Welcome to Zitamar’s daily Mozambique briefing for 19 December, 2017.
The latest from Zitamar News:
Vale employees paralyse Mozambique mine in strike over unpaid bonuses
Sources say this is the third time workers have gone on strike in Moatize over the same issue
Mozambique regulator in the dark over delayed oil and gas block award
Canadian-Nigerian JV says it has been awarded the block, but INP denies this is the case.
Mozambique health money diverted to Frelimo election fund, CIP claims
NGO research believes contract awards indicate irregular use of health ministry funds
The best of the rest:
Decentralisation bill could go to parliament this week (CanalMoz)
A proposed law on the devolution of power to Mozambique’s provinces could go to parliament by the end of this week, the leader of Renamo’s parliamentary bench, Ivone Soares, said on Monday. The law is being drawn up by a working group made up of representatives of Renamo and the government. The only impasse, according to Soares, is whether provincial governors will be directly elected or appointed by provincial assemblies.
Getting the law to parliament would be a major achievement for President Nyusi to point to – but, if Soares’ timetable is correct, it would come after his State of the Nation speech to parliament tomorrow.
Central bank to maintain focus on inflation (@Verdade)
Bank of Mozambique governor Rogério Zandamela gave his end-of-year speech yesterday – emphasising that monetary policy in 2018 will remain focused on keeping inflation in single digits.
The next monetary policy decision is due tomorrow, 20 December – so we will see whether Zandamela has taken the IMF’s recommendation to loosen policy to heart, or whether he wants to maintain his very hawkish stance.
Mozambican parliament postpones ombudsman election (O País, MediaFax, Notícias)
Mozambique’s parliament has indefinitely postponed the election of a new constitutional ombudsman (Provedor de Justiça) after Renamo withdrew its support for Frelimo’s candidate, the current justice minister Isac Chande. The main opposition party had believed it would get a second member on the Constitutional Council in return for its support, which apparently turned out not to be true. The election needs a two-thirds majority, which Frelimo does not have on its own, while MDM is supporting its own candidate, Silvério Ronguane.
Agenda
- Today: Civil society organisations present their Alternative State of the Nation 2017
- ENH chairman Omar Mithá meets with the leadership of private sector organisation CTA to provide an update on progress on oil and gas projects
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