Maputo — The Civic Movement on the Sovereign Wealth Fund (MCFS) has called for the urgent approval of the bill on the Sovereign Wealth Fund for Mozambique before the start of the production of natural gas in the Rovuma basin, off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
The movement includes prominent Mozambican NGOs, including the Mozambican Christian Council, N'weti, Centro Terra Viva (CTV), Kuwuka-JDA and SEKELEKANI.
The position was expressed, on Wednesday, in Maputo, by the MCFS coordinator, Fátima Mimbire, during a high-level meeting on the Sovereign Fund aimed to create a space for dialogue on this mechanism, between civil society and the government, parliamentarians, academics and experts in matters related to the management of revenues from the extractive industry.
According to Mimbire, there are already significant advances that indicate that by the end of this year the country will be producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Area 4 of the Rovuma basin from the Coral Sul floating platform, and "we think that the country cannot start exploiting this resource without the creation of the Sovereign Fund."
Mimbire noted that the creation of the fund has been delayed, since it was mentioned in 2020 by the Bank of Mozambique and "at the time, civil society made itself available to participate in the process."
"Therefore, we believe that Mozambique should rush to create the Sovereign Fund and secure a fund for the first revenues, even if they are minimal. Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund, for example, started with 300 million dollars and today is valued at trillions of dollars. So, it is possible for a country like this to start with a little bit of savings", she mentioned.
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Mimbire also said that the Sovereign Wealth Fund is a mechanism for managing revenues from natural resources aiming to contribute to the fiscal stabilization of the country and the accumulation of savings for future generations.
"The deficit on the State Budget will be filled, but there will be money left over, and instead of the government having more money and creating more expenses, it will be able to save it to make sustainable and long-term investments that can lead to the development of the country", she claimed.
During the meeting, the chairperson of the Plan and Budget Commission of the Mozambican Parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, António Niquice, said the important thing "is that we have the draft bill that will be submitted to parliament and, naturally, our greatest desire is that all the main issues that have been formulated in different debates be brought together".
He stressed that the Assembly will have the opportunity to analyze in detail and perhaps make these contributions raw material for work that can give more substance to the structuring of the fund mechanism.
