Mozambique: External donations fell by almost half in 2024, totalling €520 million

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Mozambique: External donations fell by almost half in 2024, totalling €520 million

12:27 CAT | 15 Jul 2025

File photo: Lusa

External donations to Mozambique fell by almost half in 2024 compared to the previous year, to the equivalent of almost €520 million and becoming the second-largest source of financing for the Mozambican public accounts deficit.

According to data analysed by Lusa this Tuesday from a recently approved annual report by the Bank of Mozambique on the financing of the State Budget, the overall deficit before donations worsened by 11.2% in 2024, compared to the previous year, to 148.7 billion meticais (€1.988 billion).

It adds that to cover this deficit, the government “resorted to domestic debt worth 113.2 billion meticais [€1.514 billion] (more than double compared to 2023)”, through net issuances of Treasury Bonds (OT) worth 38.9 billion meticais (€520 million), Treasury Bills (BT) worth 46.2 billion meticais (€617 million), and financing from the central bank worth 28.1 billion meticais (€375.8 million).

“External financing amounted to 18.6 billion meticais [€249 million], a 16% increase compared to the previous year, with the remainder covered by external donations worth 38.9 billion meticais [€520 million],” the report reads.

External donations therefore went from being the leading source of financing for Mozambique’s public deficit in 2023, with 64 billion meticais (€856 million), to second place in 2025, also due to the strong growth in the issuance of long-term (OT) and short-term (BT) domestic debt, which moved up to the first place,

The Government of Mozambique signed 14 external donation agreements in 2024, for various projects, worth US$785.89 million (€757.5 million at current exchange rates), according to data reported in March by Lusa, based on a report from the Ministry of Finance.

Of these, nine relate to the World Bank, totalling US$651 million (€627.5 million), and five to the African Development Bank (ADB), totalling US$134.89 million (€130 million).

In addition, throughout 2024, two concessional credit agreements were signed with the Arab Bank for Development in Africa, worth US$20 million (€19.2 million) to finance the “One District, One Hospital” initiative, and with an Italian state bank, worth US$37.45 million (€36 million), for an agri-food project in Manica province.

Source: Lusa