"Today the fund to support the reconstruction of … regions affected by the cyclones was constituted, under the management of [Portugal’s] Instituto Camões, open to participation by public, private and social entities,” said Costa at the opening of the Portugal-Mozambique Economic Forum, taking place in Lisbon.

In his opening address to the forum, the prime minister stressed that non-state contributions have come from entities including municipal councils, business associations and Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. He stressed that, in addition to this fund, there are other resources available to help reconstruction in Mozambique, such as €16.1 million from investment fund InvestimoZ and also the Compact for the Development of Portuguese-Language Countries, "translated into the concession of a credit line to small and medium-sized companies in Mozambique of about thirty million euros".

Costa and Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, who is on a state visit to Portugal, stayed on after the opening session of the forum to answer questions from entrepreneurs in the audience.

Mozambique has this year been hit by two major cyclones, Ida and Kenneth, with millions of people across large parts of the country affected.