Welcome to Zitamar’s daily Mozambique briefing for 10 October 2017.
The latest from Zitamar News:
Almost half of insurers in Mozambique at risk of insolvency
The industry regulator tells Zitamar News it is applying a number of measures to avoid crisis in the sector.
The best of the rest:
Fourteen arrests so far in Amurane assassination case (Wamphula Fax)
At least 14 people have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Nampula mayor Mahamudo Amurane on 4 October, Nampula-based newspaper Wamphula Fax reports, citing ‘reliable sources’. The suspects, according to Wamphula Fax, include Amurane’s former right-hand man, and a contractor building a restaurant in an upper floor of the mayor’s residence.
Unfortunately, early arrests do not necessarily mean the investigation will be concluded quickly – or ever. The police claimed to have detained suspects in connection with the murder of Gilles Cistac in 2015, and that of prosecutor Marcelino Vilanculo in 2016, but neither case went anywhere from there.
Dhlakama reshuffles Renamo top brass in preparation for coming elections (CanalMoz)
Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama has nominated former chief negotiator José Manteigas as deputy chief of the party’s international relations department, under department head Eduardo Namburete, and named Inácio Reis head of mobilisation, replacing Ainca Mecusserima Chande. Lúcia Afate replaces Jeremias Pondeca, another peace negotiator who was assassinated in October 2016, as head of the department of rural administration and local government.
The continued reappearance of the same names indicates a lack of strength in depth at the top of Renamo. Lúcia Afate is a member of parliament for Nampula province, who successfully sued a journalist in 2010 for alleging she was Dhlakama’s lover. Inácio Reis was described as an adviser to Dhlakama by O Pais in August when he told the paper that Dhlakama was aiming for a definitive peace agreement by the end of 2017. Not many people are allowed to speak for Dhlakama – so Reis must be a trusted lieutenant.
Prices rose 0.24% in Mozambique in September (Notícias)
Consumer price inflation was 0.24% in September, according to the national statistics institute (Instituto Nacional de Estatística, INE), putting annual inflation at 10.76%, and 3.53% in 2017 so far.
Mozambique’s high rate of inflation was the IMF’s main justification for supporting the Bank of Mozambique’s severe interest rate rises over recent months – to keep real interest rates in positive territory. On that measure, interest rates could be cut dramatically at the monetary policy committee’s next meeting on 26 October – but other factors are also in play.
Tax collection rates at 4.5% this year so far (AIM)
Mozambique’s tax authority had only collected 162 million meticais in taxes up to September this year, of 3.6 billion billed – due to a variety of factors including human error, corruption, tax evasion and late payments, as well as a lack of resources, the Autoridade Tributária (AT) said.
Mozambique loses billions of meticais in fuel smuggling (Radio Moçambique)
Mozambique loses between 2.5 and 4 billion meticais each year due to the smuggling of fuel into neighbouring countries, according to the tax authority. The authority recently contracted a company to mark Mozambican fuel to distinguish between that intended for internal consumption, and that which is to be exported.
Agenda
- Today: Start of the second part of the Agriculture Development Fund corruption case, after a 20-day break
Bank of Mozambique exchange rates as at 12:30
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