Mozambique: Post office property on sale undervalued – NGO

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Mozambique: Post office property on sale undervalued – NGO

9:27 CAT | 03 May 2022

An apartment belonging to Correios de Moçambique located on the second floor of the Continental building, in Maputo's Baixa, has been evaluated at 149.347 meticais [€2,200], says CIP. [Photo: CIP]

The Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO) Centro de Integridade Pública (CIP) has accused the company that inventoried the assets of the defunct Correios de Moçambique of having undervalued the assets of the former tax company, warning of “the risk of dilapidation” in the process that extinguishes the public company.

“The final report [of the assessment] indicates the existence of apartments valued well below market price, located in the center of Maputo,” said an analysis by CIP of a document from the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE), the entity that manages the assets of the Mozambican state in the business sector.

The Mozambican government approved a year ago the extinction of the public postal company as part of the restructuring plan of the state’s business sector.

The evaluation made by the consulting firm Intellica found the existence of 176 properties throughout the country that are owned by Correios de Moçambique.

CIP pointed out the case of an apartment with three rooms, located in the Polana Cimento neighbourhood in Maputo city, whose value is 2.8 million meticais (€41,700), but that, according to the NGO’s calculations after consulting real estate agencies, is worth six million meticais (€89,000).

It also highlighted the case of another apartment, also in the capital, with the price set at one million meticais (€14,900), but with a minimum market value budgeted at five million meticais (€74,500).

The CIP analysis also refers to four properties located in Maputo whose value, according to the organisation, was underestimated.

In Intellica’s evaluation, among the four properties, the one with the cheapest price is 149.347 meticais (€2,200) and the one with the highest cost is worth 1,8 million meticais (€26,829).

To reach this conclusion {undervaluation of the real estate properties of Correios de Moçambique], the NGO says that it “consulted some real estate agencies” which estimated at about US$600 (€570) a square meter for property in Maputo city.

“The assessed properties, besides being located in the center of the city of Maputo, are occupied by private companies that engage in commercial activity,” reads the CIP study.

The NGO said that the undervaluation of the property of the Correios de Moçambique company puts the state’s assets at risk and shows imminent dilapidation of public assets. These assets, it warns, may be sold or reverted to private companies at a price well below market value.

CIP recommended the urgent intervention of the internal and external audit institutions, namely, the Inspectorate General of Finance and the Administrative Tribunal, to audit the process of identification and evaluation of the properties.

Speaking to weekly newspaper Savana on Friday, Raimundo Matule, director of control of IGEPEand chairman of the liquidation commission of Correios de Moçambique, said that the values calculated by Intellica are of an accounting nature and do not necessarily reflect the final sale price, since this will be defined by the market.

“Our consultant went to the field to evaluate each of our properties for internal accounting purposes of the company. Through this evaluation, the company now knows how much it is worth”, he declared.

He added that the value determined in the inventory for each property will serve as a reference in an eventual sale, but the final price will correspond to the highest offer to be made in a public tender.

The IGEPE administrator pointed out that not all of the Correios de Moçambique properties will be sold because the state will keep some under its control.

On a political level, Venâncio Mondlane, member of parliament and rapporteur of the bench of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition party, called the process of evaluation of the Mozambican Post Office properties “shameful” and accused Celso Correia, minister of agriculture and rural development, of being in a situation of conflict of interest.

Speaking in the plenary session of parliament, Venâncio Mondlane said that the minister was part of Intellica: “he did some engineering to remove his name” from the company, but “the company is his,” he reiterated, without explaining the alleged manoeuvre.

In its analysis note on the assets of the post office, the CIP pointed to records of commercial companies in the Bulletin of the Republic according to which Celso Correia is a shareholder in two firms that hold shares in Intellica, but does not indicate the shares held by the governor in this entity.

Lusa tried to obtain clarification from Celso Correia, without result, but sources close to the minister said that the leader quit Intellica before entering the government in 2015, as minister of environment, the first portfolio he held in the government.

CORREIOS DE MOÇAMBIQUE CONCLUI AVALIAÇÃO DOS IMÓVEIS
149.347 MT é o valor do Apartamento localizado no predio continental. Av. 25 de Setembro n◦ 1511, 2◦ andar – baixa da cidade de Maputo, avaliado em
Veja mais em: https://t.co/2VoXIp1guD pic.twitter.com/xMl7VFsqzt

— CIP-Mozambique (@CIPMoz) April 25, 2022