AMN /
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a four-nation tour to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya today. The visit is aimed at shoring up economic ties, firm up maritime security and counter balance China’s growing influence in the resource-rich continent.
On the first leg of his visit, Mr Modi will reach Maputo, the capital Mozambique tomorrow morning. He will be the 1st Indian Prime minister to visit Mozambique in 34 years. The Prime Minister will meet the Mozambique president Filipe Nyusi, and will also visit the Mozambique parliament. In the later part of the day Mr Modi will interact with local students who studied in India. And Before leaving Maputo, the Prime Minister will attend a reception organized by Indian Diaspora.
Mozambique is the third-largest exporter of natural gas, after Qatar and Australia, and a number of Indian companies, including ONGC, have invested heavily in the hydrocarbons sector in this country. One fourth of Indian Investment in East Africa are in Mozambique. The Trade with Mozambique has gone up 5 fold in last 5 years and presently stands around 2 billion dollars per year. And India till now has extended around 640 million dollars as line of credit (LOC) to this country alone out of its total LOC of 2 Billion dollars to Africa.