Business
Update: Reverse brain drain from Europe to Africa widens as more Portuguese flock to Mozambique
In 1975, just after Mozambique had won its independence from Portugal after a bitter struggle, a quarter of a million Portuguese colonialist settlers left the country. Fearful for their lives, but also without prospect of a livelihood, the mother country – Portugal, was a safer bet.
Now, nearly 40 years later, the flow is reversing.
With Portugal staggering economically, many now see the country’s former colony as holding out more prospects than home.
Businessman Paulo Dias tells a story that is increasingly common.
He moved to Mozambique in 2010 after the financial crisis in Portugal convinced him that his future lay elsewhere. “I decided to leave because I felt the situation in Europe was catastrophic,” says the 42-year-old, who now lives in the capital, Maputo.
(More: Reverse brain drain from Europe to Africa: Mozambique)
In Portugal, Dias ran a company marketing cruise trips. But, after months of struggling, he shut it down. Within a year he had relocated to Mozambique, where he set up a business building prefabricated houses.
