Debt amounted to US$10.3 billion

China was Mozambique’s largest creditor country at the end of 2017, with loans totalling US$1.8 billion, according to the Report and Opinion of the Administrative Tribunal on that year’s State General Account.Mozambique’s debt to China at the end of 2017 accounted for 38.3% of total debt to other countries, with a large part of the borrowing from state-related projects launched during the second term of President Armando Guebuza.

The Administrative Court report, which does not include recent debt taken on for the construction of Xai-Xai airport, added that from December 2016 to December 2017 Mozambique’s debt to China increased by US$200 million.

Mozambican newspaper A Verdade, quoting the report’s findings, noted that the repayment terms of these loans, which are “seemingly uninterested and only require that companies from China carry out the works,” are a “great mystery.”

The National Stadium of Zimpeto, the new Mavalane airport, the new Presidency building, the Circular Road and the Maputo-Katembe bridge are some of the facilities negotiated during Guebuza’s second term.All of these projects have resulted in Mozambique’s debt to China rising from US$342 million in 2012/2013 to US$1.6 billion when Filipe Nyusi was sworn in as President of the Republic.The Administrative Tribunal’s report also showed that the debt increase in 2017 was due to the registration of the US$156 million loan negotiated by Armando Guebuza for the process of analogue to digital migration of the television and telephone networks that has a rate of interest of 2.0% and a a repayment period of 20 years, with a seven-year grace period.

China was, however, only the second largest individual lender to Mozambique, with the first place occupied by the International Development Association (IDA), a World Bank institution, which provided loans totalling US$2.5 billion.

Mozambique’s bilateral public debt totalled US$4.8 billion at the end of 2017, and the third largest creditor was Portugal, with US$640 million, followed by Libya, US$232 million, France, US$213 million, Iraq, US$211 million and South Korea, US$201 million.Mozambique’s total public debt amounted to US$10.3 billion, with external debt accounting for US$8.7 billion of that total.

Balama graphite project

Syrah Resources has declared commercial production at its majority-owned Balama graphite operation in Mozambique.

“Following a review of monthly operating metrics, the board has determined that the criteria to achieve commercial production, as set out in the 2017 annual report, have been met with effect from January 1, 2019,” the company said.During the December quarter, natural graphite production came in at 33,000 t, with full-year (2018) output of 104,000 t in line with the company’s updated guidance. Achieved average graphite recovery of 70% in the most recent quarter, was some way up on the September quarter average of 53%.

Shaun Verner, Managing Director and CEO of Syrah, said: “The declaration of commercial production represents a key milestone for Syrah, reflecting the significantly improved production consistency and strong recovery improvements.

“We continue to implement further operational improvements in ongoing ramp up, to bring recoveries in line with our medium and longer term targets.”

Syrah will provide further details of the December quarter performance in its quarterly activities report, to be released on January 3, 2019.The 2 Mt/y Balama project has a nameplate capacity of 350,000 t/y of graphite concentrate. It is an open-pit operation with processing consisting of crushing, grinding, flotation, filtration, drying, screening and bagging.

Gold trading warehouse in Manica

Mozambican state-owned Empresa Moçambicana de Exploração Mineira (EMEM) will set up a commercial warehouse in the province of Manica for the purchase and sale of gold mined in the province, the deputy minister of Mineral Resources and Energy announced on Thursday.

Augusto Fernando said that setting up a commercial gold warehouse in Manica, in central Mozambique, follows EMEM’s positive experience in the province of Nampula, northern Mozambique, where it started operating in 2018.

“The aim is to ensure that all the resources explored in the national territory benefit the country. Nampula’s gold trading warehouse has allowed EMEM to collect 9,000 kilogrammes of gold last year,” said Fernando, quoted by daily newspaper Notícias.The activity of the new company is part of the Government’s efforts to halt the illegal mining and sale of gold.Increasing the powers and autonomy of inspection services is also part of the fight against illegal trade and smuggling of gold in the country, the deputy minister added.