Mozambique: President calls for transparency in sale of minerals

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: President calls for transparency in sale of minerals

3:20 CAT | 12 Feb 2024

Photo: Presidente Filipe Nyusi / Facebook

The president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, on Monday called for greater transparency in the commercialisation of minerals produced in the country, stressing that the sector is of strategic importance to the country’s economy.

Nyusi was speaking after the inauguration of the Geology Laboratory of the National Mining Institute (INAMI), located in Maputo and equipped with laboratory services and a seismic analysis and processing centre.

Geolab.fb_

The new infrastructure will provide precise information on the quality of the minerals extracted in Mozambique and determine their exact value, increasing the sector’s contribution to state revenues.

“With this laboratory, it is unquestionable that we will increase our knowledge and define standards that favour commercial transactions, whose values reflect current market prices in a transparent manner,” said the Mozambican head of state.

“The mining sector is of strategic importance for the country’s development and is one of the sources of revenue for our exports,” emphasised Filipe Nyusi.

The extractive area will increase its share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022, reaching 10.4% compared to 9.8% in 2021, he said.

“This growth is remarkable, given that in 2011, the sector accounted for 1.8% of GDP,” said the head of state.

Large companies are involved in the area, mining coal, heavy sands, ruby, graphite and tantalite and, on a different scale, small-scale mining of precious and semi-precious stones, the president said.

The laboratory inaugurated today, he continued, will also improve oversight of the area, acting on production and taxation.

Filipe Nyusi emphasised the need for strict control of artisanal mining since a census in this area found that more than 229,000 small producers operate in the area, generating income for more than 800,000 people.

The structure will also bring the minerals produced in Mozambique up to international quality standards, emphasised Filipe Nyusi.

The minister of mineral resources and energy, Carlos Zacarias, said that the Geology Laboratory had been built from scratch at a cost of 190 million meticais (€2.76 million).

Geologyi.fb_