KEY POINTS
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Qatar’s Al Mansour commits $20 billion investment in Mozambique.
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The deal targets energy, agriculture and infrastructure development.
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Al Mansour expands African footprint after Zambia and DRC pledges.
Qatari investment company Al Mansour Holding has committed to invest $20 billion in Mozambique, a deal that highlights the growing competition among global powers for influence in Africa’s fast-developing resource markets.
The agreement, announced by President Daniel Chapo’s office, will direct funding into sectors Mozambique is prioritising, including energy, agriculture and infrastructure. It adds to a wave of recent African commitments by the Doha-based firm, which in the past two weeks disclosed investment pledges worth billions of dollars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Botswana.
Sheikh Mansour bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani, who chairs Al Mansour Holding, framed the deals as part of a long-term push to support Africa’s development. “We are not here to compete, we are here to complement. We are not here to take, we are here to build,” he said after meeting with Chapo in Maputo.
Qatar’s Al Mansour targets energy and agriculture
Africa’s abundance of arable land, untapped infrastructure needs and deposits of key minerals essential to the clean energy transition have drawn heightened interest from Middle Eastern investors, with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joining China and the United States in a race for opportunities.
According to Reuters, earlier on Wednesday, Al Mansour Holding also announced it had purchased a 19.9 percent stake in Australia’s Invictus Energy to back a natural gas project in Zimbabwe, highlighting its growing focus on energy deals that cut across continents.
The Mozambique agreement comes just days after Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema revealed that Al Mansour had pledged $19 billion in investments for his country, further cementing the firm’s role as one of Africa’s most aggressive new financiers.
Mozambique sees long-term partner in Al Mansour
For Mozambique, the partnership offers both capital and political support at a time when the government is seeking to rebuild infrastructure and stabilize its economy after years of conflict and external debt strains.
Al Mansour Holding said it intends to build a lasting presence across the continent. “We are in Africa for the long-term,” Sheikh Mansour said, underscoring the company’s vision of positioning itself as a development partner rather than just an investor seeking short-term gains.
