Latest news with #Moçambique
Bloomberg
02-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Mozambican President Sees Ongoing Security Risks at Total Gas Site
Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said his government and private companies will have to collectively ensure the necessary security is in place to enable TotalEnergies SE to restart construction of a $20 billion gas project that has stalled due to a militant insurgency — and even then risks will remain. The project in the northern Cabo Delgado province along with others that are at earlier stages of development are seen as crucial to the future of the southern African nation, which ranks among the world's poorest. The French oil major halted work, evacuated workers and declared force majeure in 2021 following an escalation in attacks by Islamic State-linked militants.
Malay Mail
29-06-2025
- Science
- Malay Mail
Vision of hope: Mozambican student builds smart glasses to guide the blind — right from his dining room
MAPUTO, June 29 — When Armando Ernesto Chau straps on the futuristic smart glasses that a young Mozambican robotics student is developing in the family dining room, he has a vision of a life less confined to his modest home. Chau is the prototype tester for Joao Antonio Rego, a 24-year-old robotics and electronic engineering student driven to provide visually impaired Mozambicans with assistance that goes beyond a simple cane. Since he lost his sight 20 years ago, the 45-year-old father has not worked and rarely leaves his home in Matola, outside the capital Maputo. Rego's electronic glasses — battery-powered devices embedded with sensors that scan for obstacles ahead and emit warning vibrations — offer the promise of new possibilities. 'It is vibrating ... it is those bushes,' Chau said, demonstrating for AFP Rego's Vision Hope 0.2. 'Maybe, there is a window here... yes.' 'Because of these obstacles, it vibrates. So I go back,' he said. 'It stopped. See? Then it says there is something on this side... When I turn, it is quiet.' Resembling a virtual reality eye mask, this is Rego's latest prototype since he launched his Vision Hope project in 2021, winning Mozambique's Young Creative Award for technological innovation the following year. New features include a larger 120-degree range and more accurate sensors, explained Rego, a student at Eduardo Mondlane University. The battery, attached to a strap that is worn over a shoulder, is on a smart system that saves power and warns when it is running low. A GPS allows others to know the whereabouts of the user. Inspiration Rego is already working on improvements in his dining room workshop. 'I want the next version to have sensors capable of detecting very thin obstacles like wires and threads,' he told AFP. 'The coating also needs to be waterproof,' he said. Slim and serious, Rego was inspired to help when, years ago, he saw a visually impaired woman fall in a busy street in downtown Maputo, said his mother, Helena Inacio. 'Seeing that woman on the ground disturbed him. He vowed that he would create glasses,' she told AFP. She had asked: ''Glasses for what? So that blind people can see?' He said, 'No, to give direction.'' 'I thought it was fantasy,' Inacio said. Rego moved his lab out of his bedroom for better ventilation after a health scare led a doctor to warn about the risks of fumes from his soldering work. 'I had health problems and after an X-ray, they said there were some spots on my lungs which might have been caused by chemical fumes, like tin. It was temporary, but I must always take precautions,' he said. Robotics student and inventor Joao Antonio Rego (24) walks while wearing a smart glass prototype in Matola on June 14, 2025. — AFP pic Independence Rego's own vision is to secure partnerships that will allow him to one day produce and distribute his glasses across his impoverished country, where nearly 2.7 million people suffer vision loss, according to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. Chau, who lost his sight after falling ill in 2005 and undergoing treatment in hospital, has made some suggestions for the next iteration. 'I told him to first improve the roadside verification system,' he said. He would also like a sensor that can detect the pools of stagnant water that are common in his area. And, if possible, a way for detected obstacles to be identified. 'A system that communicates... about what kind of obstacle is in front of me, if it is a human being, a car,' he said. 'If the glasses are made the way I suggest, it will help us a lot, me and many other visually impaired people out there,' said Chau. When they are in production and he can get his own pair, the glasses will give Chau a new lease of life, said his wife, Felizarda Nhampule. 'Sometimes he stays here at home alone while I go out and do my errands. Sometimes he wants to go out somewhere but can't,' she said. 'With the glasses, he will be able to visit his friends and get rid of the boredom of staying at home. In case of an emergency, he can go and seek help from neighbours,' she told AFP, flashing a smile. 'So these glasses will be a great help to him and to us as a family.' — ETX Studio
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mozambique's Budget woes, debt and unrest may weaken the construction industry
The Council of Ministers of the Mozambique Government has approved the draft law for the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE) for 2025 in late April 2025. The budget involves a total spending plan of 512.8bn meticais ($8bn) for 2025, marking a decline of around 9% from 567.9bn meticais ($8.8bn) in the 2024 budget. It also estimates a revenue collection of 385.9bn meticais ($5.9bn), marking an 11.9% growth from 344.8bn meticais ($5.3bn) of revenue collected in 2024. This represents a deficit of 126.8bn meticais ($1.9bn); this represents 8.2% of the nominal GDP. Moreover, the budget also includes a projection for the GDP to grow by 2.9% in 2025 with an average inflation of 7%. The budget is yet to be approved by the Assembly of the Republic. The budget is expected to boost growth in the construction sector, with the government announcing a 3bn meticais ($45m) from the Sovereign Fund in the 2025 Budget to finance projects included in the National Development Strategy (ENDE). This covers education, healthcare, water infrastructure, agriculture and transport infrastructure projects. 22% of the total fund will be allocated for the expansion and rehabilitation of the water infrastructure. 14% of the total fund will be allocated for improving health facilities, including vaccination for children under the age of one. 10.4% of the total fund will be allocated for the construction of 12 secondary schools and 7.6% for the construction of 214 primary school classrooms. 9.6% of the total fund will be allocated for equipping five technical and vocational education institutes. The Sovereign fund also outlines the government's target of building ten new dams, along with completing the construction of two feed mills in Niassa and Nampula and the installation works of two new cold storage warehouses in the industrial parks of Topuito and Beluluane. Furthermore, for bolstering the field of entrepreneurship, startup kits for 150 new businesses will be distributed mainly in the field of agricultural, mining, service and industrial sectors. The PESOE also includes the implementation of natural gas projects in the Rovuma Basin that will be undertaken by the French integrated energy and petroleum company TotalEnergies and Italian energy company Eni. This implementation is part of the government's projection of attracting $5.07bn of foreign investments in 2025, marking a growth of around 43% compared to that of 2024. However, this is still below 2021's level of $5.10bn. Notably, the budget got delayed amid a change in government and the post-election disruption. In December 2024, the Constitutional Council (CC) declared Daniel Chapo the winner of Mozambique's presidential election, who secured 65.17% of the vote and succeeded the outgoing President Filipe Nyusi, who received only 24% of the vote. This announcement sparked unrest across the country, mainly among the supporters of the opposing candidate. Demonstrators took to the streets, erected barricades, looted businesses, and clashed with security forces. The police responded with gunfire to disperse the crowds. In light of the political instability, in late December 2024, the Mozambican Government stated its decision to extend the 2024 State Budget on a provisional basis, with the 2025 budget expected to be approved during the first half of the year. The 9% reduction in the expenditure of the budget is attributed to the government's commitment to fiscal restraint following the post-election unrest and uncertainty in late 2024 that adversely dented the overall growth, economic activity and revenue generation. The expenditure plans outlined in the budget prioritised wages, which will constitute 14.6% of the GDP, including limited social transfers and security provisions. Also, the debt interest payments are projected to constitute 4.2% of GDP, which might pose challenges for public investments, as it might crowd out the spending on infrastructure projects. According to the latest projections released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April 2025, the public debt in Mozambique is expected to rise to 101.1% of GDP in 2025 from 96.6% in 2024. The increasing debt-to-GDP ratio is attributed to investments in gas and hydroelectric projects. According to the IMF, the ongoing borrowing for the development of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects is projected to be covered by the natural gas revenues, but the country's ability to cover all other debt payments through revenue generation remains uncertain in the medium to long term. Furthermore, Fitch, the global credit ratings agency, downgraded the country's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) in February 2025 to 'CCC' from 'CCC+', owing to weak public finances and rising debt. At the time of government financing needs, the unresolved political and social issues have hit the country's financial position in December 2024. The interest payment which Mozambique is incurring on its Eurobonds of $900m grew from 5% to 9% per year in 2023, increasing the total interest to be paid in a year from $45m to $81m and from 2028, the country is required to pay $250m till 2031. The increasing debt payments, coupled with political unrest, are expected to slow down the implementation of the ongoing and scheduled construction projects, thereby forming a downside risk for the construction industry. "Mozambique's Budget woes, debt and unrest may weaken the construction industry" was originally created and published by World Construction Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. 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Bloomberg
30-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Mozambique Extends Record Rate-Cutting Streak as Inflation Cools
Mozambique's central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate for a record 9th consecutive time, with inflation set to remain in the single digits. The Banco de Moçambique cut the rate — known by its Portuguese acronym of Mimo — to 11% from 11.75%, Governor Rogerio Zandamela said.
