Zitamar Week in Review and Week Ahead, 19 April - 3 May 2025

Hello and welcome to another edition of Zitamar's free newsletter looking back at last week in Mozambique, through highlights from our subscriber-only Daily Briefing.

We're trying a new format today, with shareable screenshots taken from each day's newsletter underneath a brief intro to the main topics of the day. Let us know what you think, by replying to this email or writing to news@zitamar.com.

We'll also highlight here a major story we broke late on Friday: state-owned airline LAM could be on its last legs as the government is looking to South African companies to come in and operate the domestic routes that have up to now been LAM's responsibility.

LAM could be pushed out of domestic aviation business, as government looks at giving routes to South African airlines

Struggling with debt problems and unreliability, the state-owned airline now faces potentially being forced out of its remaining air routes in Mozambique

Zitamar NewsFernando Lima

Read on for the rest of the week in review, and have a great week ahead.

One final note: the Zitamar Daily Briefing will observe the 1 May public holiday along with the rest of Mozambique (and of course much of the rest of the world).

The best of last week's Zitamar Daily Briefing:

Monday

Amending the IMF lending

The government and the IMF have ended their loan programme, and it is not clear whether the replacement will bring easier or harsher terms

Zitamar NewsZitamar News

The week began with the news that Mozambique's current programme with the IMF was being brought abruptly to an end. It remains unclear whose decision that was and what led to it. But it comes as the government is struggling to balance its books – and as the shortage of foreign exchange is becoming ever more acute.

Tuesday

Cleaning up the CTA

Mozambique needs an independent business confederation to stand up for the interests of the private sector

Zitamar NewsZitamar News

Tuesday's Daily led with developments at the private business association the CTA, which is due to elect a new leader. The process, while supposedly democratic, is subject to serious manipulation – and is overly associated with the ruling party, Frelimo. Mozambique's private sector needs a more independent and transparent organisation to represent its interests effectively.

Wednesday

The hunters become hunted

The insurgents who attacked a hunting ground near Niassa province may not have caused fatalities, but they risk killing off the hunting industry

Zitamar NewsZitamar News

Perhaps the biggest story of the week broke on Wednesday, with an insurgent attack on a luxury hunting lodge in western Cabo Delgado, in the buffer zone of the Niassa special reserve. We'll have more on this story today, via our own exclusive stories; it could mark something of a turning point in the Islamist insurgency's modus operandi.

Thursday

Planning to fail

The government could do with better quality data and more realistic targets for its development plans

Zitamar NewsZitamar News

Thursday's Daily was back to economic issues, with the publication of the government's latest 20-year development strategy. We argued that it contains ambitious if not outright unrealistic targets which will only lead to failure. The pessimistic outlook is compounded by another news story on Thursday, that the US government-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation was being abolished, meaning an abrupt end to more outside funding for Mozambique.

Friday

With friends like the Naparama, Mozambique doesn’t need enemies

The government has lost control of parts of the country to the Naparama. It needs to stop seeing them as an ally

Zitamar NewsZitamar News

Friday's Daily brought a reminder that the Mozambican government is now fighting two insurgencies, as the so-called Naparama militia, which had been working with government forces to combat the Islamic State-backed guerrillas in Cabo Delgado, are now posing a significant challenge to state power elsewhere in northern and central Mozambique.