Mozambique: Call for national reflection on extractive industry

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Mozambique: Call for national reflection on extractive industry

7:26 CAT | 29 Jun 2022

Photo: IMD

The Institute for Multi-Party Democracy (IMD) has encouraged the holding of a national reflection on how the exploitation of mineral resources is proceeding in Mozambique, in order to improve the definition of adequate policies for the challenges that the country faces.

This position was presented on Monday in the southern province of Inhambane, during a dialogue between members of the Mozambican Parliament (Assembly of the Republic) and members of the Provincial Assemblies, who for two days reflected on the current dynamics of the extractive industry and challenges for Mozambique.

“We are talking about more than 20 years since we started with the first extractive resource exploration project, more specifically in the district of Inhassoro, where natural gas is being exploited. It is important that we reflect on how these resources are exploited, the gains that the country has achieved, the lessons, the challenges and all the issues that we need to improve, in order to align the policies to better respond to the expectations of citizens”, said the IMD Programme Director, Dércio Alfazema.

READ: “Gas exploitation must not start before Sovereign Fund approval”

There is a need, according to Alfazema, to carry out a deep and urgent reflection, as communities are already beginning to show signs of frustration regarding the lack of benefits from the sector. Therefore, it is also pertinent to look at the lessons learned over more than 20 years of resource exploitation, as it is urgent to define a revenue management policy for the sector to ensure greater transparency.

“We also need to reflect on the 2.75 percent that is allocated to communities where resource exploitation occurs. We need to reflect on transparency, that is, how these 2.75 percent are allocated and managed, but there is also a need to rethink the tax to a percentage that allows visible and unquestionable investments to be made in the communities”, he said.

Alfazema also believes that the reflection should happen urgently, since Mozambique is moving towards the start of new structuring projects, at a time when communities are already beginning to question the real benefits of exploiting the resources.

The Secretary of State for Inhambane province, Ludmila Maguni, praised the IMD initiative in strengthening a space for reflection on the Extractive Industry in Mozambique, in order to improve the issue of local content, as well as the benefits for the communities and for private businesses.

“It is known to all of us that the extractive industry in Mozambique is one of the sectors of the economy that has grown very rapidly in the last two decades”, said Maguni,

She acknowledged that “although the extractive sector has contributed to the Mozambican economy, there are several negative impacts caused by the exploitation of these resources, ranging from environmental damage, including water and air pollution, to destruction of the cultural heritage of families, and failure to provide fair compensation, among others.”

For his part, the Rapporteur of the parliamentary Commission on Agriculture, Economy and the Environment, Alfredo Magumisse, argued that permanent dialogue between the parliament and the Provincial Assemblies will allow methods of analysis to be found to better define policies and supervision of the extractive industry, as a vector of economic development.

Source: AIM