MACAUHUB NEWS SUMMARISED FOR MOZAMBIQUE
27th January to 02nd February 2015
Botswana wants to export coal via Mozambique
January 27th, 2015
Botswana plans to start exporting coal from ports in Mozambique and South Africa, ahead of
completion of a railway linking the country to Namibia, chief executive of Botswana’s
Chamber of Mines said recently.
Noting that mining of coal deposits in the Mmambula region in southern Botswana, depends
on completion of the Trans-Kalahari Railway, Charles Siwawa said mining companies
operating locally expect to start their projects by exporting through the ports of Maputo in
Mozambique and Richards Bay, South Africa.
The CEO of the Botswana Chamber of Mines, a private entity that brings together several
companies with interests in mining, said the wait for completion of the railway could prove
“disastrous” for the economic ambitions of country, which include providing coal to
countries like India and China.
In the face of a drop in coal prices on international markets, Siwawa stressed that mining
should not make a rise in prices a condition for launching coal exploration, noting that
exporting through Mozambique and South Africa will help operators develop their logistics
capabilities.
With an export target of 60 million tons by rail between Botswana and Namibia, over a
distance of 1,500 kilometres, the various operators installed in the Mmamabula coal region
may bring coal production forward, with export capacity of around 20 million tons through
the ports of Maputo and Richards Bay.
The Matola coal terminal at the port of Maputo, operated by Grindrod Limited, offers an
annual export capacity of 6 million tons, which may increase to 26 million in the future,
based on an ongoing expansion plan.
Mozambique orders three new military vessels
The government of Mozambique has commissioned three new HS132 military vessels from
French company Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie, with which the Mozambican
government has an agreement for the supply of several vessels, according to the Navy
Recognition website.
The three speedboats recently ordered are in addition to three vessels of the same type that
the Mozambican government acquired from the French shipyard in September 2013, as part
of a contract worth some 200 million euros, which also included supplying three Ocean Eagle
43 patrol ship and 24 trawlers.
Citing sources close to Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie (CMM), the website said
the company intends to deliver the last of the three speedboats initially ordered by this
summer, and that Mozambique should start receiving the remainder from the end of 2015, at
a rate of one every two months.
HS132 naval vessels are 32.2 metres long and 6.4 metres wide, capable of a speed of up to 43
knots and have a maximum range of 800 nautical miles (12 knots) or minimum of 580 miles
(33 knots).
Their surveillance radar include electro-optical sensors that transmit images and other data
via satellite and can optionally be equipped with a 20mm cannon and two machine 12.7 mm
guns, among other weapons that area “ideal for missions to combat piracy, terrorism and
smuggling.”
The French website also the cost of the three vessels may vary between 25 million and 30
million euros.
In a statement released late last week, CMM said the first Ocean Eagle 43 patrol ship for the
Mozambique was launched recently and is now in its testing phase, and so can be delivered to
the Mozambican authorities in coming months.
By the end of 2014, the company had delivered at least five of the 24 fishing vessels ordered,
which will be operated by the state tuna fishing company Ematum.
IMF may revise growth in Mozambique downward due to flooding
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may review its forecast for Mozambique’s economic
growth rate in 2015 from 7.5 percent to 7 percent, due to the economic impact of the floods
that hit the country, according to the IMF representative in Mozambique.
The impact of floods, affecting primarily the provinces of Zambezia (centre) and Niassa
(north) in the last two weeks, may cause a drop of half a percentage point in economic growth
forecast by the IMF for the country, but the assessment is only due to be carried out in mid
February, when an IMF mission is scheduled to visit Mozambique.
“It is true that it will continue to be high [GDP growth rate], but probably at a level of 7
percent instead of 7.5 percent,” said the IMF representative in Mozambique, Alex Segura, in
an interview with private television station STV.
Segura said the IMF review would be based on the effects of floods on the
telecommunications and transport, energy and agriculture sector, the latter with a 25 percent
weighting in gross domestic product and on which around 80 percent of the Mozambican
population is reliant.
Sika Group buys Mozambican company Duro-Moza in its first
acquisition in Africa
January 28th, 2015
The Sika Group, headquartered in Switzerland, has acquired the assets of Duro-Moza, a
Mozambique company specialised in building mortar and tile cements, for an undisclosed
amount, the group said in a statement issued Tuesday.
The group, which created Sika Moçambique in 2014, said “the transaction will accelerate
development and market penetration,” giving the Mozambican subsidiary “an ideal start with
its own production facility and an already established customer base in the construction
sector, which is growing rapidly.”
Duro-Moza is a Mozambican construction materials company, which posted turnover of
approximately US$2.2 million in 2014.
The Sika Group has subsidiaries in 90 countries and runs over 160 factories, with 17,000
employees and a turnover of almost US$61 billion last year, according to information
available on the company website.
Triton Minerals gets Hong Kong funding to develop project in
Mozambique
Triton Minerals, an Australian company engaged in graphite mining in Cabo Delgado
province, northern Mozambique, has obtained funding of 20 million Australian dollars to
develop the project in Balama Norte, the company said in a statement issued Tuesday.
To this end, the company entered into a binding agreement with Long State Investments Ltd,
a company based in Hong Kong, to provide financing on a discretionary basis over the next
two years.
This funding will allow the company to focus on seeking buyers for the minerals to be
extracted, along with completion of environmental studies and definitive feasibility study by
the end of this year.
Estimates point to Nicanda Hill containing 3.9 million tons of vanadium oxide in addition to
zinc and other base metals.
Mozambican power company EDM invests in construction of power
transmission lines
January 29th, 2015
Mozambican state electricity company EDM will invest US$600 million in the construction
of a second power transmission line to the central and northern regions of the country, said
company chairman, Gildo Sibumbi.
The chairman of EDM, speaking recently in Mocuba, Zambezia province, told daily
newspaper Notícias that the line would be 700 kilometres long and start at the Chimuara
substation, and go through Nampula to Nacala.
Sibumbi gave assurances that cash was available for the work and added that work was
underway to select a contractor through a public tender launched for this purpose.
The new line will have a capacity of 400 kVolts, against the current 220 kVolts, and make a
real contribution to improving the stability and reliability of the energy supplied in the two
regions, once completed.
The chairman of EdM noted that upon completion of the work, the two regions will be fed by
two power lines simultaneously and can avoid a cut or a blackout when, for example,
maintenance work is carried out.
Sibumbi acknowledged that the current situation that led to a blackout for two and a half
weeks in central and northern regions was a lesson for the company, which had already
outlined a strategy to make use of existing potential.
Bank of Mozambique wants to increase number of banks and
branches
The Bank of Mozambique will continue to carry out activities to increase and diversify the
number of financial institutions operating in the country and to extend the scope of the
services offered, said the governor Ernesto Gove.
Gove said in 2014 52 new bank branches opened across Mozambique, bringing the total to
572 and four branches of micro banks, which now total 37.
In addition to these branches, a further eight branches of credit unions opened, totalling 617
branches of credit institutions present in all provincial capitals, municipalities and 69
districts.
Also 52 new microfinance institutions opened in the market, bringing the total to 285,
according to Mozambican news agency AIM.
Gove was speaking Wednesday at the opening session of the 39th Consultative Council of the
Bank of Mozambique, which brings together staff from the central bank for a three-day
meeting to take stock of previous Council recommendations, prepare the strategic plan for the
2015-17 period and reflect on the policy measures taken by the central bank in the 2010-14
period.
Gove said the bank began in 2014, the effective implementation of Basel II, the criteria of
which imposed a number of challenges on the banking system in terms of organisation and
classification of information for the purpose of prudential reporting.
The governor also highlighted the launch of the Financial Education Programme, to ensure
greater knowledge of financial institutions, their products and services, and thus ensure
greater protection for consumers from unfair business practices.
Mozambican company receives funding for fish farming
Chicoa, a Mozambican company that farms tilapia fish, has secured funding of US$4 million
from Aqua-Spark, an investment company based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the company
said.
Another project that will receive the remainder of the US$4 million is US company Calista,
which is seeking to develop an alternative to conventional fish.
Chicoa, in turn, was selected to receive funding from Aqua-Spark “for their good practices
and available potential for future expansion in sub-Saharan Africa.”
“Africa faces an annual deficit of protein of 1.6 million tons and we intend to help address
this problem by supporting tilapia production units in captivity in various regions,” said Mile
Velings, founder and managing director of Aqua-Spark.
Aqua-Spark, established in 2013, is the first global investment fund exclusively dedicated to
the promotion of aquaculture.
Indian consortium ICVL announces investments of US$2 billion in
Mozambique
January 30th, 2015
Indian consortium International Coal Ventures Limited (ICVL) plans to invest US$2 billion
in Mozambique, including construction of a power station, said the Director-General of IVCL
Mozambique.
Nirmal Chandra Jha told The Indian Express the amount includes a project to transform
coking into liquid fuels, in addition to mining within next three years of 13 million tons of
coal annually.
The consortium was formed in 2009 as a “special purpose vehicle” for state-owned steel
companies, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the
largest producer of iron ore, National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd and Coal India
with a registered capital of 100 billion rupees (US$1.62 billion).
In July 2014, the consortium signed an agreement with Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto to
buy a 65-percent stake in the Benga mine and 100 percent of the Zambezi and Tete Oriental
mines in Tete province, Mozambique for a total of US$50 million.
ICVL has already sent three shipments of coal mined at Benga for SAIL and the RINL, and
has plans to send five shipments this year.
To achieve economies of scale, the consortium decided to build a factory for transforming
coking coal into liquid fuels, a thermal power station with a capacity of 300 megawatts and
gradually increase coal mining up to 13 million tons in 2017.
Saying that the state-owned steel companies in the consortium would soon no longer have
problems with coal supply, Jha said the amount of coal contained in three mines in
Mozambique would feed those companies for 35 years.
Nirmal Chandra Jha also said that on 12 January current a request was put out for
“expressions of interest” for the project to transform coking coal into liquid fuels and for the
power station, “which has already received feedback from some companies.”
Standard Bank Moçambique lowers growth forecast for
Mozambique’s GDP to 6.5 pct
The growth rate of 7.5 percent expected for the Mozambican economy in 2015 may be
revised downwards to 6.5 percent due to the impact of the floods that hit the country in recent
weeks, according to an economic analysis from Standard Bank Moçambique.
The drop of one percentage point in the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) and
impacts on the average annual inflation rate, which is expected to rise from 2.56 percent to
5.6 percent, are the main macroeconomic consequences of the floods affecting central and
northern regions of Mozambique highlighted by the bank.
In its economic report for the month of January, Standard Bank is less optimistic than the
International Monetary Fund, whose representative in Mozambique, Alex Segura, recently
admitted a possible decline of half a percentage point in the initially forecast GDP growth
rate, to 7 percent.
The analysis by the chief economist at Standard Bank Mozambique, Fáusio Mussá, focuses
on the change in the inflation rate, which in 2014 was the “lowest in the history” of the
country (average of 2.56 percent), and this year expects a negative scenario (5.6 percent), due
to the combined effects of the floods and the depreciation of the metical against the dollar.
In the document sent to Macauhub, the financial institution notes the relative stability of the
metical in the interbank foreign exchange market in 2014, adding that this was secured by the
Bank of Mozambique, which, throughout the year, sold international currencies worth
US$1.208 billion, compared to US$623 million in 2013.
The volatility of the metical in recent months may continue in the short term as a result of “a
strong dollar on the international market and by seasonal factors linked to export and import
cycles that are expected to continue to pressure net international reserves,” currently US$2.86
billion.
The sustainability of Mozambique’s public debt is also highlighted by Standard Bank, since
“may be fast approaching the 40 percent limit” of the value of GDP, which “will most likely
influence the way the government takes on new debt.”
In terms of the impact of exploration of natural resources, the bank said it was more
important than the sector’s contribution to GDP (4 percent), as it is the area that attracts most
foreign investment, creating macroeconomic stability whilst driving development of the
country’s infrastructure network.
However, given the downward trend in coal and natural gas prices on international markets,
the bank expects a slowdown in investment plans from companies in the sector, which could
lead to some uncertainty, although no major impact on the Mozambican economy, whose
growth rate will remain high.
Mozambique privatises seven public companies and shareholdings in
2014
Mozambique’s state stake-holding office, Igepe in 2014 concluded the sale of two public
companies to private investors, said the chairman, Apolinario Panguene, cited by
Mozambican newspaper Correio da Manhã.
Both companies were part of a total of six stakes considered to be non-strategic, on sale and
liquidation list drawn up for last year.
In 2014 Igepe also completed the sale of five state shareholdings to the managers, technicians
and workers of these companies.
The list in 2014 included six companies – Lusalite de Moçambique, IBC, Grafic, Tipografia
Clássica da Beira, Enope and Pintex, and the liquidation and dissolution list included six state
shareholdings in Metro, Texlom , Texmoque, ALC Leasing and Scanmo de Moçambique.
The list for the sale of stakes reserved for managers, technicians and workers included 15
holdings, notably those owned by the State in Aero Serviços, TTA, Autovisa, Cotop,
Interelectra, Soares da Costa, Cegraf, Projecta, Steia, Diário de Moçambique, Pintex,
Mobeira and Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TdM).
Mozambique uses European funds to rebuild roads
The government of Mozambique made a request to the European Development Fund, for
funding of up to 10 million euros, to repair several roads damaged by the rains and floods in
recent weeks, according to an announcement made Wednesday in Maputo.
At least 86 people died, 50,000 are displaced and close to 140,000 people were affected by
the rains and floods in the last two weeks in Zambezia province, mainly in the districts of
Mocuba, Namacurra, Nicoadala and Maganja da Costa.
The EU cooperation chief in Mozambique, Enrico Strampelli said a decision had been made
to mobilise the European Development Fund for urgent repairs on National Highway 1
between Mocuba and Nampevo, the Licungo bridge over the river Muluavi, the Nampevo
pontoon and the bridge over the Namilate River.
The funds for this intervention are provided as part of Milange/Mocuba integrated corridor
project, which began in 2010 and went into its second phase last year, in the amount of 81
million euros, in areas near those affected by the floods.
Baobab Resources selects Chinese partner for mining project in
Mozambique
February 2nd, 2015
Australia’s Baobab Resources is about to select a Chinese partner to complete the selection
and purchase of equipment and construction work for a mining project in Tete, Mozambique,
the company said in a statement issued Thursday.
The company is currently in negotiations with Chinese steel companies Sinosteel Equipment
and Engineering and China Metallurgical Group Corp.
The contract due to be signed stipulates that the Chinese partner will complete the feasibility
study, carry out initial tests and submit a proposed contract for the selection and purchase of
equipment and for the project’s construction work.
“Baobab’s management team has focused on opportunities to reduce the initial capital
required and, while handing over the selection and acquisition of equipment to a Chinese
partner, a technically and commercially more favourable route to production may be found,”
the statement said.
Baobab has conducted laboratory tests on a sample of 1.5 tons of iron ore with Chinese
company Beijing Shenwu Environment and Energy Technology Co Ltd, in search of an
alternative reduction technology to the current rotary kiln process.
“Results are expected in March,” Baobab Resources said.
China donates rice to flood victims in Mozambique
China has donated 10 tons of rice to victims of the floods that affected the provinces of
central and northern Mozambique, the Deputy Director General of the National Institute of
Disaster Management (INGC) said in Mozambique.
The donation, provided symbolically on Wednesday in Maputo, was provided by the ChinaMozambique Chamber of Commerce, and was attended by the organisation’s president, Ma
Shuiyu, and economic attaché of the Chinese embassy in Mozambique, Wang Lipei.
At the same time, Mozambique’s flagship airline LAM provided cargo capacity of two tons
of donations to the flood victims on all flights between Maputo and Quelimane, the capital of
Zambezia province, which was most affected by the floods.
The Ministry of State Administration and Civil Service reported that until last Tuesday the
floods had left 117 dead, including 93 in Zambezia, had affected about 150,000 people and
destroyed 19,000 homes in central and northern Mozambique.
Mozambique Stock Exchange has capitalisation of below the regional
and African average
The capitalisation of the Mozambique Stock Exchange in relation to GDP is only 6 percent,
much lower than the 30 percent average in the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) countries, according to a study from the Bank of Mozambique.
The study entitled, “The Role of Capital Markets as an Instrument for Economic Stimulus”
presented in Maputo, as part of the XXXIX Advisory Board of the Bank of Mozambique,
recognises that the capital market, despite having evolved in recent years in the country, has a
market capitalisation well below average in sub-Saharan Africa, which is 60 percent of GDP.
In 2000, the year the Mozambique Stock Exchange was created, the level of market
capitalisation was 1 percent of GDP and in 2014 it reached about 6 percent, according to
Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias.
Alvaro Loveira, who was responsible for presenting the study by a team from the central
bank, began by pointing out that between 2000 and 2004 the bourse only served to issue
treasury bonds, from 2005 it covered the stock market and in 2011 it introduced negotiation
of commercial paper.
He noted that in terms of listed companies, in 2000 the stock market had just two, a number
that increased to 17 in 2014, and that that number is also below the regional average of 25
companies.
The study said that, in Mozambique, companies have little knowledge of the advantages of
funding themselves through the capital markets, fear exposure of their accounts to greater
public scrutiny by publishing them regularly, fear opening their capital to new shareholders
and have a low level of capital, despite the adoption of Decree-Law 4/2009, which created
the secondary market and reduced the minimum capital requirement.
Mozambican economy remains flexible to an adverse external
environment
February 3rd, 2015
Mozambique’s economy remains flexible to the adverse international environment, characterised by
negative growth in most developed and emerging countries, said the Governor of the Bank of
Mozambique.
Ernesto Gove, cited by newspaper Notícias, said the macroeconomic results achieved in 2014
show that it would be possible, in general, to achieve targets set for 2015.
This year, due to natural adversities facing Mozambique, Ernesto Gove expects enormous
challenges in reproducing conditions for macroeconomic stability, with low inflation and a
high rate of real GDP growth.
“It is up to each and every one of us to do our best to allow these goals to be achieved,” said
Gove, speaking Friday in Matola, on the last day of the 39th Advisory Board of the Bank of
Mozambique.
Mozambique is currently battling large floods that have isolated large parts of the provinces
of Zambezia, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala and Manica.
Mozambican population is reliant.
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