António Almeida Matos

Mozambican Chairperson

From 1975 to 1990 António Almeida Matos worked in various government capacities, both at political and diplomatic levels. He was the National Director for International Trade for 5 years and managed large state industrial and commercial enterprises. Consequently, A.A. Matos has accumulated a vast amount of experience in high level negotiations, having been a top civil servant for more than 15 years. He was a member of the delegation that in Brussels negotiated Mozambique’s access to the Lomé Convention and in Washington to negotiate the first World Bank credit to Mozambique in1986.

In his capacity as a member of the government in the area of International Trade he took part in a diverse range of joint commissions with other countries, dealing mainly with international commercial exchanges.

As director of the state food department in the Ministry of Industry (1980-1990) he participated in the conception, execution and coordination of large industrial projects and a new grain terminal at Matola port (a 30 million dollar investment).

He established the first private consulting company in Mozambique in the socio-economic sector which he managed for 20 years from 1986 to 2006, with branches in South Africa and Angola. In 2007 the company was sold to a large Danish consulting group of which he remained the Chairman until 2008.

From 1995 to 1997 A. A. Matos was the Chairman of the Board of the Centre for Development of Industries (CDI) in Brussels, a joint EU-ACP institution. For a number of years he was also consultant to the South African Department of Trade in Pretoria. He also consulted for a variety of foreign companies investing in Mozambique.

A.A. Matos spearheaded the formation of business associations in Mozambique in the late eighties and nineties and was the Vice President of the Industrial Association, President of the Mozambique/South Africa Chamber of Commerce and President of the Mozambique/USA Chamber of Commerce.

Currently he is an Executive Member of the Board of Moçambique Capitais, a holding company with a capital of $30M and some 400 shareholders, Chairman of the Board of Moztel, a telecoms company and Chairman of the board of G4S Security Solutions.

AA Matos has an Honours degree in economics with a specialization in international trade.