Mozambique: Restructuring not limited to LAM – president

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Mozambique: Restructuring not limited to LAM – president

11:34 CAT | 23 Jun 2025

File photo: Lusa

The president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, announced on Sunday that the restructuring underway at the airline LAM will continue in several other public sector companies to enhance their capacity to generate revenue for the State.

President Daniel Chapo, warned yesterday that the ongoing restructuring at the flag carrier Mozambique Airlines – LAM would continue in other public sector companies which are not generating revenue for the State.

“The process is still ongoing at LAM (…), what is outlined is that we really need, and this process is underway, to make the acquisitions [of aircraft] for LAM and really start building a robust company that can generate profits and generate dividends (…). Now, I would like to make it clear that this is not a work that will end at LAM,” declared the Mozambican head of state at a press conference in Maputo.

Mozambique Airlines (LAM) has been facing operational problems related to a small fleet and lack of investment for several years, with a number of non-fatal incidents attributed by experts to poor maintenance.

A programme for its revitalisation has now been put forward, which has already led to the removal of the airline’s previous management and the appointment of a management committee, in addition to the launch of a forensic audit of LAM’s accounts over the last ten years, to investigate alleged corruption schemes within the company.

For the Mozambican president, public institutions must remain strong and generate profits, and to do so, they must “fight” corruption, an evil that “affects and infects” society: “It is one of the barriers to development,” he said.

“This is work that will continue in many other public companies that, at the moment, are not generating revenue simply because of the same situations we find ourselves in at LAM. So, we need to continue to sweep, in every way, to restructure companies so that they can actually generate profits,” the president said.

Revealing that he is “very comfortable” working in this direction, and rejecting pressure from groups, Chapo stated that this is the “mission”, which focuses mainly on fighting corruption.

“We will continue on this path, not only for public companies, but for the entire state, without much fuss, without witch hunts, but with ethics, with responsibility, with competence, and we need integrity in our public companies and integrity in our state,” he added.

The President of Mozambique had already said on April 28 that there are “foxes and corrupt people” within LAM, with “conflicts of interest” that prevented the restructuring of the company in the first 100 days of his government.

In the meantime, LAM is in the market to contract up to five Boeing 737-700 aircraft, a process led by the international consultancy Knighthood Global, responsible for the restructuring of the Mozambican state airline.

In an announcement published this month by Knighthood Global, the Abu Dhabi consultancy stated that it has been mandated by LAM shareholders to receive proposals by June 20 for the supply of “up to five Boeing 737-700 sister aircraft”, with 120 to 140 seats.

“Knighthood Global is conducting this competitive process, with limited deadlines, to secure aircraft that meet LAM’s operational, commercial and strategic requirements, whether through direct purchase, financial lease or operational lease,” the announcement reads.

Knighthood Global assumed in May that it has three months to “stabilise and reposition” LAM, explaining at the time that it was “appointed by the Government of Mozambique to help revitalise” the company and “the country’s aviation sector in general”.

“The focus in the first three months will be to stabilise and reposition LAM,” reads the note, reported on 19 May by Lusa, in which the consultancy firm states that it will work with the new shareholders, the public companies Hidroelétrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) and Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (EMOSE), which “have a mandate to acquire the appropriate aircraft and re-establish a fleet”.

Source: Lusa