Mozambique Targets Cut in Poverty Rate From 65% to 27.9% by 2044

The Mozambican government has set a target to reduce the poverty rate from 65% to 27.9% and cut unemployment from 18.4% to 7.5% by 2044, under the National Development Strategy (ENDE) 2025–2044, Minister of Planning and Development Salim Valá announced.

The targets were presented on Thursday, 5 November, at the closing session of the Conference on Population and Development in Maputo, where the minister argued for the need to align demographic growth with economic expansion, job creation, and improvements in living standards.

Beyond poverty and unemployment reduction, the strategy sets out objectives to lower the annual population growth rate from 2.5% to 1.9% and reduce the prevalence of chronic child malnutrition from 37% to 20% by 2044.

According to Salim Valá, meeting these targets requires coherent coordination between demographic policies, investment in human capital, and broader economic development.

In this context, the minister called for accelerated investment in education, health, and family planning, alongside stronger job creation through agriculture, industrialisation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurship, and services.

He also highlighted the importance of a more balanced territorial distribution of public investment, arguing that access to economic and social opportunities should not depend on the province or district in which citizens are born.

To support the achievement of these objectives, the government plans to update the National Population Policy to align it with current demographic challenges and the development targets set for 2044 and 2050.

Salim Valá further announced that the priorities identified during the conference are to be integrated into the state’s planning and budgeting instruments, including the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework and the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget.

The minister acknowledged, however, that realising these objectives requires more than the formulation of public policies, calling for the adoption of performance indicators, verifiable targets, institutional responsibilities, implementation timelines, and financing mechanisms.

“The National Development Strategy 2025–2044 is the principal reference horizon for transforming population growth into an opportunity for economic and social development,” he concluded.

Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=559024