Maputo — Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has announced that he is working with the World Bank to consolidate the resumption of financial support for the State Budget.
According to the President, who was speaking to reporters, during the fourth day of his working visit to the USA, the resumption of direct support to the State Budget will make it easier for new projects in various sectors.
“We also talked about Mozambique’s development processes, such as the return to financing the State Budget. At this moment, we are also working day and night to get the new programme with the IMF approved’, he said, minutes after a working meeting held with Ajay Banga, the chairperson of the World Bank.
“If approved, the new programme with the IMF will serve as a basis for the World Bank to continue supporting the Mozambican state’, he added.
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During the meeting, Chapo said, Banga made recommendations, especially regarding reforms related to the State Budget, public expenditure, and the broadening of the tax base, claiming that “these aspects are important for the Mozambican state to collect more revenue.’
Chapo also addressed the digitalization of state services, something he regarded as extremely important to guarantee transparency, good governance, and the fight against corruption.
“But we also talked about the priority sectors of development that we have, such as tourism, infrastructure, energy, and industrialization, as well as the development of transport corridors, technology transfer, especially for young people, and agro-processing in rural areas’, he said.
For his part, the World Bank chairperson said he is forging a new partnership model with Mozambique, which aims to “emphasize the creation of quality of life and jobs for people, especially in agricultural investments and infrastructure, including in Mozambique’s three development corridors.’
Also on Wednesday, Chapo visited the ExxonMobil Campus, where he highlighted the strategic gains of cooperation between Mozambique and this oil and gas company.
“It is crucial that Mozambique benefits from its experience and technology, especially to train young Mozambicans capable of leading the exploration and management of our energy resources in the future’, he said.
ExxonMobil is leading the construction and operation of future natural gas liquefaction and related facilities for the Area 4 deep water block off the northern Cabo Delgado coast. The project is operated by Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint venture owned by ExxonMobil, the Italian energy company ENI, and CNPC of China.
“The project will stimulate growth of small and medium-sized national companies, which will supply goods and services to multinational companies in the sector. We are talking about approximately 40,000 to 50,000 workers during the construction phase of these projects. This means more taxes, more income, and greater economic dynamism in our country’, the President said.
Ac/Ad/pf (454) 1051025E ALMOST 100,000 TONNES OF CHICKEN PRODUCED OVER LAST NINE MONTHS
Maputo, 30 Oct (AIM) – Mozambique produced, over the last nine months of this year, 99,200 tonnes of chicken and 23.2 million dozen eggs.
According to Roberto Albino, the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, who was speaking on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of a national workshop on the poultry sector, poultry farming is one of the livestock segments that contributes most to covering the deficit of animal protein and food security in the country.
“As a result of government incentives for private investments (incubators, feed mills, and slaughterhouses), and the integration of small and medium-sized breeders into the corn and soybean production chain, the sector has had substantial results, with a national production last year of approximately 135,000 tonnes of chicken and 29.8 million dozen eggs’, he said.
He explained that the poultry sector is crucial within our development programme “in order to ensure that Mozambique achieves full food self-sufficiency in this protein, at a moment when less than 20 per cent of our market is supplied by imported chicken.’
“The government reaffirms its commitment to continue creating an environment conducive to investment, technological innovation, and the integration of young people and women into the poultry production value chains’, he said.
According to the minister, from January to September, only 21,800 tonnes of chicken and 5.4 million dozen eggs were imported. “Our country wants a competitive poultry sector where the raw materials for feed production are entirely made in Mozambique’, Albino added.
“Poultry farming contributes to the supply of affordable animal protein, employment opportunities for young people and women, and the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the value chain, from production to processing and marketing’, he said.
“This subsector continues to face challenges regarding the availability of inputs and quality inputs, including the quality of day-old chicks, as well as access to sustainable markets’, he added.
For his part, Rafael Estevão, National Director of Livestock, said that one of the factors preventing poultry farming from developing more rapidly is the fact that most of the raw materials, such as soybeans and maize, used for feed production are imported.
MR/ad/pf (363) 1061025E OVER 204 MILLION DOLLARS CHANNELED TO SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND
Maputo, 30 Oct (AIM) – The Mozambican Minister of Finance, Carla Louveira, has announced that over 204 million dollars from natural gas revenues have been channeled to the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
The sovereign fund, which was established over the last year, is aimed at controlling revenues from the production of liquefied natural gas from offshore areas 1 and 4 of the Rovuma Basin, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. Mozambique has the third largest natural gas reserves in Africa, estimated at 180 trillion cubic feet.
The fund has the mission of overseeing the revenue achieved in the first 15 years, of which 40 per cent is earmarked for the fund and 60 per cent for the State Budget.
The Minister’s announcement follows a statement by the Administrative Tribunal (AT), the body responsible for checking the legality of Mozambican public expenditure, claiming that the government, which was then headed by President Filipe Nyusi, failed to channel part of the gas revenues to the sovereign wealth fund.
According to the AT document, Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV) – a joint venture owned by ExxonMobil, the Italian energy company ENI, and CNPC of China – paid the state about 33.6 million US dollars in taxes on hydrocarbon production. However, there was only confirmation that 24.6 million dollars was channeled into the State Budget, which means that the remaining nine million dollars is missing.
In order to solve the problem detected, the Tribunal has called on the government to reorganize the General State Account, bringing clarity, accuracy, and simplicity to it. This means that the government has to substantiate the figures and present them again.
According to Louveira, who was speaking on Wednesday in the southern municipality of Matola, at a coordinating meeting on the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget for 2026, the sovereign wealth fund capitalization depends on the signing of a management agreement between the Public Treasury and the Central Bank.
“Data from October 23, 2025, points out that the balance in the transitional account is approximately 204.5 million US dollars, under the terms of gas revenues,’ she said.
The Minister explained that the sovereign fund must guarantee good governance, transparency and accountability in the management of revenues from natural resources, “preventing their volatile or unproductive use.’
According to the minister, in the third quarter of 2025, the collection of State Revenue reached 263.8 billion Meticais (4.1 billion US dollars, at the current exchange rate) corresponding to 68.4 per cent of the annual forecast.
Louveira also denounced mismanagement and excessive debt in publicly-owned companies, claiming that some of these companies are a burden on state finances.
“The poor performance of the public sector is due to serious mismanagement, excessive debt, and a lack of accountability. These situations are absolutely unacceptable and intolerable. Public and privately owned companies must be managed with the same rigor, discipline and transparency’, she said.
According to the minister, measures must be taken to reverse this scenario. “It is necessary to adopt strategies to ensure that each public company is evaluated by objective criteria of financial performance and integrity in management. Audit and control mechanisms must be implemented through clear programme contracts, measurable targets and mandatory performance reports’.
The Minister also said that another challenge facing the national economy is the unsustainability of the public debt, which continues to exceed limits, currently standing at over 73 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“We are developing a set of reforms aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the public debt, which include the preparation of a Public Debt Management Strategy covering the period from 2025 to 2029; the revision of the regulations establishing the legal framework for the capital market; and the identification of specialized advisory services in matters of public debt’, the minister said.
Ad/pf (636) 1071025E KENMARE ALLOCATES 40 PER CENT OF PROCUREMENT BUDGET TO MOZAMBICAN SUPPLIERS
Larde (Mozambique), 30 Oct (AIM) – The Irish company Kenmare Resources, which has been mining the heavy mineral sands in Moma and Larde districts in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, since 2009 claims it is consolidating its position as a key driver of development for small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by allocating about 40 per cent of its procurement budget to Mozambican suppliers.
Heavy mineral sands are used for production of titanium ores, such as Ilmenite, that are the raw materials used in paints, paper, and other products.
According to Isefa Sitoe, Kenmare’s Procurement Manager, interviewed by AIM, the company’s annual purchases from domestic suppliers have reached 73 million US dollars, “corresponding to 40 per cent of its procurement budget, reinforcing the company’s role as a strategic partner of Mozambican businesses and contributing to strengthening the local economy.’
She explained that the investment between Kenmare and MSMEs gained new momentum with the Conecta Negócio Project, implemented by the Ministry of Finance with funding from the World Bank.
“We always start by looking for suppliers in Topuito (where the Kenmare dredge mine is located), then in Nampula, and only then in the rest of the country. We only resort to foreign suppliers if there is no local capacity. Currently, Kenmare works with 213 Mozambican suppliers, equivalent to 40 per cent of its 700 active partners. The volume of global purchases has varied according to expansion projects, ranging from 79 million dollars in 2023, 77 million in 2024, and a projection of over 73 million for 2025, driven by new infrastructure and maintenance works’, she said.
Sitoe said that services represent the largest share of national supplies, ranging from maintenance, logistics, fumigation, laundry, and metal structures. “Mozambique is a service-oriented country, and it is in this area that we find the greatest competitiveness’, she said.
“More than just numbers, Kenmare’s commitment translates into direct social impact, requiring that 80 to 90 per cent of the subcontractors’ workforce be Mozambican, as a way to guarantee job creation and local development’, she said.
However, the company is extending its attention to the areas of agriculture and fishing, studying ways to empower nearby rural communities to directly supply food products to the mining complex, a strategy that could diversify the local economy and reduce imports.
The integration of companies with mega-projects is being driven through training in management, certification, and procurement to equip companies with greater capacity to respond to the demands of multinationals.
For his part, Joel Sauane, a business development specialist in the Conecta Negócios Project, said there is a goal of training 1,000 companies in Cabo Delgado, Nampula, and Tete provinces in management areas.
“To date, 600 SMEs have already been trained, 200 of which are in Nampula. When it comes to training and financing, two success stories (national companies based in Nampula) stand out, notably Fumilar, a fumigation company that received 25 million meticais to build an entomological laboratory, canteens, and warehouses.
“The investment allowed the company to double its workforce and increase sales by 15 per cent. This benefitted Construção Auro, a construction company with a strong track record of providing services to mega-projects. We expect Fumilar to achieve 20 per cent growth by the end of the year’, he added.
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1081025E HCB INVESTING 100 MILLION DOLLARS IN ROAD REHABILITATION
Maputo, 30 Oct (AIM) – Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi River, in the western Mozambican province of Tete, is investing 5.3 billion meticais (about 100 million US dollars, at the current exchange rate) to rehabilitate National Road N 301, a 117 km stretch connecting Tete city to the town of Songo, where HCB is headquartered.
According to José Munice, HCB executive administrator for Production, Energy Transmission and Procurement, speaking to reporters, the initiative is part of the 10-Year Vital Capex Project, which is aimed at developing a series of structural projects for the rehabilitation, modernization, and expansion of the HCB power plant.
The investment, he said, aims to make the road robust enough to support the heavy vehicles that will transport equipment for the rehabilitation and modernization.
“HCB, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is developing a series of structural projects for the rehabilitation, modernization, and expansion of its power plant. The 10-Year Vital Capex Project is aimed at reversing the negative impact caused by the frequent maintenance of obsolete equipment’, he said.
The project, which will be concluded by 2032, will increase energy production at HCB from the current 2,000 megawatts per year to 4,000 megawatts for domestic consumption and for export to various countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which have an ever-increasing demand for electricity in their economies.
With these projects, HCB will increase revenues and dividends for the Mozambican State and further position the country as one of the main producers of energy in SADC.
According to Munice, the 10-Year Vital CAPEX programme arises from a technical analysis of the equipment, after the infrastructure completed 50 years.
“It was found that a significant portion of the equipment has been in operation for about 50 years, a fact that poses operational risks and so investment projects were developed to mitigate the risk’, he said.
Among the various projects, Munice highlighted the rehabilitation of the South Bank Power Station and the Songo and Matambo substations. “With the rehabilitation of the plant, the company foresees an increase in production capacity of 90 MW. With five generating units, we will replace the alternators, the turbines, the control systems, and the auxiliary systems, among others’, he said.
In addition to the Songo Substation, HCB will modernize the Matambo Substation, responsible for distributing the energy generated by HCB to the central and northern regions of the country. “Here, we will also invest in modernizing and replacing some equipment that is already beyond its useful life’, he said.
Munice also mentioned the proposed North Bank Power Station, which will be built alongside the existing power station, generating an additional 1,245 megawatts.
“Among the projects is the construction of a 400 MW solar power plant planned for Matambo, Changara district, also in Tete province. The main objective of the solar power plant is to supply the energy deficit during the repair of the five turbines installed at HCB, one per year. Pre-feasibility studies for the project’s implementation are already under way’, he said.
