mozambique
Political relations
France has a long-standing neighbourly relationship with Mozambique in the Indian Ocean, centred around common challenges facing all countries in the south-west Indian Ocean – including the French overseas departments of Mayotte and La Réunion.
France and Mozambique cooperate in areas including maritime security, in this region crossed by more than 30% of global LNG carriers; climate change adaptation, following the two cyclones in 2019 (Idai and Kenneth); and the preservation of biodiversity in a region declared a global hotspot.
Following Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in mid-March 2019, France could swiftly deploy major humanitarian assistance to Mozambique from mainland France and La Réunion and Mayotte thanks to its proximity.
France is also the second-largest contributor to the European Development Fund (EDF), of which Mozambique is the second global priority, and also takes part in the informal G14 group, which brings together most of Mozambique’s donors.
French presence
French community in Mozambique: 570 registered as of 4 February 2020
Mozambican community in France: 320 as of 4 February 2020
Visits
The official visit to Paris by President Nyusi, on 20 and 21 July 2015, saw the signature of the fourth and last debt relief and development contract (C2D – 2015-2019: €17.5 million).
Mr Silva Armando Dunduro, Minister of Culture and Tourism, visited Paris on 18 and 19 November 2015.
Ms Ségolène Royal, Minister of the Environment, Energy and Marine Affairs, visited Maputo on 4 and 5 August 2016.
Ambassadors
French Ambassador to Mozambique: Mr David Izzo
Twitter account
Mozambican Ambassador to France: Mr Alberto Maverengue Augusto
Economic relations
Economic relations between Mozambique and France remain modest (Mozambique is France’s 136th-largest customer, 92nd-largest supplier and 118th-largest trading partner; and France is Mozambique’s 18th-largest foreign investor), but are promising in the medium term. An investment protection agreement has been in force since 2006, and an Air Services Agreement was signed on 3 May 2017. At the end of June 2018, the France-Mozambique Business Club (CAFM) became the France-Mozambique Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), a member of the CCI network.
French development assistance mainly flows through multilateral channels (contributions to the European Development Fund and the Global Fund). Bilaterally, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD, French Development Agency) has made financial commitments of more than €1.1 billion (including €300 million of grants) since 1981, primarily in the area of energy and transport infrastructure. In Mozambique, the AFD is also implementing the fourth C2D (debt relief and development contract) for the period 2015-2019, for a total amount of €17.5 million (sectors of technical and vocational training, biodiversity, water and sanitation).
Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation
The France-Mozambique Cultural Centre (CCFM) in Maputo and Lycée Gustave Eiffel (425 pupils, including 67 from France) are valued drivers for promoting our language and culture in Mozambique.
In terms of academic and scientific cooperation, France develops relations between French and Mozambican researchers in various areas including French as a foreign language, humanities and social sciences, and marine science. Activities on governance and for civil society are also carried out. As regards linguistic cooperation, the number of students learning French has increased from 65,000 in 2007 to 250,000 today.
Other Cooperation
Based on an agreement which came into force on 21 August 2004, military cooperation is led by the FAZSOI (French Armed Forces in the Southern Zone of the Indian Ocean).
Updated: February 2020