MACAUHUB NEWS SUMMARISED FOR MOZAMBIQUE
23rd September to 29th September 2015
Mozambican state-owned airline LAM faces difficult economic and
financial situation
State-owned Mozambican airline LAM plans to hire a consultant to assess the economic and
financial situation of the company and present options in the short, medium and long term,
said Mozambique’s Minister of Transport and Communications.
Minister Carlos Mesquita said that this assessment was intended to obtain further insight into
the real situation of the company, which according to figures presented to the Prime Minister,
Carlos Agostinho do Rosario, “is not good.”
“Unfortunately, the economic and financial situation is not good and we are aware of it, as
results over the last two years show,” said Mesquita, although he gave no figures to illustrate
the situation.
At the private meeting with the airline’s board of directors the Prime Minister pointed out,
among other things, the importance of compliance with flight schedules, taking into account
constant passenger complaints in this regard.
“You have to make an assessment of profitable routes that have to be handled carefully so
that the company’s revenues are maximised, whilst also strengthening management,” said
Mesquita, according to daily newspaper Notícias.
Mozambique starts 2nd Company Census 2014/2015
The 2nd Census of Companies (Cempre) 2014/2015 of Mozambique began Monday with
data collection in the provinces of Inhambane, Gaza, Maputo and in the city of Maputo itself,
reported the country’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
During the census data will be collected that will contribute to programmes that complement
the country’s development efforts, and the economic and social units in Mozambique will
have a better understanding of the size and expansion of their business sectors.
The same information will be used for building/updating the Statistics Units File (FUE) to
contribute to improving production and accessibility of quality economic statistics, which is
essential for users.
Another aim of the census data and FUE is construction of Integrated Economic Statistics
System (SIEE), INE also said cited by Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias.
SMEs in Mozambique to have more funds available from 2016
September 24th, 2015
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mozambique will have over 572 million
meticais (US$13.2 million) available to fund their activities, said the Director General of the
Office for Accelerated Development Zones (Gazeda).
Danilo Nalá, cited by Mozambican newspaper Notícias, said that a considerable part of the
money available from 2016 comes from a fund for SMEs operating in the regions covered by
the Zambezi Valley initiative and the Nacala Corridor, and the remaining portion, estimated
at 44 million meticais, would be granted by the Office for Support to Small Investors (GAPI).
This information was provided by the Director-General of Gazeda at the Nampula Investor
Conference, which recently brought together over 300 government representatives,
Mozambican and foreign businesspeople, academics and politicians, among others .
South African organisation will co-manage national park in
Mozambique
South Africa’s Peace Park Foundation will provide US$20 million for activities to boost the
Zinave National Park, located in the Mozambican province of Inhambane, according to a comanagement agreement signed Tuesday.
The agreement signed with the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), of
the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development of Mozambique, will allow the
development of several biodiversity conservation projects, construction of tourist facilities,
management and protection of natural resources and support to community programmes and
tourism development.
Under the agreement the Peace Park Foundation will provide the sum announced over the
next five years, although the project implementation phase, which is expected to take two
years, will consume about US$9 million.
The Minister of Land, Forestry and Rural Development, Celso Correia, acknowledged the
many problems facing conservation areas, one of which is poaching, which the Zinave PArk
has experienced.
Correia also acknowledged that Mozambique did not have a high level of tourist facilities and
a well-honed management model like South Africa, Kenya and Namibia, for example, but
added that the creation of partnerships like this can make the difference.
The National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) is responsible for sustainable
management of the country’s conservation areas for biodiversity conservation and
development promotion.
The Peace Park Foundation (PPF) is a non-profit organisation, whose main area of activity is
to support the establishment and development of cross-border conservation areas in Africa.
Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau want to cooperate in the cashew
sector
Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau plan to cooperate in the cashew sector, Mozambican daily
newspaper Notícias reported, citing sources from both countries who took part in the
International Cashew Conference held in the Mozambican capital.
The newspaper also reported that representatives of the two countries have initiated contacts
and that Guinea-Bissau, the second largest producer of cashew nuts in Africa with an average
of 200,000 tons per year, is seeking information about Mozambique’s experience in
industrialisation of cashews.
Mozambique, the fourth largest African cashew producer and one of the leaders in cashew
nut processing in Africa, intends to improve its knowledge of cashew production.
Africa produces half of the cashew nuts sold worldwide, estimated at 3 million tons, but only
processes 10 percen of this production, and Filomena Maiopué, director of the Cashew
Promotion Institute (Incaju) of Mozambique, advocated an increase in the processing in
countries where cashews are produced, “to guarantee jobs and income that the population
needs so much.”
The director of Incaju said during the conference that Mozambique plans to produce about
100,000 tons of cashews in the 2014/2015 season, 20,000 tons more than the previous season,
but about half of what the country produced in the 1970s when was the world’s largest
producer with 200,000 tons per year.
Mozambique is currently fourth on the list of the largest cashew nut producers in Africa, a list
that is headed by Ivory Coast, followed by Guinea-Bissau and Tanzania.
The International Cashew Conference is the world’s largest forum for the product, linking
research with production and the market by discussing issues such as business, ethical trade
and organic production.
Mozambique rejects commercial shipping in the Shire and Zambezi
rivers
September 25th, 2015
Mozambique rejected the Malawi’s government’s intention to use the Chinde and Zambezi
rivers for commercial shipping, announced the Minister of Transport and Communications of
Mozambique, cited by Radio Mozambique.
Wednesday, representatives from Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia met in Lilongwe to
analyze the results of a study commissioned from independent consultants on the navigability
of those two rivers.
Malawi intended to obtain authorization from Mozambique to start shipping in the two rivers
for river transport of imports and exports to the port of Chinde in Zambezia province, a
distance of 240 kilometers.
After the meeting, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Mesquita said that
the first major conclusion that the consultant arrived is that the Shire and Zambezi rivers are
not commercially navigable in its natural form, and for that suggested the need to make a
dredging about 1.5 meters in order to increase the depth.
“To make the initial dredging is necessary to spend about 18 million dollars, then they need
more 30 million annually to ensure the maintenance dredging, another 50 million dollars to
clean up the vegetation that surrounds the two rivers, beyond other costs of investments in
port and operating infrastructure, “said Mesquita.
The consultant’s report also indicates that the steaming time in those two rivers will be just
36% per annum, ie the navigation is only possible in about four to five months, according to
the daily newspaper Notícias.
In view of these findings, Carlos Mesquita said not make sense to consider the two rivers are
navigable commercially or spend large sums, especially as the goods are insured for
2015/2016 do not exceed 250 000 tonnes.
US companies invest US$16 billion in Mozambique
US private investment in Mozambique exceeded US$16 billion in the past decade, the deputy
minister for Foreign Affairs, Nyeleti Mondlane said Thursday in Maputo, the Mozambican
press reported.
“So far, 24 projects have been approved that are likely to create about 4 million jobs,
involving private investors in the United States, totalling US$16 billion dollars in the oil and
gas sector, agriculture, industry, transport, tourism and services,” said the deputy minister for
foreign affairs.
The level of trade relations is also encouraging and both countries have recorded growth in
trade, with exports of about US$62 million by Mozambique to the United States in 2012 to
about US$144 million in 2013, said Mondlane speaking on the 40th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations.
In turn, US exports to Mozambique fell from about US$254 million in 2012 to about US$205
million in 2013, Mondlane said cited by Portuguese news agency Lusa.
The deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique also pointed out that
in the last ten years, the US had positioned itself as the largest contributor to official
development assistance to Mozambique, totalling about US$2 billion in multifaceted support,
focused on the provinces of Sofala and Zambézia in central Mozambique, and Niassa in the
north.
Chinese ambassador to Mozambique announces cooperation projects
September 29th, 2015
China will finance the construction of a paediatric unit and residences for physicians in Beira,
in Mozambique’s Sofala province, announced the new Chinese ambassador to Mozambique,
Sun Jian.
The ambassador,cited by newspaper Notícias, also announced that the government of his
country would finance construction of a vocational school in Nampula province.
Sun Jian, who was speaking in Maputo after a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Carlos
Agostinho do Rosário, said that in 2016 China would finance, also in Mozambique, the
construction of the Mozambique / China Cultural Centre and a Communication and Art
School.
The projects funded by China in Mozambique include modernisation of the international
terminal of Maputo International Airport, construction of the National Stadium in Zimpeto
and the new building of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR), part of a package which
includes the construction of the Palace of Justice premises in the city of Maputo, the Central
Office for Combating Corruption and the Criminal Office.
Trains will link Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia
A train with 20 platforms of two containers each in the next few days s due to start the first
1,000-kilometre trip between the city of Beira, in Mozambique, to Zimbabwe and Zambia,
Mozambican newspaper Notícias reported.
In future, the newspaper said, the idea is to transport about 10,000 tons per month, with trains
travelling in both directions.
The three railways that make up the regional association known as the “Southern Africa
Railway Association” (SARA) are Mozambique Ports and Railways (CFM), National
Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL), which were recently
gathered in the city of Beira where they identified 11 corridors, the first of which to start
operating is the Beira corridor whose outbound trains will carry fertilisers, while inbound
trains will transport Zambian copper.
The measure, which aims to bring the cargo which is currently transported by road back to
the railway system, was welcomed by the management of Cornelder of Mozambique, the
managing body of the port of Beira, during a working visit of these three railway companies
to the facility.
At the SARA meeting the railway companies agreed that the board of directors of each
railway should provide rolling stock such as cars and locomotives. Mozambican state
company CFM since 2014 has been working on repairing 300 wagons in Beira and there are
plans in the pipeline for another 100 in 2016, as well as the acquisition of locomotives.
The chief executive of Cornelder of Mozambique, Adelino Mesquita said the port of Beira
was this year expected to process 220,000 containers, more than 2.5 million tons of general
cargo and 5 million tons of coal, compared to 207,000 containers, 2.4 million tons of general
cargo and 4.6 million tons of coal in 2014.
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