FCDO Development Director: Mozambique

Join us as we host Dominic Ashton, Development Director in Mozambique for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), who will present FCDO’s development strategy, programming and pipeline of opportunities in Mozambique.

Mozambique is strategically located, linking five landlocked countries to global shipping routes along its Indian Ocean coastline from three seaports which are vital to regional markets. It has a young population of 32.4 million people (2022), abundant natural resources (minerals, gas, coal and oil) and 30 million hectares of unused arable land. As a result of the discovery of Africa’s largest natural gas deposits off the remote northern coastline of Mozambique in the early 2010s, the country had huge opportunity to accelerate development. However, this potential has not been realised, and the project has since caused lethal conflict and the displacement of tens of thousands of people from the region.

Despite its natural wealth, economic growth in the past decades has led to proportionally little poverty reduction. Mozambique remains one of the world’s poorest countries, ranking 183rd out of 193 in the UN Human Development Index. 60% of Mozambicans live on less than $1.25 day and 55% live below the national poverty line for basic needs. HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases keep life expectancy at 61 years. FCDO currently delivers 95 programmes across the country which aim to address these challenges. The ODA budget for Mozambique in the financial year 2024/2025 is £71.8M,the highest for the country since 2019/2020.

FCDO priorities in Mozambique are to support basic service provision for health, education, water and sanitation; to improve the ability of citizens to hold decision makers to account; and to drive more inclusive economic growth, ensuring that the poorest in Mozambique benefit from the potential in sectors such as agriculture and natural resources.

Dominic Ashton has been the UK’s Development Director in Mozambique since July 2022. Before this, Dominic was head of the Humanitarian Response Group within FCDO responsible for leading the UK’s response to new rapid onset humanitarian emergencies. In addition to previous postings in Myanmar and Jerusalem, Dominic has also worked as Private Secretary to the UK’s International Development Secretary of State.

Dominic will offer us updates on the current context on the ground as well as insights into FCDO’s development strategy in the country.