Lisbon, July 17, 2026 (Lusa) - The Mozambican president said on Friday in Lisbon that the country has not recorded any kidnappings for nine months and that the crime had deterred investment, leading to an exodus of Mozambicans, and called on those who had moved to Portugal to invest “back home”.
“We had to organise ourselves as a state to put a stop to this scourge and, to date, it has been around nine months since we have had any kidnappings. We want the situation to remain this way in the future,” said Daniel Chapo during a meeting with the Mozambican community in Portugal.
According to the head of state, Mozambique has lost a great deal of investment due to the kidnappings, a “very serious problem” that had come to be regarded as normal and which “made life difficult” for Mozambicans, some of whom eventually left the country.
“There are nationals who have had to leave the country to live here in Portugal. The last time I was in Odivelas, it felt as though I was in Maputo – it was full of fellow Mozambicans. Others went to Dubai, others to Brazil; so this made life difficult and deterred investment, both domestic and foreign,” he said.
Chapo called on Mozambicans living in Portugal to invest in Mozambique as well, highlighting the growth of businesses run by the diaspora, including Mozambican restaurants.
“We want our brothers and sisters who are in Portugal to invest here, but also to be able to invest back home,” he emphasised.
On Tuesday, Daniel Chapo pledged to continue combating the crime of kidnapping, which he regards as a threat to the state and the business environment, during the opening of the 21st Annual Private Sector Conference (CASP), Mozambique’s largest forum for dialogue between the public and private sectors.
Since October last year, when a Portuguese businessman was kidnapped in Maputo and subsequently released, no new cases of kidnapping in Mozambique have been publicly reported. According to previously released data, 10 victims in 2025 and 15 in 2024, mainly businesspeople, were kidnapped.
LN/AYLS // AYLS
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