Welcome to a free edition of the Zitamar Daily Briefing. To receive it every Monday-to-Friday, and for full access to www.zitamar.com, click below to subscribe or email subscriptions@zitamar.com.
Agenda
- Tomorrow: Elections in Mozambique’s 53 municipalities
- Thursday: Conference on agribusiness, organized by the Rural Environment Observatory, to take place in Maputo
The latest from Zitamar News:
Sasol donates $40m to Mozambique ahead of new contract signing
Sasol and MIREME are due to sign an exploration and production concession contract in the coming days for a new block, adjacent to Sasol’s existing area in Inhambane
The best of the rest:
- Mozambique and ExxonMobil sign oil exploration contracts (AIM, Lusa, O País)
- Frelimo cement plant sale to Singaporean buyer falls through (The Business Times)
- Brigadier Dhlakama retires from Mozambique armed forces (AIM, Folha de Maputo)
- Anadarko to help local companies obtain international certifications (AIM, O Pais)
- Election materials stolen in Zambézia province (MediaFax, O País)
- Chinese national arrested with 9 rhino horns (O País)
Mozambique and ExxonMobil sign oil exploration contracts (AIM, Lusa, O País)
American energy major ExxonMobil can begin exploring for oil in northern and central Mozambique following yesterday’s signing of concession agreements with the Mozambican government. Exxon’s exploration will be conducted in Nampula province, offshore Angoche, and in the Zambezi Delta offshore central Mozambique.
In addition to the three contracts yesterday, there are two more to be signed in the next few days with Eni and Sasol, leaders of the consortium that won the tender for the offshore survey Angoche area A5 and offshore Pande and Temane area PT5-C . Together, the five contracts, already approved by the Mozambican government, will bring in investment of at least $900 million, according to commitments made in the original competition in 2015.
Frelimo cement plant sale to Singaporean buyer falls through (The Business Times)
Singaporean aluminium dealer Compact Metal Industries will not be buying a majority stake in an unfinished Mozambican cement plant, according to a statement by the company’s board on Monday. Frelimo holding company SPI, and an anonymous company called Guhava Serviços, would have got $30m for a 51% stake in the cement plant in Salamanga, in Maputo province. The company would also have had to settle up to $54.7 million in debts to the plant's suppliers and service contractors, and pay to complete the plant’s construction. The board offered no further details about why the deal fell through.
The collapse of this deal is bad news for Frelimo which is already struggling to fill its war-chest ahead of next year’s general elections.
Brigadier Dhlakama retires from Mozambique armed forces (AIM, Folha de Maputo)
President Filipe Nyusi has announced that Brigadier Elias Macacho Marceta Dhlakama - younger brother of the late Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama - is retiring from the armed forces, at his own request. Elias was recently accused by the spokesman of Renamo’s veterans’ association of wanting to take over leadership of Renamo.
Perhaps Elias really does think he can inherit the reins of Renamo. But the rest of the party - and in particular the military wing - will surely not allow him to do so.
Anadarko to help local companies obtain international certifications (AIM, O Pais)
American energy company Anadarko has promised to support Mozambican companies in attaining certification to international standards. The assistance is part of an effort to make local businesses more competitive in the scrum for contracts resulting from Anadarko’s LNG project in northern Cabo Delgado province. Anadarko will select which local companies it will offer training to in order to achieve international standards.
The training will be a boon to some Mozambican businesses, but Anadarko’s ability to choose which companies will achieve certification gives it massive power in deciding who it will do business with down the line. Even if the government requires Anadarko to consider bids from multiple companies, if only one company has received certification in advance Anadarko will always have a reason to select that company’s bid. How the training will be appropriated merits watching.
Election materials stolen in Zambézia province (MediaFax, O País)
Unknown individuals broke into the offices of Mozambique’s Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) in Ile district, Zambézia province, on the night of 29 September and stole 15 ballot boxes and 24 vests meant for members of the local voting board, STAE announced yesterday. Local police said the building was unlocked when the crime took place.
Chinese national arrested with 9 rhino horns (O País)
Police arrested a Chinese citizen on Sunday at the Maputo International Airport after finding 9 rhino horns secreted in his bag. The horns, bound for Vietnam, were wrapped in aluminum foil and placed among various food items. Police say the suspect, 49, is part of a wider smuggling network.
The case is the fifth this year in Maputo involving rhino horn being smuggled east illegally, usually to Vietnam.
Photo of the Day
Seated from left to right: Minister Max Tonela, ExxonMobil’s Jos Evens, and Rosneft’s representative signing EPCCs in Maputo yesterday for areas A 5-B, Z5-C and Z5-D.
Standing on the far right of the picture is INP chairman Carlos Zacarias, and Russian Ambassador Alexander Surikov next to him. Photo © Tom Bowker / Zitamar News
To receive the Zitamar Daily Briefing every Monday-to-Friday, and for full access to www.zitamar.com, click below to subscribe or email subscriptions@zitamar.com.
