Ministers talk about debt and defence

Mozambique on Thursday asked Brazil for a restructuring of its US$224 million debt (€187 million) to the country during an internet meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, the government in Maputo announced. “Mozambique asked Brazil to consider the terms of the restructuring” with “extending maturity and exemption from default interest” and so that the debt “is treated bilaterally between the two states,” Santos Álvaro, director for Europe and Americas in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MINED) told journalists at the end of the closed-door meeting between the Mozambican foreign minister, Verónica Macamo, and her Brazilian counterpart Ernesto Araújo.

Mozambique alluded to several constraints in support of the request to restructure the debt, including the Covid-19 pandemic and armed conflicts in the centre and north of the country. According to MINED, the Mozambican request was well received, and is now dependent on the negotiation of a final amortisation proposal between the ministries of finance of the two countries.The debt includes US$177 million for the construction of Nacala Airport, US$57 million for the construction of the Moamba Major dam – a project interrupted in 2016 due to the cancellation of financing – and US$32 million for projects related to agrarian mechanisation. During the meeting, Verónica Macamo delivered an update on the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, and “Brazil expressed its total willingness to support Mozambique in the fight against terrorism”, depending on “a clear definition of the type of support Mozambique needs”, Santos Álvaro said.

For this purpose, new meetings would take place between the defence and security holders of the two states. The director for Europe and the Americas at MINED also said that Brazil confirmed support for Mozambique’s candidacy for a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council seat, 2023-2024 term, elections for which will take place in 2022.The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members – five permanent, and 10 non-permanent elected for two-year terms, with five being replaced each year. There is a fixed number of seats for the different regional groups into which the UN General Assembly is divided, with Mozambique’s candidacy having the support of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).