The Mozambican government has approved the Strategy to Prevent and Combat Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Nuclear Proliferation (2023-2027), a document that aims to monitor effective actions of national coordination and international cooperation.
Speaking to reporters on 23 August, after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), government spokesperson Deputy Justice Minister Filimao Suaze said "the strategy aims to build and maintain a robust Mozambican financial system through
the adoption of effective preventive and repressive measures for acts of money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as the effective implementation of international normative standards".
Suaze said that recent statements by President Filipe Nyusi should mobilise all Mozambicans to be vigilant in all financial transactions made in the country.
On 22 August in the central city of Beira, speaking during a meeting with the bodies of the Council of State Representation Services and the Provincial Executive Council, President Nyusi warned that some owners of fuel pumps have been using these businesses to finance the jihadist terrorists operating in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
President Nyusi thought there were strong signs of money laundering in the retail fuel business and demanded that corrective measures be taken.
President Nyusi did not name any fuel operator in particular. According to the newssheet "Carta de Mocambique", the problem has its roots in the "extreme liberalisation" of retail sales, which dates back to 2015-2016. Price fixing mechanisms were made more flexible and profit margins for fuel distributors and retailers were increased, making the business very attractive.
Licensing was made easier, and so today there are about 40 licensed fuel retailers in Mozambique, although only 15 are active (this compares with just eight retailers in South Africa). But in addition to these retailers, any citizen can open a petrol station, as long as he has a supply contract with one of the licensed distributors.
"Carta de Mocambique" fears that, with this liberalisation, the Mozambican state has come close to losing control. There has been a proliferation of fuel pumps along the road from Beira to Zimbabwe, many of which are owned by foreign citizens, including Somalis, Tanzanians and Chinese. The paper notes that nobody knows - at least publicly - how these new petrol stations are being financed.
