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Update: Reverse brain drain from Europe to Africa widens as more Portuguese flock to Mozambique
“My parents say the way the Portuguese spoke to us was insulting and they treated people like they were from a lower class.”
Turning his attention to the new generations of Portuguese settlers, Mangwiro says local reaction to the influx has changed within a few years.
“At first they were unwelcome because of concerns they would take jobs,” he says. But that changed after people began getting jobs with the new businesses.
“It’s mainly unskilled work – in shops, for example – but it means locals can get money and keep their families running,” he says.
Mangwiro says the spike in Portuguese settlers began about four years ago. He says Chinese workers came next, mainly constructing roads and buildings – transforming the capital’s skyline. Brazilians and Indians are also coming in droves, he observes.
Although most Portuguese base themselves in Maputo, some – like Susana Vidal – have gone further afield to benefit from Mozambique’s growing tourism sector.
The 39 year-old, who has a master’s degree in tourism, left her Algarve home for a life in the coastal Mozambique town of Vilanculos four years ago after a three-month job hunt in her native country ended in failure. Vidal divides her time between her job at a tourist lodge and working with her partner, who has set up a kite-surfing school.
She says local tourism is growing thanks to secluded beaches that are relatively untouched. “I go home every year and every time I have to come back after two weeks to my little paradise. It’s a good feeling to be here.
Source: BBC
