Maputo, Oct. 6, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique and Qatar signed a memorandum on Tuesday to strengthen the legal framework for labour recruitment, aiming to facilitate Mozambican workers' mobility to Qatar and promote the use of legal channels.
«This is an agreement that had already been under negotiation with Qatar for roughly two years. We have therefore ensured that all provisions saying that this movement of Mozambican workers from Mozambique to Qatar takes place in complete safety – including social security and dignity at work – are in place, as these are what matter most,» said the Minister for Labour, Gender and Social Action, Ivete Alane, speaking to journalists after signing the agreement.
Mozambique and Qatar signed the labour mobility agreement on the sidelines of the Doha Dialogue on Labour Migration, which concludes today in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
According to the government, the agreement establishes a legal framework for recruiting and employing Mozambican workers in Qatar through safe, regular and orderly channels, expanding employment opportunities for Mozambicans abroad while ensuring greater protection of their rights and better support throughout the recruitment and employment process.
The labour minister said that the country has been monitoring cases of Mozambicans going to work abroad without complying with legal procedures, stating that this agreement aims to promote legal and well-protected practices.
«This year we have begun the process of hiring some Mozambican workers who are already in the United Arab Emirates (…), and we hope to establish similar arrangements with other countries, in addition to the long-standing agreement we have with South Africa for mining workers, which dates back to before national independence,» said the minister.
In July, Mozambique increased the number of nationals sent to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to 54, as part of labour mobility schemes, in a recruitment drive for 300 professionals in the aluminium smelting sector.
In South Africa, the government previously reported that it has sent more than 9,000 Mozambicans since January to work in the mining and agricultural sectors, according to the national director of Migrant Labour.
In Portugal, the government has registered more than 2,900 Mozambicans who have sought employment under the labour mobility memorandum between the two countries, with contract formalisation and job placements currently underway. The opportunities mainly cover the construction, domestic work and transport sectors.
The government is also developing job placement schemes in Angola, Brazil and Timor-Leste, as part of its strategy to establish formal channels.
The strategy to boost labour mobility follows Mozambican President Daniel Chapo's announcement that the government intended to refer some Mozambicans affected by recent episodes of xenophobic violence in South Africa to job opportunities in Portugal and the United Arab Emirates.
In July, Chapo told Lusa that Portuguese recruiters had hired more than 1,500 Mozambicans in the first half of the year to work in Portugal, with around 800 of them going through the National Employment Institute under the labour mobility agreements between the two countries.
PME/ADB // ADB.
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