The Sheriff shoots again

Good afternoon. We are still waiting for formal confirmation from the Bank of Mozambique and BCI on the apparent veto of BCI’s pick for its new CEO, by the man nicknamed ‘The Sheriff’ for his uncompromising attitude as the head of Mozambique’s financial system. But in the leader below, we review some of the decisions that have earned Rogerio Zandamela that moniker.

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The latest from Zitamar News:

Insurgents force miners in Meluco to shave their heads

The miners were threatened with death but nobody was injured in the incident

Zitamar NewsTom Gould

Insurgents forced five civilians in the villages of Nangumbe and Matandane in Cabo Delgado’s Meluco district to cut off their dreadlocks on Friday, as they were ‘unislamic'

From the Zitamar Live Blog:

Zitamar Mozambique Live Blog

The Bank of Mozambique has vetoed the appointment of Carlos Albuquerque as the new chief executive of BCI, one of the big two banks in Mozambique, Zitamar News has learned. Albuquerque was the bank’s chairman until he was elected chief executive at a general assembly at the end of March, where form…

Telegram

The sheriff at the Bank of Mozambique is blowing smoke off his pistols again, having shot down the appointment of another Portuguese banker to lead one of Mozambique’s biggest banks, two well-placed sources have told Zitamar News.

Carlos Albuquerque has been chairman of BCI since 2021, appointed by CGD, the Portuguese bank which is the biggest shareholder in BCI and where Albuquerque is also on the board. Previously, Albuquerque was head of macro prudential supervision at the Portuguese central bank.