Mozambique 13 May: A coal miner in court, and banking ready for a shake-up
Good afternoon. Zitamar’s top story today is about a Mozambican NGO taking the government and Indian coal and steel company Jindal to court over their alleged failure to resettle communities, four years after the start of operations at Jindal's coal mine in Tete province.
SEE: NGO takes Jindal resettlement case to Mozambique high court
Meanwhile, the donor community in Maputo has given the government a preliminary list of areas it wants to see improved before they can “consider the possibility” of restarting budget support. One of the conditions is that the donors want to see “accountability for whoever was involved in these transactions,” one ambassador told Zitamar.
SEE: Donors ‘open to possibility’ of restoring Mozambique budget support
Zitamar’s article on Andrew Pearse, the Credit Suisse banker who switched sides as the ProIndicus and EMATUM deals were being done, now contains further details on exactly how involved he was in the loans – see paragraph four here.
Elsewhere, Africa Confidential has published an astonishing and thorough explanation of how the deals were done – and given an insight into the scale of corruption it says was endemic during Armando Guebuza’s second term as President. Free to read, and highly recommended.
The economic and financial crisis that the hidden debts have precipitated has arguably hit Mozambique’s banking sector harder than any other. In order to survive there is likely to be a round of consolidation, we argue in today’s Analysis piece.
SEE: Analysis: Is Mozambique’s banking sector set for a shake-up?
Have a great weekend.