Mozambique Elections: Mayor of Nampula promises to hand over power - AIM
File photo: Filipe Nyusi, president of Mozambique
The appointment of Rogério Zandamela as new Governor of Mozambique’s Central Bank comes at just the right moment.
Mr Zandamela has worked as an economist with the IMF since 1988, covering South Amercia, Asia and Africa, and is very well connected within IMF structures. He is “Mozambique’s man in the IMF”.
Mozambique is facing its worst economic crisis in the last 20 years, with little access to foreign currency. Essential industries, such as cement producers, have to wait for months to get access to US dollars to pay for their imports, while the meticais-dollar exchange rate in the parallel market has doubled from under 40 a year ago to 80.
One would hope that in times like these the international community would do everything to assist Mozambique, but the contrary is the case. Mozambique’s long-standing partners are still trying to convince the government to investigate and give a transparent account of their borrowing over US$2 billion without parliamentary scrutiny. This has not yet happened, and donors, becoming more and more frustrated, have withdrawn their support.
Mozambique needs to break out of this isolation.
One can see the government is making moves in the right direction. President Nyusyi is travelling to the US this month to visit Ms Lagarde at the IMF. While we in Mozambique well know how charming our president is, we also realize that it will be difficult to charm Ms Lagarde without making firm commitments.
Mozambique urgently needs an ambassador who can rebuild bridges with the donor community. Mr Zandamela is the right man for the job. He will be able to open doors at the IMF and also convince doubters in Mozambique of the need for transparency and compliance.
2016 has clearly shown how much we need good partners and how important it is, especially in times of need, to be part of a global family. We need their support. The Germans, the Swiss, the French, the Brits, the Americans: they have all done great work in the past. We need them back. Mr Zandamela can help arrange this.
This is great news. Well done, Mozambique!
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