Mozambique Company & Beneficial Ownership Directory

Analysis

What this data actually tells you about Mozambique

Mozambique’s economy, denominated in the Mozambican metical (MZN), remains small and fragile: nominal GDP was $22.4 billion in 2025, with GDP per capita of just $628.6 (World Bank, Macro Poverty Outlook, April 2026). Real GDP growth swung from 5.5% in 2023 to 2.1% in 2024, then contracted by 0.5% in 2025 — the downturn concentrated in manufacturing, transport, hotels/restaurants, and electricity and water, reflecting post-election unrest, fiscal pressure and foreign-exchange shortages. Growth is projected to recover only modestly, to 0.9% in 2026, 1.6% in 2027 and 2.5% in 2028. Inflation averaged 3.2% in 2024 and rose to 4.4% in 2025, but is projected to jump to 7.5% in 2026 on flood-related food-price and fuel-cost pressure. Public debt reached 91.4% of GDP in 2025 and was assessed as being “in distress” and “unsustainable” by the 2026 joint World Bank–IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis, with the wage bill and interest payments alone absorbing 87% of tax revenue. Structurally, the economy has historically rested on coal mining at Moatize/Tete (formerly Vale, now Vulcan International), the Mozal aluminum smelter near Maputo, and smallholder agriculture (which still employs over 70% of the workforce, mostly at low productivity); it is now being reshaped by two offshore natural-gas megaprojects — TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG in Cabo Delgado and Eni’s Coral Sul FLNG — whose capital inflows drove net FDI to an estimated 25.4% of GDP in 2025.

Mozambique runs a persistent, widening external deficit: the current account deficit grew from 11.0% of GDP in 2024 to 14.2% in 2025, and is projected by the World Bank to average around 23% of GDP over 2026–2028 as LNG-related capital imports surge. Merchandise exports were reported at roughly $9.7–10 billion in 2024 depending on source, against imports of around $15.1 billion. Eni’s Coral Sul FLNG — producing since October 2022 with 3.4 million tonnes/year capacity — reached 5 million tonnes of cumulative LNG production and shipped its 100th cargo in April 2025. TotalEnergies’ larger, $20-billion Mozambique LNG project, whose construction was suspended under force majeure since 2021 after an attack on nearby Palma, had that force majeure lifted on November 7, 2025 following a security agreement with President Chapo (including continued Rwandan troop presence); a full restart of onshore and offshore construction activity was jointly announced by TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné and President Chapo at Afungi on January 29, 2026, with over 4,000 workers mobilized and first LNG shipment now targeted for 2029, contingent on government approval of an additional $4.5 billion in project costs. Meanwhile the Mozal aluminum smelter (majority-owned by South32) — producing 314,000 tonnes in FY2024 — has been placed on care and maintenance from March 15, 2026 after South32 failed to secure affordable power from Hidroelétrica de Cahora Bassa, a closure the World Bank estimates will cut megaproject export revenue by $1.1 billion.

Mozambique’s population was estimated at 35.6 million in 2025. Poverty remains extremely high: the World Bank’s international poverty rate ($3.00/day, 2021 PPP) stood at 81.0% in 2024 and an estimated 81.8% in 2025. Mozambique is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries: Cyclone Idai (March 2019) killed roughly 600 people and caused over $3 billion in damage; Cyclone Freddy (February–March 2023) damaged or destroyed over 129,000 homes and displaced more than 640,000 people; and floods in January 2026, described by the World Bank as “comparable to the 2000 floods,” damaged agriculture, transport corridors and basic infrastructure. Since 2017, an Islamist insurgency — formally recognized as an ISIS branch (Islamic State-Mozambique) in May 2022 — has killed more than 6,500 people (October 2017–June 2023 tally) and displaced over 1.3 million people, with roughly 461,000 still displaced as of March 2025. Mozambique held a general election on October 9, 2024; after opposition officials Paulo Guambe and Elvino Dias were killed by gunmen in Maputo on October 19, opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane (PODEMOS) called nationwide protests that began October 21, 2024 and continued for roughly ten weeks. Mozambique’s Constitutional Council, while acknowledging irregularities, upheld the result on December 23, 2024, declaring Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo the winner with 65.17% of the vote to Mondlane’s 24.29%. Amnesty International reported that more than 300 people were killed and over 700 wounded in the security-force crackdown on post-election protests. Daniel Chapo was inaugurated president on January 15, 2025 at Independence Square in Maputo, extending Frelimo’s uninterrupted rule since independence in 1975. Counterparties verify a specific counterparty’s current exposure to Mozambique’s debt distress and security situation directly.