Wirtschaftsnews Mosambik

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1 Gabinete para o Fomento Económico Moçambique-Alemanha Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry I. GENERAL INFORMATION Wirtschaftsnews Mosambik European Union Statement on the appointment of negotiation teams for the peace talks in Mozambique In a press release the European Union says that the steps taken both by the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi and the leader of Renamo, Afonso Dhlakama to restart the peace dialogue are a critical development. It is now essential for both parties to commence preparatory talks at the earliest opportunity. A conducive environment for such peace talks requires the restoration of trust between all stakeholders. Now is the time for both sides to work resolutely towards a political solution and to abandon all military means. A meaningful peace dialogue remains the only route to durable national reconciliation, a precondition for the Mozambican people to enjoy peace, stability and prosperity. The European Union will continue to support Mozambique s political, economic and social development (eeas.europa.eu). Assailants told Macuane they were carrying out instructions to leave him lame Mozambique Unidentified assailants shot and seriously injured a prominent Mozambican academic and political commentator, Jose Jaime Macuane. Macuane was kidnapped outside his house, and driven to Marracuene district, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo. He was shot in both legs, and then dumped by the roadside. Local residents rescued Macuane and took him to a Marracuene health unit. He was then transferred to a private clinic in Maputo, where his condition was described as critical. Four bullets struck Macuane. Three of them were flesh wounds, but the fourth caused serious damage to his femur. Macuane is a lecturer in social sciences at Maputo s Eduardo Mondlane University. He is also one of the regular guests, alongside journalist Fernando Lima, on the Sunday night talk show Pontos de Vista ( Points of View ) on the independent television station STV. Pontos de Vista is notable for its critical stance, and its willingness to subject government policies and statements to sharp scrutiny. In one of his latest interventions on this programme, Macuane remarked that when the state does not clear up crimes, the state is showing that it survives off organized crime. Lima, who is the chairperson of the independent media company Mediacoop, and a former chief news editor at AIM, had spoken to Macuane s father-in-law who told him that the assailants gave their victim a chilling message. They said they were carrying out instructions to leave him lame (AIM). US Centre for the Prevention of Genocide concerned over Mozambique The United States Centre for the Prevention of Genocide is concerned with the development of conflicts in Mozambique, and its director Cameron Hudson urged the international community to act quickly in local conflicts such as Mozambique to prevent the escalation of violence creating major problems. Hudson was one of the keynote speakers at the Global Forum on Ending Genocide held at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, and, between 2005 and 2009, directed the African affairs section of the US National Security Council. Hudson spoke to Lusa about the factors in local security issues in places like Mozambique, and how to prevent them becoming larger-scale conflicts. In recent months, Mozambique has seen an escalation of violence, with reports of clashes between the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) and the defence and security forces, and mutual accusations of abductions and assassinations on both sides, with attacks attributed by authorities to the armed opposition wing against civilian targets in the centre of the country. Other factors which experts use to assess the degree of conflict risk include the type of government and its degree of ethnic, religious or tribal diversity. Renamo has threatened to seize power in the six provinces where claims victory in the 2014 general elections, and its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, has demanded the investigation of human rights abuses in Mozambique and the alleged death and disappearance of his party s members and supporters. In a case that has aroused the condemnation of the international community, dozens of bodies have been found abandoned in the jungle in the centre of the country, and in early March, more than 11,000 Mozambican refugees fled to neighbouring Malawi. The International Crisis Group has put Mozambique in conflict risk alert, but according to Hudson, there is a wide range of inexpensive and effective ways of preventing atrocities. However, he warned that preventive action does not change society overnight, and he also advocates the creation of early warning systems and local networks to prevent the worst from occurring in Mozambique (Lusa). Anschrift Anschrift in Deutschland Telefon Telefax info@maputo.diplo.de Rua Damião de Gois, 506 Caixa Postal 1595 Maputo / Moçambique Auswärtiges Amt Für Botschaft Maputo Berlin (+258) (+258) Internet

2 2 II. ECONOMIC SITUATION Donors open to resuming aid to Mozambique if there are reforms and transparency The G14 group of donors to Mozambique s state budget is open to resuming its suspended financing provided reforms and measures relating to transparency, stability and inclusive growth are implemented. According to a letter addressed to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, partners consider that it is possible to identify in advance issues related to macroeconomic stability, fiscal transparency, functioning of the state s business sector, accountability and probity in public life. As ramifications of those issues, the G14 points out other areas that deserve concern, listing the fight against corruption, political stability, civil liberties and human rights, as well as an environment that promotes inclusive growth and attracts private investment. Donors also advocate dialogue with the government, and perhaps most importantly, the mobilization of resources and definition of spending priorities in line with an agenda in favour of reducing poverty and promoting inclusive growth. In the letter formalizing the suspension, the G14 calls the hefty debts guaranteed by the government without the approval of parliament, a violation of the Basic Principles of Partnership, causing donors to conclude that the necessary conditions for the disbursement of funds through general budget support are not currently in place. G14 members report that they are also in contact with other international partners, including members of the former G19 group, to jointly examine potential adjustments in other forms of aid channelled through national systems. Aid partners have welcomed public statements by the Mozambican government, saying they represent an important step in transparency and welcoming the commitment of the executive to continue to deal openly, promptly and in detail with this subject, notably in parliament. Including the recently disclosed loans, Mozambique s public debt now stands at US$11.66 billion (EUR10.1 billion), of which US$9,890 million (EUR8.6 billion) is external. This represents over 70 percent of gross domestic product, up from the 2012 figure of 42 percent (Lusa). Three ways to understand the meaning of US$2.3 bn in Mozambique by Joseph Hanlon Finance Minister Adriano Maleiane told parliament that the government debt and guarantees total $11.64 billion, of which $9.84 bn is foreign (hard currency) debt and $1.8 bn is domestic (Meticais) debt. So total debt is 107% of GDP and the foreign debt is 90% of GDP both considered very high. The estimate of the government guaranteed loans taken in secret in is about $2.3 billion. This is a huge amount of money. It can be visualised in three ways: It is $80 for each woman, man and child in Mozambique. The median rural cash income is below $25 per person per year so for half the rural population, it would take their entire cash income for more than three years to pay their share of the debt; $2.3 bn is exactly Mozambique s entire tax revenue in 2015; $2.3 bn is the wage bill for two years for everyone working for the government ministers, directors, nurses, teachers, cleaners, drivers, etc (News reports & clippings / Joseph Hanlon). Mozambique s dollar crisis deepens as government fails to pay Mozambique Asset Management (MAM) was unable to make the $178 million payment due on May 23 and the government, which guaranteed the loan, also failed to come up with the cash. The government is still in negotiations with foreign creditors behind the loan, organised by Russia s VTB Bank. The loan is one part of a package of $2.3 billion in government guaranteed loans organised in secret in 2013 and only recently revealed. Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Mozambique s credit rating to CC from CCC, which indicates that a default of some kind appears probable. Fitch now estimates annual public debt service costs to have almost doubled due to the hidden loans, to around 4.5% of GDP. Fitch notes that foreign reserves fell to $1.75bn in mid-may (from $1.85bn in early April and $2bn at end 2016) as exports continue to struggle. Local businesspeople report that they are now unable to obtain dollars for imports, and some imported items such as rice are disappearing from the market. Recently parliament announced a special session 8 and 9 June for the government to give more details on the debt. The IMF mission originally scheduled for April and May will now take place this June. At a press conference in Washington, IMF Communication Director Gerry Rice, said the mission was to gather the facts, undertake the due diligence as needed. Then there will be extensive discussions about a new agreement and structural conditionalities, meaning austerity measures. Thus the very earliest Mozambique could get any money from donors or the IMF would be late July and more likely much later. That, in turn, suggests that the economic crisis, with continued inflation and devaluation, will continue for some months (Reuters / News reports & clippings). Bank of Mozambique suggests review of 2016 economic targets The Bank of Mozambique has suggested revising gross domestic product and inflation projections and strengthening the coordination of fiscal and monetary policies in order to safeguard macroeconomic stability. The bank s decision comes after its recent Monetary Policy Committee meeting expressed concern at the decision of the G14 group of program aid partners to join others in suspending aid. According to the Bank of Mozambique, this decision has the potential to negatively impact the state budget and balance of payments in a context where the main rating agencies have been reviewing the credit rating of the country. In a press release the Central Bank said that this scenario occurs at a time when the country is still recovering from the effects of drought and floods in some areas, plus the still prevailing difficulties of movement of people and goods resulting from the political and military tension. The release cites information published by the National Statistics Institute which highlights a 2.0 percent consumer price index increase in April in Maputo after a decrease of 0.31 percent in March, led chiefly by increases in food prices, especially tomatoes, onions, peanuts, potato-reno and rice. Across the country, prices in April rose 2.23 percent from the previous 1.33 percent, resulting in an increase in annual inflation to percent (Notícias).

3 3 China and Mozambique increase economic ties following retreat by Western donors The visit of Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi to China intend to deep bilateral economic ties at a time when relations with key international donors in Mozambique are at one of the lowest points in their history. In state visit to China, from May, the Mozambican president led a delegation including six ministers, namely the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Trade and Industry, Public Works, Housing and Water and Culture and Tourism Resources. The visit s agenda included several bilateral meetings. Frelimo, the ruling party in Mozambique, stressed, in a statement that the visit should be of an essentially economic nature, and it was expected that China would strengthen the financial support granted to the country. The visit took place at a time of economic slowdown and rising public debt, for disclosing previously hidden debts, which created difficulties for budget execution, aggravated by the suspension of aid from the group of donors that contribute to the state budget, pending clarification by the government on the state of public finances. On the same day that the aid was suspended, China and Mozambique signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement, under which the African country received US$16 million to finance the opening of 200 drinking water boreholes, the purchase of 80 buses for public transport, construction of the China/Mozambique Cultural Centre, among other projects. At the signing ceremony, the Chinese ambassador to Mozambique, Sun Jian, expressed the aim of increasing aid as a way to help the country to overcome this difficult time in Mozambique, a country that has been an example and one of the fastest growing economies in the region. Recourse to external financing has allowed Mozambique to offset the declines in extraordinary income and donations, which has resulted in a higher state budget deficit. Figures compiled by Portuguese bank BPI show that Mozambique s debt to China was US$886 million in 2014, 160 percent more than in 2012, when the main bilateral creditor to Mozambique was still Portugal (Macauhub). III. SECTORS MINERAL RESOURCES Mozambique mining sector urged to look to the future, plan ahead Mozambique s Justice Minister Isaque Chande has called on the country s mining sector to look to the future as it goes through a difficult period of economic downturn. Chande was addressing a seminar in Maputo called to discuss the impact of the fall in the global prices of minerals. The two-day seminar was focused on the implications of low mineral prices on the Mozambican mining industry and the effect on sustainable development. The official stated that in periods of economic downturn companies should plan and undertake structural measures to secure investments. Over the last decade, geological surveys have identified huge mineral resources in Mozambique, including at least twenty billion tonnes of coal and 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In addition, the country has large deposits of titanium bearing heavy sands and graphite. These discoveries have put the country on the map as one of the world s major sources of mineral resources and since the global financial crisis of 2008, producer countries have been facing the challenge of reduced demand and lower commodity prices. For example, since 2008 the international price of thermal coal has fluctuated from above US$120 per tonne to below US$60. This has led companies to stockpile coal and reduce production (APA). Xtract Resources increases Manica gold deposit estimate by 36% The British-based company Xtract Resources has increased the estimate of the amount of gold contained in its Manica project which is situated four kilometres north of the central Mozambican town of Manica, near the Zimbabwe border. In an announcement on Wednesday, the company revealed that an independent technical report on its Fair Bride gold deposit increased the estimated gold resource to million ounces, a 36 percent increase on the previous estimate of 923,000 ounces. Xtract s chief executive Jan Nelson commented that they we are extremely pleased with this significant increase in the Manica resource ahead of the completion of the bankable feasibility study. Not only has the gold content increased significantly but the total measured and indicated volume available to be mined has also increased by over 56 percent. This creates flexibility from an open pit perspective, considering our revised mine plan. He added that the significant increase in the inferred category also shows that the life of mine of the project has the potential to be increased well beyond 12 years with further drilling. The current price of gold is around 1,270 US dollars per ounce, making the total amount of gold at Fair Bride worth just under 1.6 billion dollars at today s prices. However, the latest estimate was based on more material being processed and a reduction in gold recovery from just over three grams per tonne to 2.26 grams per tonne. According to the company s website, this should still be highly profitable as it stated that it will be able to mine 48,000 ounces of gold per year with production costs of 670 dollars per ounce. In addition, the company will soon begin mining a nearby alluvial deposit in a joint venture with the company Mineral Technologies International (MTI). Xtract stated that this will be the largest alluvial gold mining operation in Africa. Xtract Resources plans to begin mining at the Manica Gold Project in April 2017 with alluvial mining at the MTI joint venture commencing in June 2016 (AIM). Though working to close deal with Vale Mozambique, Mitsui to trim thermal coal assets amid climate concerns: CEO Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co plans to trim its thermal coal investments amid growing pressure worldwide for companies to cut reliance on the fossil fuel after last year s landmark climate pact in Paris. Mitsui owns mine stakes that had an equivalent annual output of about 13.5 million tonnes in the year ended March 31, and it expects that figure to drop to 9 million tonnes in three years. Global leaders clinched a climate-protection deal in Paris in December to transform the world s fossil-fuel driven economy, and calls have grown since for the global power sector and other industries to reduce coal use. Under the pact, Japan, the world s No.5 emitter of carbon dioxide, has agreed to cut greenhouse emissions by 26 percent from 2013 levels by 2030, but it has come under pressure for not doing more to reduce its dependence on coal. The Tokyo-based company agreed in 2014 to buy stakes in Vale s

4 4 Moatize coking coal mine and port project in Mozambique for $763 million, and is now planning to close the deal by March 2017, according to Yasunaga (Reuters). Mozambican rubies to be auctioned in Singapore this June Mozambican rubies are to be auctioned in Singapore this June by the British company Gemfields. According to a statement by Gemfields, the stones to be sold are predominantly of mixed quality rough ruby from the Montepuez deposit in Mozambique. The stones were mined in the northern province of Cabo Delgado by Montepuez Ruby Mining Limited, which is 75 percent owned by Gemfields. Gemfields describes itself as the world s largest producer of coloured gemstones. It has specialised in Zambian emeralds and amethysts but has branched out into Mozambican rubies. In its first sale of these rubies, Gemfields raised 33.5 million US dollars. In its latest sale, in December 2015, the company presented both higher and medium quality rough ruby and corundum in untreated and treated forms. This auction raised 28.8 million dollars. A spokesperson for the company told AIM that Gemfields has held five Mozambican ruby and corundum auctions in Singapore, which have raised a total of million dollars. Last week Gemfields held an auction of mainly lower quality emerald from its concession in Zambia. The auction in Jaipur, India, raised 14.3 million dollars (AIM). AGRICULTURE AND FISHERY Multi-million dollar project to boost farming in Zambezia, Mozambique The Mozambican government in partnership with the World Bank is funding over four years a 17 million US dollar project to boost farming and increase agricultural productivity in the Zambezi Valley. The Catalytic Fund for Innovation and Demonstration is being implemented by the Zambezi Valley Development Agency (ZVDA) in the central provinces of Tete, Manica, Sofala and Zambezia. In particular, it will benefit farmers along the banks of the Zambezi River. The programme aims to support small-scale producers, increase domestic production and reduce imports. 12 million dollars will be disbursed by the World Bank with the balance being funded by the Mozambican government. The programme will run from 2015 until So far the emphasis has been on identifying suitable projects. However, this year funds will begin to be released. The programme will be expanded to include the Nacala Corridor in the north of the country. This will cover the provinces of Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa at a cost of another 17 million dollars. According to the permanent secretary of the Manica provincial government, Francisca Maluana, the initiative is in line with the government s main focus which is on boosting agriculture and combatting poverty (AIM). Reduced 2016 cereal production expected in central and southern Mozambique FAO Harvesting of the 2016 main season crops is underway and is expected to conclude this June. This year s cereal production is preliminarily forecast at below average levels, mostly reflecting delayed and suppressed seasonal rains across southern and central provinces, which caused severely stressed crop conditions. An estimated 0.52 million hectares of crops (about 12 percent of the total planted areas) were lost due to the dry conditions in the main cereal producing provinces of Sofala, Tete (centre) and minorproducing provinces of Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo (south), with many households forced to replant several times. In response, the Government activated an institutional red alert in the drought affected areas to expand interventions and boost the response s funds. By contrast, generally good rains in the large producing Northern provinces benefitted crop development, with vegetation indexes pointing to overall favourable conditions. As a result, averages to good harvests are expected in the north, which could partly compensate for reduced outputs in the south and parts of the centre. Furthermore, improved late seasonal rains in March and April in central areas, while unlikely to result in significant improvement to the main season crops, are expected to benefit pastures and create more conducive conditions for the minor secondary season crops (to be harvested from August), compared with early forecasts. The expected poor harvests in the south and some central areas are expected to result in stressed food security conditions throughout 2016/17. A Government-led assessment in five of the most affected provinces (Tete, Manica, Sofala, Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo) and also including data from Zambezia Province, estimated that 1.5 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance. The assessment found that the majority of households that were surveyed did not have cereal stocks for consumption and, due to frequent replanting, have low seed supplies that might adversely affect their productive capacity for the secondary season and the subsequent 2017 main season. The Government and humanitarian community are responding to the current situation, providing agricultural support for livestock and horticulture production and food assistance to the most vulnerable households (fao.org). EMATUM fishing boats cannot export to Europe Not only did the state company EMATUM (Mozambique Tuna Company) borrow hundreds of millions of dollars on the European bond market to purchase a brand new fleet of fishing boats, but it now turns out that the boats are not fit for purpose. The Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, told deputies of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, last week that ten of the 24 EMATUM fishing boats are being refitted in South Africa so that they meet the technical specifications demanded by the European Union for boats that catch fisheries produce intended for the European market. But the boats were all built at a shipyard, Constructions Mechaniques de Normandie (CMN), in the French port of Cherbourg, and France is a member of the European Union. Maleiane was thus effectively claiming that boats built recently in a European shipyard do not meet the European Union s own specifications for fishing boats. Yet the boats were delivered and by late 2015 all of them had arrived in Maputo. Some tuna was caught (just 300 tonnes in 2015, according to government figures) most of which was exported to China. Because of the European Union demands, EMATUM has decided to refit some of its boats. It cannot refit them all, because that would be too expensive. First, an attempt was made to negotiate the refitting of the boats with CMN, but that was too expensive, and so it was decided to hire a

5 5 South African company to make the necessary changes. Thus a Mozambican state company ordered 24 tuna fishing boats from a European shipyard, but when the boats were delivered they were not suitable for fishing tuna for one of the main tuna markets on the planet, that of the European Union. Despite this the boats sailed to Mozambique, and only recently has the problem been discovered. Nobody from EMATUM seems to have considered checking the boats against the EU requirements while they were still in Cherbourg (AIM). INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY SA creating unit to import gas for power plants: Regional suppliers Mozambique, Botswana being considered SA is creating a unit to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power plants as suppliers, including Cheniere Energy, await fuel tenders for annual shipments of at least 3-million tonnes. The Gas Industrialisation Unit will initially focus on importing LNG as SA seeks to reduce its dependence on coal-fired power, said Garth Strachan, a deputy director-general at the Department of Trade and Industry. Eventually, the unit will also seek to tap domestic sources of natural gas, he added. Houston-based Cheniere is among companies interested in supplying SA s gas-to-power programme, which plans to add 3,126MW of capacity between 2019 and 2025.That could require annual LNG imports of about $530m,according to Trevor Sikorski, an analyst with Energy Aspects in London. Almost anyone with gas was looking for demand at the moment, but the most competitive supply for SA would be from Nigeria, Angola, the US and possibly Qatar, Sikorski said. The new government unit, which requires final approval from the Energy Ministry, will consider regional gas supplies from Mozambique and Botswana, Strachan said. Mozambique s state-owned Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos expects Anadarko Petroleum and Eni to make final investment decisions on LNG export projects later this year. SA also announced plans last week for legislation to clarify rules for the production and transportation of natural gas, paving the way for the development of shale-gas reserves in the country s semi-desert Karoo region (Bloomberg). ENI s FID on Mozambique gas may still be taken this year Castiglioni The final investment decision on natural gas exploration in the Rovuma basin may still be taken this year, said the managing director of ENI East Africa recently during a meeting held in Palma, northern Mozambique. Fabio Castiglioni also said the approval last February of the development plan of the Coral Sul field in area 4 of the Rovuma basin, was a key step in the progression towards the final investment decision of the project which, among other things, involves extraction of natural gas and liquefaction using a floating platform. Castiglioni said the development plan approved by the government of Mozambique was the first phase of gas exploration, as subsequent projects of the Coral field and the entire discovery and its liquefaction will be subject to specific development plans to be approved in due course by the government. After approval of the development plan, the ENI Group and partners in the Area 4 block Galp Energia of Portugal, South Korea s Kogas and the Mozambican state ENH developed a local plan that aims to maximise local potential to supply goods and services, recruitment and development of skilled labour (Macauhub). Record electricity production at Cahora Bassa dam Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi River in the western Mozambican province of Tete, has announced that it produced 16,078 gigawatt-hours of electricity in This is the highest annual production in HCB s history and an increase of 6.8 percent on the power generated in Production is now close to the maximum installed capacity (which is 2,075 megawatts). A press release from HCB announced that the company ended 2015 with a net profit of billion meticais (71.6 million US dollars at current exchange rates). This was a 73 percent increase on the previous year. HCB s healthy financial situation has allowed it to continue paying in advance the 700 million US dollar loan contracted in 2007 which allowed the Mozambican state to take control of the company. Up until 2007, the Portuguese state owned 82 percent of HCB, and Mozambique only 18 percent. Under the agreement of that year between the two governments, the Mozambican shareholding increased to 85 percent and the Portuguese holding fell to 15 percent. To finance this sale the Mozambican government took on a US$700 million loan from a banking syndicate made up of French bank CA Lyon and Portuguese bank BPI, which would be paid off using profits from the company s business. Furthermore, HCB s performance in 2015 allowed the company to pay its two shareholders (the Mozambican and Portuguese states) a dividend that was 53 percent higher than in 2014 (AIM). Contract signed for dredging the port of Maputo, Mozambique The dredging of the access channel to the port of Maputo to allow the entry of vessels of up to 80 tons of gross tonnage will begin in May following the signing of a contract recently. The contract, worth US$100 million for a 10-month contract was signed by the Maputo Port Development Company and Jan de Nul Dredging Middle East FZE, a dredging company based in Dubai, UAE Arab States, of family-owned group Jan de Nul, with financial headquarters in Luxembourg. Dredging to deepen the approach channel from the current 11 metres to 14 metres will create conditions for safe navigation and ensure that larger ships can dock safely, making the port of Maputo more competitive. The previous dredging operation of the Maputo port channel allowed access to vessels of up to 65,000 tons, which contributed to the expansion of the ferro-chrome and container terminals, a new terminal for grains and recovery of piers three, four and five. The Maputo Port Development Company is a private company resulting from a partnership between Mozambican state-owned port and railway company CFM and and Portus Indico, which in turn is made up of South Africa s Grindrod group, DP World of the United Arab Emirates and Mozambican company Mozambique Gestores (Macauhub).

6 6 TRADE/RETAIL Strengthening rand increases Mozambique s food import prices The depreciation of the metical against the South African rand looks set to undermine domestic measures to curb the rise in imported food prices. One rand now costs close to 4.5 meticais, up from the usual exchange rate of three meticais. Faced with the rising cost of food in recent months, the government agreed with customs and micro importers to reduce reference prices for imported fresh produce, and importers said that this, combined with the recovery of domestic and South African production, would allow food prices to fall if the metical kept its value against the rand. But this has not happened. Minister of Industry and Trade Max Tonela recently said that if the agreement was not complied with he would meet stakeholders again to ensure that his goal was achieved. Despite food remaining expensive generally, the price of tomatoes has dropped from around 700 meticais to 350 meticais a box. Other products have however recorded insignificant fluctuations (O País). FINANCE Portuguese Banco BiG launches in Mozambique Portuguese Global Investment Bank (BiG) sees its formal launch of operations in Mozambique as a sign of confidence in the development potential of the country. Speaking at the official opening ceremony, BiG president Carlos Rodrigues said that the move stems from a strong belief in the country s progress. In recent years, added Rodrigues, Mozambique has experienced levels of growth and economic expansion that justify the commitment of local and international investment, and BiG will engage in a constant search for ways to meet the needs of various segments of Mozambican economy and provide innovative financial solutions. In business for over 39 years in Portugal, BiG bank began its operations in Mozambique in March, its first outside its home country. The entry of BiG brings the number of credit institutions operating in Mozambique to 19, not including nine micro-banks, nine credit unions, twelve savings and loan organizations and 359 micro-credit operators. BiG s launch comes at a time when the Mozambican economy is suffering a strong devaluation of the metical, rising inflation and slowing growth, and a 75 percent drop in investment projects authorized in 2015 over the previous year. The country also faces a political and military crisis affecting the economy in the country s central region and the effects of the disclosure of substantial loans guaranteed by the state on public debt (Lusa). TOURISM IV. TENDERS V. LEGAL ISSUES

7 7 VI. UPCOMING EVENTS AND INTERESTING LINKS Aitec Southern Africa Ict Summit. Network, Learn, Do Business, August 2016, Girasol Indy Village Congress Hotel, Maputo Mozambique. International Precious Stones Fair, September 2016, Nacala, Mozambique. Mozambique Gas Summit, 8-11 November 2016, Joaquim Chissano International Centre, Maputo, Mozambique The German Embassy Maputo is on Facebook follow us! Alle Angaben ohne Gewähr. Wenn Sie diesen Newsletter nicht mehr erhalten möchten, schicken Sie bitte eine Mail mit der Betreffzeile Wirtschaftsnews abbestellen an