Maputo — Civil society organizations have called for the adoption of strategies that allow for a balance between savings and consumption in implementation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund in Mozambique, so that the revenues resulting from the exploitation of natural resources can benefit present and future generations.
According to Moisés Siúta, from the Institute of Social and Economic Studies (IESE), who was speaking on Wednesday, in Maputo, on the sidelines of an International Conference on Mozambique's Sovereign Wealth Fund, "there is a need to establish a balance because too much saving may not be good, but too much consumption doesn't benefit the country.'
For her part, the Executive Director of the NGO, N'weti, Denise Namburete, said that the legislation must use accessible language so that citizens may understand what the Sovereign Wealth Fund means for the country.
"We need to translate the language of the legislation on the Sovereign Wealth Fund into a language that is more accessible to citizens so that they can understand how they can contribute, monitor and demand accountability', she said.
Namburete believes that simplified language allows citizens to understand how they can demand transparency and benefits from the sovereign fund.
The conference, organized by N'weti in partnership with the Civic Movement on the Sovereign Fund, aims to provide a space for reflection and debate on the risks, challenges and opportunities arising from the Mozambique Sovereign Fund model.
It also serves as a platform for the entities involved in the management of the Sovereign Fund, in particular the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Bank of Mozambique and the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, to share the measures being taken to ensure that the Fund functions effectively.
The two day conference aims to discuss aligning the management of the Sovereign Wealth Fund with Mozambique's development agenda, taking into account the main challenges and opportunities, economic assumptions for generating revenue from natural gas projects and learning from international experiences.
