Finland's relations and development cooperation in Mozambique
Finnish development cooperation in Mozambique promotes good governance and supports the achievement of better learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools. Girls and equality are key priorities.
Finland’s development cooperation in Mozambique has partly contributed to the fact that 90 per cent of Mozambican children start primary school. In recent years, schools have been built, also in rural areas, and girls’ schooling (being formally educated in a school) has increased.
Even though economic growth has been relatively rapid in Mozambique in recent years, almost half of the population live in poverty. Mozambique has abundant natural resources but the country is only beginning to exploit them. Given that the current plans will materialise, the utilisation of natural gas may bring significant prosperity to Mozambique in the coming years.
Rapid population growth, shortage of jobs, impacts of climate change and growing regional and rural-urban inequality deteriorate the prospects for the future. Conflicts in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and centralisation of political power pose challenges to development in the next few years.
Until now, the long-term relations between Finland and Mozambique have focused on development cooperation. Since the 1970s, Finnish support has been directed, for example, to the development of Mozambican infrastructure, agriculture and forestry, health sector, good governance and education. Together with the donor community, Finland supports Mozambique in reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the next few years, Finland aims to expand and deepen its relations in Mozambique. During the current term of the Finnish government, cooperation in the form of country programmes will be phased out in an orderly manner and the focus will be shifted towards cooperation with the private sector. Finland wants to double its trade with African countries in 2020–2030, and efforts will be made to significantly increase investments of Finnish companies in Africa and of African companies in Finland during the same period.
Finland’s strategic goals in Mozambique are described in the Country Strategy and the Country Programme. The latter focuses on development cooperation. According to the Country Strategy, in 2021–2024, Finland will support peacebuilding and conflict prevention, invest in youth and gender equality, strengthen institutions and promote economic partnerships. Finland will not launch a new Country Programme in Mozambique after the programme for 2021–2024 has expired.
Finland's Country Strategy for Mozambique (PDF, 326 KB)
Outcomes of Finland’s development cooperation with Mozambique in 2021–2024
In 2021-2024, Finland's bilateral development cooperation will focus mainly on supporting the education sector and developing good governance, gender equality and crisis resilience. Bilateral funding will also be used to advance the rights of women and girls and to promote opportunities in the private sector. The proposed support to Mozambique in 2021–2024 is EUR 58 million.
Finland’s Country Programme for Development Cooperation in Mozambique (PDF, 953 KB)
In the previous programming period in 2016–2019, Finland concentrated on developing basic education, strengthening democracy development and good governance, and improving small farmers’ food security.
Finland's development cooperation in education
Finland’s support will be used for promoting girls’ access to education and for basic and further training for teachers and principals to improve learning outcomes. At the same time, administration will be developed and made more transparent throughout the education sector. In addition, special attention will be paid to sexual and reproductive health.
Expected outcomes: Better learning outcomes for all children and young people in primary and secondary education
- Higher retention rates for girls
- Teachers’ and principals’ improved performance
- More efficient administration in the education sector
Ongoing programmes and projects
- Support for the education sector via the Education Sector Common Fund (FASE), totalling EUR 27 million in 2021–2024
- Support for improving in-service teacher professional development via World Bank’s COACH initiative, totalling EUR 3 million in 2020–2024
Finland's development cooperation to support good governance, gender equality and crisis resilience
Finland’s development cooperation has supported Mozambique’s public financial management reform and the management of public finances based on high-quality research data. Finland’s support has also helped to build up the competence of the country’s decision-makers to manage natural resources, and to develop the social security system and promote civic activity and human rights.
Expected outcomes: Central institutions enhance gender equality and resilience
- Improved service provision through a more efficient management of public finances
- Increased demands for accountability
- Increased protection of the poorest women, girls and young people and of those suffering from the adverse effects of conflicts, crises and climate events, and improved opportunities for them to have their voice heard
Ongoing programmes and projects
- Support for decision-making, phase 2 (Inclusive Growth in Mozambique, IMG II), totalling EUR 2.6 million in 2021–2024
- Support for Public Revenue, Expenditure and Fiscal Decentralization Enhancement and Reform programme (PREFERA), totalling EUR 1 million in 2020 and 2024
- Development of social security, implementation through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), totalling EUR 2.7 million in 2022–2024
- The project on sexual and reproductive health and rights and safety of young people in Northern Mozambique, implementation through the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), totalling EUR 6.2 million in 2023–2025
- The project on civic participation, accountability and human rights, implementation through four Mozambican civil society organisations, totalling EUR 5.45 million in 2023–2027
Highlights of the Results Report 2023
In 2023, Mozambique’s economic recovery continued, and economic growth amounted to 5 per cent, mainly due to the production of liquid natural gas. At the same time, inflation and public sector debt reached a more stable level, but the progress in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals slowed down.
During the year, a new civil society project implemented by four Mozambican civil society organisations was launched with Finnish support. The project focuses on citizens’ participation, the state of civil society, human rights and gender equality.
Finland strengthened the capacity of key Mozambican institutions to address matters related to fairness. The Mozambican Ministry of Economy and Finance established the use of strategic planning instruments. The Ministry continued to use research data produced with Finland’s support in national planning and budgeting.
Finland supported the expansion of the Child Grant 0–2 programme included in Mozambique’s National Basic Social Security Strategy. Ninety-eight per cent of the programme’s objectives were achieved in Nampula Province and 32 per cent in Cabo Delgado Province.
The Mozambican Government invested significantly in education: it reserved 26 per cent of its national budget for education. The share of pupils who completed comprehensive school increased from 50 to 58 per cent between 2022 and 2023. In addition, girls’ enrolment in upper secondary education increased from 42 to 49 per cent. The Mozambican Government expanded bilingual teaching.
The pilot programme for continuing teacher education supported by Finland trained 1,044 teachers, 54 per cent of them women, in two provinces. In addition, there was a significant increase in the number of teachers who had completed basic education for primary school teachers. Finland also played a key role in the political dialogue related to teacher education, gender equality and inclusive education, among other things.
Finland’s partners of cooperation in Mozambique
Finland has both local and international partners of cooperation in Mozambique. The principal local partners are the Mozambican central government (Ministry of Education and Human Development and Ministry of Economy and Finance), research institutes, and civil society organisations.
The European Union is Finland’s most important reference group in Mozambique. As an EU Member State, Finland participates in the dialogue on topics relating to collaboration in a broad range of sectors from politics, human rights and commercial and trade relations to cultural matters, conducted with the Government of Mozambique and various actors in society. In addition, Finland explores opportunities to participate in the EU’s joint programmes in various sectors, including development cooperation.
Finland also supports economic and social development in Mozambique by providing funding for UN organisations and international development finance institutions. In addition, Finland provides needs-based humanitarian assistance especially via humanitarian organisations of the UN and Finnish civil society organisations.
Several Finnish civil society organisations support the development in Mozambican society in collaboration with the country’s civil society actors. Currently, the support of Finnish organisations in Mozambique focuses in particular on education, sexual and reproductive health of young people, youth participation, environmental rights and labour issues.
Team Finland cooperation
During the programming period 2021–2024, Finland’s main objective is to develop commercial and economic cooperation alongside with the traditional development cooperation. The countries’ aim is to increase both direct trade between the countries and trade supported by Finland’s public sector, such as via Finnfund. Development cooperation supports the achievement of this objective, because it improves, for example the business environment.
Team Finland network in Mozambique (in Portuguese)(Link to another website.)