On Monday (Nov. 24), Brazil and Mozambique signed nine cooperation agreements to strengthen the latter’s institutional capacity in development, health care, education, diplomacy, entrepreneurship, trade, civil aviation, legal assistance, and agroforestry.

In Maputo, the capital of the African country, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he intends to restore the capacity of Brazil’s development bank BNDES to finance Brazilian companies abroad, benefiting both Brazil and partner nations like Mozambique.

“Mozambique is a developing country that still has infrastructure gaps to fill. Its growth depends on ports, roads, power plants, and transmission lines. Brazil has dynamic companies capable of making a contribution,” he said in a statement to the press alongside Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo.

In order to export these services, Lula believes that Brazil must offer credit options to finance the internationalization of the country’s businesses, which has already been done via BNDES.

The Brazilian delegation arrived in Maputo on Sunday (24) from Johannesburg, South Africa, where Lula participated in the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

The trip to Mozambique is part of the celebrations of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which are also partners in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

The Ministry of Foreign Relations has also noted that, upon assuming his third term in 2023, the president made it clear that he would resume relations with African countries as a foreign policy priority.

“Brazil has lost its way down dark paths and, in the process, forgotten its ties with Africa. Many of the seeds we had sown did not have time to take root. But it is time to regain our conscience,” Lula declared.

In 2023, he visited South Africa, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. In 2024, he visited Egypt and Ethiopia, as well as receiving the president of Benin on an official visit. In 2025, he welcomed the presidents of Angola and Nigeria. In May this year, Brazil also hosted a meeting of agriculture ministers.

Trade

Mozambique is the largest beneficiary of Brazilian cooperation with resources from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) in Africa, covering a wide range of areas – health care, agriculture, education, professional training, among others. Since 2015, 67 initiatives have been formed.

The two countries also plan to expand trade and investment. To this end, a forum was organized with Brazilian and Mozambican executives featuring panels on agribusiness, industry and innovation, and health care. Lula should participate in the closing ceremony of the event on Monday.

Trade between Brazil and Mozambique totaled USD 40.5 million in 2024, with Brazilian exports totaling USD 37.8 million and imports totaling USD 2.7 million.

The products exported consist mainly of fresh, frozen, or chilled poultry meat (41%), perfumery or toilet articles (4.7%), and furniture and parts thereof (5%). Imports consist mainly of ungraded or stemmed tobacco (95%).

The government understands that, despite limited trade flows, Brazil’s commercial and institutional relations with African countries are part of a political project to combine cooperation for the development and education of these nations.

Today, Lula cited, for example, the strengthening of the Brazilian health industrial complex, which will once again enable the production of pharmaceuticals and medicines in Mozambique.

The president also revealed that, in 2026, the Ministry of Education and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency will offer up to 80 places for training courses in agricultural sciences and up to 400 places for technical courses in agriculture to Mozambican employees. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) will reinforce this initiative by training technicians from the African country.

“No one is better than Brazil to contribute to food security in Mozambique. With the right technology, we can increase productivity in the African savanna without compromising the environment,” he pointed out.

“With the same sense of priority, we are working to include Mozambique among the countries covered by the accelerated implementation phase of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty,” he added.

The Brazilian president also mentioned potential partnerships for forest conservation, energy transition, audiovisual and literary production, and efforts to against organized crime.

“The Brazilian government has been working intelligently to dismantle criminal networks and strangle their sources of financing. The Brazilian Federal Police is internationally recognized for its ability to track illicit assets and combat money laundering. It is available to share its experience and expand its collaboration with Mozambique,” Lula added.

In addition to the working meeting with President Daniel Chapo and the meeting with business leaders, Lula will receive an honorary doctorate from the Pedagogical University of Maputo.