Curated by Vinod Kumar Jain & Amit Jain · All Frontier Global · free, no login · reviewed 2026-07-05
Indian Ocean archipelagos and Swahili-Portuguese coast
Official figures, each with its source and the date it was read — the key-facts panel above is rounded and undated.
Income per head: GNI per capita, Atlas method: US$570 (2025) - among the lowest figures the World Bank publishes for any country.
Income group: The World Bank classifies Mozambique as Low income, region Sub-Saharan Africa, capital Maputo. It is the only Low income country in this atlas's Southern African neighbourhood.
Economy size: GDP (current US$): US$22,337,997,046 - about US$22.34 billion (2025). Set that against the gas investments the deep-dive discusses and the scale problem is immediate: a single project cycle can be a large fraction of the whole economy.
The price of money, and of everything else: Banco de Mocambique held its MIMO policy rate at 9.25% at the decision dated 29 July 2026, and reports that annual inflation decelerated to 7.48% in July 2026. Its own activity indicator shows the economy growing 0.1% in the first quarter of 2026 - close to flat.
What the metical is worth: Banco de Mocambique's reference rates for 18 August 2026 put the US dollar at 63.27 buying, 64.54 selling and 63.91 average in meticais; the euro at 73.24, 74.71 and 73.98; and the South African rand at 3.90, 3.98 and 3.94. The rand line matters more than the euro line for anyone buying overland from Johannesburg.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Trade agreements (4): Mozambique is a member of SADC, has an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU, and is a signatory to the AfCFTA. There is no India-Mozambique FTA, though India is a significant investor, notably in gas and coal.
Passport strength: visa-free/VOA to ~62 destinations. SADC member.
India × Mozambique hub ↗ All countries factsheet
Indian passport holders need a visa; Mozambique offers an e-Visa and visa-on-arrival at main entry points for many nationalities, so arrange it before travel where possible. Confirm current rules as they have changed in recent years.
e-Visa: yes · Visa on arrival: Varies by nationality
The waiver India is not in, and the decree that made it: Mozambique's visa exemption is a specific, dated instrument, and India is outside it. The government's own economic-acceleration programme records Decree No. 10/2023 of 31 March, in effect from 1 May 2023, exempting citizens of 29 countries from presenting an entry visa for tourism or business. The Council of Ministers approved it on 14 March 2023 and the exemption "applies to visitors holding ordinary passports and allows for a 30-day stay, renewable to an additional 60 days", with travellers still required to register on the e-visa platform for pre-screening at least 48 hours before travelling and to pay a processing fee equivalent to 650 Mozambican meticais. The named countries are Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America. India is not among them.
What the immigration service's own portal says about India: The eVisa and eTA portal, which describes itself as "the official portal of The Mozambique National Immigration Service", publishes a waiver list of about 33 entries covering countries such as Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Eswatini, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe for all passport types, plus a set of diplomatic-and-service-passport-only entries. India appears on neither. India does appear on the eVisa eligibility list - so the route for an Indian ordinary passport is the eVisa, not the eTA, which tracks the waiver countries and "allows a stay for up to 30 days for All Types of passport".
What the eVisa actually grants: On the portal's own tourist page: "The validity period of your eVisa is 2 months, you can enter Mozambique at any time within the eVisa's validity period", with a permitted stay of up to 30, 60 or 90 days depending on what the applicant selects, issued as multiple-entry where the itinerary supports it. The service advises applying "3 to 5 days before your trip to allow sufficient time for processing". Required documents are a colour copy of the passport bio page valid six months or more, a recent frontal passport-style photograph, proof of financial means such as bank statements, proof of hotel or accommodation booking, and confirmed return tickets. No fee is published on that page, so none is quoted here.
What India's own ministry lists: India's Ministry of External Affairs, in its Visa Facility for Indian Nationals (Ordinary Passports) table, lists Mozambique under e-Visa, with no duration or condition in the remarks column. The MEA page carries a last-updated date of 2 February 2026. Both governments describe the same instrument.
One line on this page the portal does not support: The page adds that Mozambique offers "visa-on-arrival at main entry points for many nationalities". Today the National Immigration Service's portal publishes exactly two products - the eVisa and the eTA - and nothing on it describes a visa issued at the border. That is a statement about what the portal publishes, not a finding that no border visa exists; the page's visa-on-arrival sentence is left standing, and a traveller counting on a border-issued visa should confirm it with the National Immigration Service before departure.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Intercity travel uses coaches and the shared 'chapa' minibuses, plus some regional flights given the long coastline; within Maputo use chapas, metered taxis, and the Yango app, along with 'tuk-tuks' in some towns. Mozambique drives on the left.
Car vs taxi: Self-driving suits the southern coast and lodges on the main EN1 highway (watch for police checkpoints and potholes); in Maputo, use Yango or hotel taxis rather than driving in busy traffic.
Money: The metical is used for cash and is essential outside hotels; cards work at city hotels, restaurants and supermarkets in Maputo, and M-Pesa and other mobile money are widely used. Carry cash for travel beyond the capital.
SIM & data: Vodacom, Movitel and Tmcel are the carriers; register a SIM with your passport at the airport or a shop. Local eSIM support is limited, so a travel eSIM is a useful backup.
Tipping: Tipping around 10% is customary where no service charge is added, and hotel staff, guides and drivers are commonly tipped, particularly at coastal lodges.
Etiquette: Greetings in Portuguese are warm and expected, and a relaxed pace ('pole pole' spirit) prevails. Use the right hand for giving and receiving, dress modestly away from beaches, and be respectful when photographing people.
Food: Try peri-peri (piri-piri) grilled prawns and chicken, matapa (cassava leaves in coconut and peanut), and fresh seafood along the coast. Drink bottled or treated water and avoid tap water.
Say hello: Portuguese — “Olá” · thanks “Obrigado” · how much? “Quanto custa?”
Coastal resorts, Maputo and the south are generally welcoming for tourists with normal precautions; however, the northern Cabo Delgado province has a serious insurgency, so avoid it and follow current advisories closely.
For nomads: Maputo has a small nomad community and coworking; quieter coastal alternatives exist.
Education: Low-cost education with emerging international options.
Healthcare: Basic care affordable; private clinics better equipped.
What prices are doing: Banco de Mocambique reports that annual inflation decelerated to 7.48% in July 2026, with food and non-alcoholic beverages the division contributing most to the slowdown. It held the MIMO policy rate at 9.25% at the decision dated 29 July 2026 - a policy rate above the inflation rate, which is a deliberate posture, not an accident.
What the metical is worth: Reference rates for 18 August 2026: 63.91 meticais to the US dollar on average (63.27 buying, 64.54 selling), 73.98 to the euro and 3.94 to the South African rand.
In rupee-brain terms: GNI per capita of US$570 for 2025 works out at about US$47.50 a month, or roughly 36,429 meticais a year at the reference rate of 18 August 2026 - about 3,036 meticais a month. Read it as a scale marker rather than a wage: it is national income divided by heads, and the gap between that arithmetic and what a Maputo salary looks like is exactly the gap between the capital and the country.
One border cost, for contrast: The pre-screening fee a visa-exempt traveller pays on the e-visa platform is 650 meticais, about US$10.17 at the 18 August 2026 reference rate. An Indian passport holder does not pay that fee, because India is not in the exemption - the eVisa route applies instead, and the portal publishes no fee for it.
Compared with South Africa: The neighbour that sets prices at the southern border is South Africa, and the two economies are a long way apart on both counts. On income: World Bank GNI per capita, Atlas method, for 2025 is US$6,270 for South Africa against US$570 for Mozambique - an eleven-fold gap on the same indicator in the same year. On prices: Statistics South Africa reported that "Annual consumer inflation jumped to 5,0% in June 2026 from 4,5% in May 2026", a two-year high, with the index up 0.7% on the month, while Banco de Mocambique puts Mozambican annual inflation at 7.48% in July 2026. Note both mismatches before quoting it: the inflation figures are for different months, June against July, and they come from different kinds of institution - South Africa's national statistics office against Mozambique's central bank, because Mozambique's own statistics office would not serve its releases today. GNI per capita is like for like - same indicator, same year, same compiler. The inflation lines are not: South Africa June 2026 from the statistics office, Mozambique July 2026 from the central bank. Both mismatches are stated in the copy, not hidden. The Mozambican figure comes from the central bank because the national statistics office did not publish its releases when this page was checked.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Places CFM Railway Station (Landmark) · Maputo Central Market (Market) · Iron House (Casa de Ferro) (Historic building)
Places Bazaruto National Park (Marine reserve) · Benguerra Island (Island) · Two-Mile Reef Snorkelling (Dive site)
Places Fort São Sebastião (Historic fort) · Stone Town (Historic quarter) · Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte (Church)
Places Inhambane Cathedral (Church) · Inhambane Lighthouse (Lighthouse) · Baia de Inhambane (Bay and coral reefs)
Places Bazaruto Archipelago National Park (National Park) · Benguerra Island (Beach) · Vilanculos Beach Front (Beach)
Places Wimbe Beach (Beach) · Quirimbas Archipelago (National Park) · Pemba Dive Sites (Viewpoint)
City notes from Amit's own travels — the interactive travelogue holds the full record
cabo-delgado-insurgency
Mozambican Cabo Delgado insurgency framework (2017+ ISIS-affiliated insurgency · 2021 Palma attack · TotalEnergies LNG project force-majeure suspension March 2021 · SAMIM Southern African Development Community Mission + Rwandan deployment 2021 · ~5K+ deaths since 2017 · ~1M+ displaced) + LNG cluster (Coral South FLNG ENI 2022+ operational · Rovuma Basin world #3-4 LNG-reserves · ~$60B+ planned investments · TotalEnergies + ExxonMobil + ENI consortium) + ONGC Videsh + Reliance-RIL Indian-corporate cluster framework + SADC + AfCFTA framework.
India implication: Indian-corporate Mozambique cluster (ONGC Videsh + Reliance + Indian-power-utility coal procurement) + emerging LNG procurement framework + AfCFTA framework adjacency + SADC framework.
Outlook: Mozambique Cabo Delgado + LNG framework cycles persist 2026-30; ONGC Videsh + RIL cluster gradual deepening.
Mozambique SADC founding-member (Windhoek 1992 transition from SADCC 1980 · 16-member · with South Africa + Zimbabwe + Botswana + Namibia + Angola + others) + SADC Free Trade Area 2008 framework + AfCFTA framework + Cabo Delgado insurgency 2021+ framework cycles + Coral South FLNG + Rovuma Basin LNG cluster + ONGC Videsh + Reliance-RIL Indian-corporate cluster framework.
India: India accesses SADC + AfCFTA framework via Mozambique-anchor + Indian-corporate Mozambique cluster (ONGC Videsh + Reliance + Indian-power-utility coal procurement) + emerging LNG procurement framework + bilateral cooperation framework.
India’s role: Indian-corporate Mozambique cluster (ONGC Videsh + Reliance + Indian-power-utility coal procurement) + Indian-corporate Maputo presence + emerging LNG procurement framework + AfCFTA framework adjacency.
Mozambican LNG cluster (Coral South FLNG · 3.4M tons/year · 2022+ ENI operational + Rovuma Basin · world's 3rd-4th largest LNG-reserves · ~$60B+ planned investments · TotalEnergies + ExxonMobil + ENI consortium · 2021+ Cabo Delgado insurgency framework cycles affect implementation) + ONGC Videsh + RIL emerging Indian-corporate cluster framework + coal-cluster Tete + SADC + AfCFTA framework.
Every sub-block above this one is about gas, coal, cashew, prawns or ports. The single largest thing Mozambique actually sells to a major market is none of those. The European Commission's 2025 country factsheet puts EU imports from Mozambique at 2,017 million EUR, of which HS Section XV, base metals and articles thereof, is 1,601 million EUR - 79.4%. The next two sections are far behind: foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco (Section IV) at 191 million EUR or 9.5%, and mineral products (Section V) at 121 million EUR or 6.0%. EU exports to Mozambique were 785 million EUR, for total goods trade of 2,801 million EUR, and the EU27 ranks as Mozambique's second trading partner overall at 14.1% of total trade, second as an import source at 16.3% and third as an export destination at 12.1%.
India implication: For an Indian buyer this is the line worth reading twice. The country the page describes as an emerging LNG and coal supplier is, on its largest export relationship, a metals exporter - and metal moving into the EU is metal already cut to export-grade specification, assay and documentation, which is exactly what an Indian importer wants and rarely finds in a frontier market. For an Indian seller the mirror image applies: the input side of a smelter - alumina, carbon anodes, refractories, consumables and maintenance services - is a live, repeat-order market that no Indian block on this page currently addresses, and it is denominated in a trade that already runs to Europe.
Outlook: One HS section at 79.4% is concentration, not diversification. Any interruption at the metals end moves the entire EU-facing number and, with it, a large share of the country's hard-currency earnings - so treat this figure as a risk reading as much as an opportunity reading.
The page says Mozambique "has an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU" and moves on. The agreement has a name, a group and two different dates, and they matter. The European Commission records the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement as signed on 10 June 2016, covering Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini, with Angola holding an option to join later. It "came provisionally into force as of 10 October 2016" for the group - but Mozambique has been "provisionally applying it since 4 February 2018", nearly sixteen months behind the others. What it buys is asymmetric: "the EU grants 100% duty-free and quota-free access to all imports coming from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Swaziland", while South Africa gets duties removed on 98.7% of imports under quotas. Total trade between the EU and the SADC EPA countries reached 52 billion EUR in 2025, and the Commission puts the overall increase in goods trade since 2016 at 26%.
India implication: The page is right that there is no India-Mozambique FTA. What it does not say is that Mozambique already sits inside a duty-free lane into Europe, and that changes the calculation in two directions. An Indian firm producing IN Mozambique for European customers inherits 100% duty-free, quota-free access it could not get by exporting from India - which is the strongest argument on this page for a Mozambican plant rather than a Mozambican distributor. An Indian firm exporting INTO Mozambique inherits nothing, and competes against EU suppliers who hold reciprocal preferences under the same agreement.
Outlook: The side to watch is Mozambique's own staged liberalisation under the same instrument, because that is the schedule an Indian exporter competes against as it steps down. The EU-side access is already at 100% and has nowhere further to go.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Indian passport holders need a visa; Mozambique offers an e-Visa and visa-on-arrival at main entry points for many nationalities, so arrange it before travel where possible. Confirm current rules as they have changed in recent years.
Mozambique uses the Mozambican metical (MZN). Capital: Maputo.
Mozambique is a member of SADC, has an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU, and is a signatory to the AfCFTA. There is no India-Mozambique FTA, though India is a significant investor, notably in gas and coal.
Coastal resorts, Maputo and the south are generally welcoming for tourists with normal precautions; however, the northern Cabo Delgado province has a serious insurgency, so avoid it and follow current advisories closely.
Yes, and both governments describe the same route. Mozambique's visa exemption is Decree No. 10/2023 of 31 March, in effect since 1 May 2023, covering 29 countries for tourism and business with a 30-day stay renewable by a further 60 days, a 650-metical processing fee and pre-screening on the e-visa platform at least 48 hours before travel - and India is not among the 29. The National Immigration Service's own portal confirms this from the other side: India is absent from the visa-waiver list and present on the eVisa eligibility list, so the Indian route is the eVisa rather than the eTA. The portal states that "The validity period of your eVisa is 2 months", with a permitted stay of up to 30, 60 or 90 days depending on selection, issued multiple-entry where the itinerary supports it, and it advises applying 3 to 5 days before travel with a passport bio page valid six months or more, a recent photograph, proof of funds, proof of accommodation and confirmed return tickets. India's own Ministry of External Affairs agrees, listing Mozambique under e-Visa in a table last updated 2 February 2026.
Metal, mostly - which is not the answer the gas headlines suggest. On the European Commission's 2025 country factsheet, EU imports from Mozambique were 2,017 million EUR, of which HS Section XV, base metals and articles thereof, accounted for 1,601 million EUR, or 79.4%. Foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco followed at 191 million EUR (9.5%) and mineral products at 121 million EUR (6.0%). The EU is Mozambique's second trading partner overall at 14.1% of total trade. For an Indian buyer that means export-grade metal already documented to European standards; for an Indian seller it means the smelter input chain - alumina, anodes, refractories, consumables - is the repeat-order opening, not finished goods. One caution: a single HS section at 79.4% is concentration rather than diversification, so the same figure that reads as an opportunity also reads as a single-point risk.
Sourced notes — every figure above, with where it was read and when.
Developed by Amit Jain at allfrontierglobal.com
Neighbouring profiles in the same UN M49 region.
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