Altona acquires majority stake in Monte Muambe company
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Eni]
In the first quarter of the year, the state had collected US$94.2 million (€87.4 million) in revenues from oil and natural gas exploitation, applied to Mozambique’s new Sovereign Wealth Fund.
According to data from the Ministry of the Economy and Finance’s economic and social balance sheet on the implementation of the state budget from January to March, to which Lusa had access on Thursday, these revenues include US$73.37 million (€68 million) from 2023, US$20 million (€18.5 million) from the first quarter and US$800,000 (€742,000) from 2022.
“They were deposited in the Transitional Account based at the Bank of Mozambique, under the terms of Article 6 of Law No. 1/2024 of 9 January creating the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Mozambique,” the document reads.
The Mozambican government has already completed all the necessary instruments to operationalise the Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSM), which will be financed with revenues from gas exploration projects, the director of Development Studies and Policies at the ministry of the economy and finance told Lusa on April 2.
Enilde Sarmento explained that two of the three main instruments that were missing to make the FSM operational had already been finalised, namely the Management Agreement, which will be signed between the government and the governor of the central bank, and the Investment Policy, as well as the fund’s regulations – which were completed and approved on March 12.
“We’re now going to move on to the forums for appraisal and approval, we’re talking about the Cabinet, and then the signing of the management agreement between the government and the operational manager, who has the mandate to manage the fund, will follow, and then the fund will start to be operational,” added Sarmento.
At the same time, she explained, other processes were being finalised, such as the setting up of two committees: the Investment Advisory Board, whose seven members will be appointed by the government, and the Supervisory Committee, with members from civil society and which is the responsibility of parliament.
Once the Management Agreement has been approved by the Cabinet, the minister of the economy and finance, Max Tonela, will be mandated to sign the document with the governor of the Bank of Mozambique.
On 15 December, the Mozambican parliament approved the creation of the FSM with revenues from natural gas exploration, which by the 2040s should reach US$6 billion (€5.5 billion) a year.
“Projections indicate that annual gas exports could amount to around US$91.7 billion [€83.7 billion] nominally over the life cycle of the project, in a scenario where all the development initiatives approved so far by the government are in operation. In this scenario, annual revenues for the state will peak in the 2040s at more than US$6bn a year,” explained Minister Max Tonela at the time.
The Mozambican government estimated on 12 March that the FSM would be operational in April, following the approval of its regulations that day, as stated by the deputy minister of the economy and finance, Amílcar Paia Tivane.
“It also defines the procedures to ensure the transfer of resources associated with the exploitation of liquefied natural gas, and also revenues from the exploitation of future oil and gas projects, setting the proportion at 60 % for the state budget and 40 % for the Sovereign Fund account for the first 15 years. And from the 16th year onwards in a 50/50 ratio,” explained Amílcar Paia Tivane.
The International Monetary Fund previously considered parliament’s approval of the FSM to be “an important step” in guaranteeing “transparent and solid management” of natural resources.
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