Maputo, Mozambique, 18 Jan – Mozambique’s minister for trade and industry, António Fernando, launched a “Buy Mozambican” campaign in Maputo Tuesday in order to help the recovery of the country’s industries.

According to Fernando, Mozambique faces difficulties in securing credit, has a weak road network and often has an erratic electricity supply, although the latter problem is likely to disappear once the electricity network based on the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric dam is extended to the rest of the country.

Fernando said the government was trying to make the country’s economic climate more flexible and attractive and that, for example, problems such as securing credit were gradually being solved.

He added that there was some urgency in increasing industrial production and creating an internal market for that production as customs barriers would be removed in the region when the trade protocol of the Southern African Development Community was applied.

The government says it fears that if Mozambique does not properly prepare itself for the Southern Africa free trade area it will end up living off imports, mainly from South Africa. (macauhub)