CONTRABAND MOBILE PHONES SEIZED

Mobile brigades of the Mozambican Tax Authority (AT) in the western province of Tete on Friday morning seized 17,500 mobile phones that were being smuggled into the country. The seizure occurred at the Mboza control post in Moatize district, on the road from the Malawian border to Tete city. The phones were carried on two trucks which also contained office material which had entered the country illegally.
An AT press release said that the mobile brigades seized “about 17,500 Nokia and Samsung Galaxy cell phones of various models plus over 1,010 units of office material”.These items ought to pay customs duties and other taxes of over three million meticais (about 48,400 US dollars, at current exchange rates).The AT release said the seizure was the culmination of thorough work of investigation, intelligence and inspection by the Tete AT staff.“In these situations of trafficking and/or contraband”, said the release, “if the owner wishes to recover his merchandise, he must pay, in addition to the customs duties and other taxes, heavy fines”. Failure to do so, will result in the material reverting to the state. In such cases, the goods are normally sold off at public auction.

"A BAND, A ROUTE"

Portuguese-speaking countries are well-positioned to share the economic benefits associated with the "One Track, One Route" initiative announced by China, Clbrief is a private information service specialized in the Portuguese-speaking world and in China. states that the Chinese authorities have made it clear that the inclusion of the Portuguese-speaking countries in this initiative is possible and adds that these countries have much to gain from China's expansion of the original geographical scope of the initiatives of the New Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road The interest in this initiative has been notable both in Cape Verde and in Portugal, countries that are closer to the original route in terms of geography and that have important strategic links with China.

"In fact, Portuguese-speaking countries share a number of characteristics that make them particularly well placed to benefit from the initiative, such as having international airports and direct access to the sea, whether they already have or should have ports of deep water. "

In São Tomé and Príncipe, for example, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CBRC) is to build a deepwater port, which the local government intends to transform into a regional navigation center and Guinea-Bissau, another Portuguese-speaking country, China Machinery Engineering Corporation signed in 2016 an agreement with the government to begin construction of a similar infrastructure in Buba, south of the capital Bissau.

Trade between China and the eight Portuguese-speaking countries has grown very rapidly in the past decade and a half, rising from $ 11 billion in 2003, the year of the Macau Forum, to $ 117 billion in 2017, in addition to about 400 Chinese companies applied in those countries capital that exceeded 6,000 million dollars. The published text points out that all Portuguese-speaking countries have strategic value, with Brazil being South America's largest economy and China's main trading partner, Timor-Leste, a candidate for ASEAN, Angola, an African country Which is one of the main oil suppliers to China and is a member of the Southern African Development Community, Mozambique, an East African country that will eventually be one of the largest suppliers of natural gas.

President meets on the basis of armed opposition

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi (hat and blue shirt)  on Monday met with the leader of the Renamo rebels, Afonso Dhlakama (Wristwatch), in the central district of Gorongosa, where Dhlakama has been living since late 2015, to discuss military questions.According to a press release from Nyusi’s office, the meeting took place at Namadjiwa, 40 kilometres from Gorongosa town.The two men discussed “military matters, specifically disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration” (of the members of Renamo’s militia).

The release added “we praised the report from the Military Affairs Commission and clarified the steps to be taken in the incorporation of the Renamo officers”. That incorporation, together with the disarming and demobilisation of the Renamo militia “will allow an end to military hostilities and will open a new era for an effective and lasting peace”.Nyusi did not specifically mention Dhlakama’s demand that leadership positions in the armed forces (FADM) and in the police should be given to Renamo officers. But he promised that the detailed conclusions on the progress so far will be made public “at an opportune moment”.The statement concluded with the reaffirmation that Nyusi and Dhlakama are working closely “to put an end to the armed conflict forever, and to lay the bases for a prosperous and secure Mozambique for all Mozambicans”.This is the second face-to-face contact between Nyusi and Dhlakama since the Renamo leader declared a truce on 27 December 2016. The first such meeting was in August 2017. Most of the discussions between the two leaders have been by phone.

In early 2017, two working groups were set up between the government and Renamo – one on decentralisation and one on military questions. The discussions on decentralisation, held secretively and with no input from other political and social forces, led to a series of constitutional amendments, which Nyusi has tabled before the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.Dhlakama had always focused on the election, rather than appointment, of provincial governors as the key aspect of decentralisation. It was therefore a surprise when the constitutional amendments also proposed the abolition of directly elected mayors of municipalities, and the creation of district assemblies that would choose district administrators. Neither of these points had even been mentioned in public before.The amendments, if passed, will strengthen the power of political party machines. Assemblies will be elected in the municipalities, provinces and districts, and whichever party or group that wins the most votes in these elections will choose the mayor, provincial governor or district administrator.

Maputo water shortage begins

The moderate to strong rain that has fallen in the last few days in the city and province of Maputo and caused urban floods in all neighborhoods and still a tragedy in the Hulene almost did not contribute to the filling of the reservoir the Small Libombos and for that it is a necessity the saving of municipalities of Boane, Matola and the Mozambican capital. However in the Center and North at least two basins are overflowing causing flooding and property damage.

The rainfall, which in the last two days exceeded 50 millimeters in 24 hours, contributed very little to the filling of the reservoir from which the water that supplies the city and province of Maputo comes from.

On Friday (16) the national hydrological bulletin registered a 19.77 percent filler in the Pequenos Libombos dam and, on Tuesday morning (20), had increased only to 20.03 percent.

However, more than raining in Maputo, the filling of the reservoir is dependent on the rainfall that falls upstream of the Umbeluzi river basin that is born in Swaziland, where it flows in 3,140 square kilometers, passes through South Africa and enters our country, where the remaining 2,240 square kilometers, by the border town of Goba.

In the neighboring country it has even been raining but the Mnjoli dam, where the swazis retain the water they also need for their consumption, maintains the same level of filling as the week ending, 47.12 percent.

Rainfall and urban floods in Maputo, Matola and Beira

Photo A Mundzuku Ka HIn Meanwhile, the weather predicts that "moderate to strong" rains will continue in the next 24 hours, which is expected to continue to cause isolated urban flooding in Maputo cities (in the districts of Maxaquene A and C, Luis Cabral, Chamanculo B and C , Munhuana, Xipamanine, 

Airport A and B, Mafalala, Urbanization, Laulane, Costa del Sol, Hulene, Mutanhane, Magoanine) and Matola (in the districts of Machava A, Km15, Nkobe, Tsalala Ndlavela, São Dâmaso, Infulene, Singatela, Clover, Patrice Lumumba, Matola A, D, J, H, F, Kongolote, Fomento e Libertad).

Rainfall is expected to extend to Sofala province where it is expected to flood urban areas in Ndunda, Manga, Vaz, Munhava, Maraza, Praia Nova, Mascarrenha, Macurungo and Chaimite districts (in the city of Beira) and continue to increase hydrometric Pungwe basin, which has been above the alert level in the Mafambisse hydrological station since last week, maintaining the interruption of the road traffic from Mutua to Chissange, flooding of riverside machambas in the low Mafambisse area, isolated floods in the localities of Tsangua, Nharicondza and Matenga and conditioning road traffic on the bridge between the towns of Lomaco and Têxtil, in the Nhamatanda district.

Norte de Cabo Delgado without electricity

Also in the Central Region, the crossing by barge between the localities of Guara Guara and Bandua is interrupted due to the rise of the Búzi river flow.

According to the national hydrological bulletin, the road linking Bandua to Ampara and Guara Guara to the Gruja is also interrupted due to the transshipment of Lake Mucaranga and the rise of the Chiredzi River flow respectively.

Further north of Mozambique, although the precipitation has reduced the Messalo River in the province of Cabo Delgado, it is close to its alert level at the Nairoto station, causing strong currents that overturned a 100KV high voltage tower linking the Macomia Substation to the Owasse Substation, leaving the districts of Palma, Mocímboa da Praia, Nangade, Mueda and Muedumbe, without electricity since Monday night (19).

CNN manipulates viewers!!!

Recently, CNN published a report with serious charges against the Mozambican state of camouflaging operations of North Korea in violation of sanctions decreed by the United Nations. The report itself raises several elements without deepening them or doing any evidence despite mentioning being in possession of documents that so indicate. The mention of support in the installation of military radar systems with photographic and video illustration led to a little investigation of the subject given that once the images are seen for the first time, immediately recognizable the place. 

It is an installation of the TDM operator located on the Beira / Chimoio section, concretely on Mount Xiluvo. The CNN reporter clearly says both in the video and in the photo of the report on the CNN website that it is one of the North Korean-backed military radar installations. The Xiluvo station is widely known as one of TDM's telecommunications centers, which until the early 1980s was part of the telecommunications system known as Troposférico. Of this system were the stations of Maputo-Massinga-Xiluvo (the site in allusion) -Quelimane-Nampula. They will surely be reminded of the huge antennas that existed in the Sunflower building in Nampula and the old Quelimane Airport on Mount Mponduine in Namaacha and Mount Xiluvo. This obsolete systems were dismantled for over 35 years and replaced with HF technology and later by satellite and microwaves. The Monte Xiluvo site has operated to date as a point where several telecommunication links are closed not only from the incumbent fixed operator but also from mobile operators and VHF and UHF (two way radio) radio systems for several companies operating in the region.

In some places such as the Monte Xiluvo case, it is still visible by those who drive in the EN6 towards Beira Inchope or vice versa, part of the structure that supported the huge antennas of the dismantled tropospheric system.

According to CNN, this photo illustrates a military installation north of Beira where a radar system with support from North Korea would have been set up.

This is in fact a TDM telecommunications facility that has been in existence for more than 40 years, known as Monte Xiluvo. It is not to the north of Beira but to the Northwest of Beira. The photo and video were made from the EN6 approximately from the point illustrated and in which you can clearly see on the right two telecommunications towers (1 and 2) with several microwave antennas and more to the center (3) what remains of the antenna support structure of the dismantled tropospheric system and to the left a building (4). The photo of the report and the video were undoubtedly made from the EN6 road near the Xiluvo mountain. You can compare these facts through the coordinates.

The photo and video of the CNN report is undoubtedly of this center that has nothing to do with what is meant to raise the same doubts raised in relation to all the matter treated in a light and awkward way, improper of a channel that is (va) as a source of serious, credible and responsible information.

Christmas

A Christmas tree built by schools in Maputo out of 7,000 plastic bottles aims to sensitise the Mozambican capital to the need to recycle waste, its makers said on Saturday.

In a country where recycling is still a rarity, first steps are being taken by environmental clubs like the one at the Maxaquene Comprehensive Primary School in Maputo.

“In the beginning, the students saw only garbage,” Inacio Joaquim, a teacher who teaches classes from nine to 13 years old explains, “but with time and the construction of pieces such as toys and carpets, they began to understand what recycling is.”Today they are separating waste, giving rise to the seven-meter Christmas tree which stands on the roundabout opposite the Museum of Natural History in the capital.

The initiative is already a regular part of the annual calendar of recycling activities, city of Maputo Education Department representative Sandra Machaieie says.

“Pieces are being produced throughout the year. Some are on display in schools, others are sold” to support the activities of the environmental clubs located in schools in all seven districts of the city, she said.

The Christmas tree is also one of the visible signs of the Millennium Bim bank’s social responsibility activity. The bank has financed the logistics of recycling activities in schools since 2007.“What matters most to us is to reach out to youth, because they are the ones who best transmit the message into their homes,” and bring enthusiasm to recycling, Maria João Barbosa, head of social responsibility at the bank, says.The “A clean city for me” project has already seen the participation of about 10,800 primary and secondary school students in the cities of Maputo, Matola, Vilanculos and Tete.

Mozambique Fashion Week

The current edition of Mozambique Fashion Week (MFW) will involve 62 models, of whom 60 are Mozambican and two international: one each from Angola and Japan.This edition, which started Friday, divides designers into four categories: ‘Young Designers’, with a total of 30; ‘International’ (seven); and ‘Established’ and ‘Pan-African’, with nine fashion designers each.

In the Young Designers category, the spotlight is on Jéssica, who has participated in MFW since 2011, as well as Aura Guimarães (2012) and Nuno Jota Jota (2013).

‘ Lado Negro da Crise’ [The Black Side of Crisis], ‘Afrikan Mind Power’ and ‘Cruzamento no Inverno’ [Crossing in Winter] are among the collections that the Young Designers will present on the 4th and 5th of December in Mozambique’s biggest fashion event.

In the list of Established appear Alberto Tinga, Anifa Cossa, Becapani, Gerson Ussene, Kamana Félix, Cicada Perrin, Nivaldo Thierry, Omar Adelino and Pinto Música.

In terms of years of participation in the MFW, highlight are Cigarra Perrin (2005), Kamana Felix and Becapani (2009) and Pinto Música, who has participated since 2011.The Pan-African category boasts designers from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Angola, Zambia, South Africa and Botswana, while ‘International’ stylists include Miguel Vieira, Storytailors, Anabela Baldaque, Federica Peternelj, Moda Italia, Maison Luigi Borbone and Kyuten Kawashima.The catwalk sessions will be interspersed with performances by national artists such as Jecky, Dopaz, Mauro, Tofo Tofo, Os do Momento, Dejavu, Blaze, Dama do Bling, Ziqo, Danny OG, Twenty Fingers, Lizha James, Gasso, Rui Michel, Xigubo and Sheila Mahoze.National DJs Tushimitsu, Leo, Supaman, Tay, Camilo, Fagusa, E.O.D and Rocha are slated to perform, alongside international stars DJ Tomaz, B Jones, Quentin Mosimann and Orjan Nilsen.

“in an environment of cordiality”

The Mozambican presidency announced yesterday in a statement that progress had been made in peace negotiations between the government and Renamo, the main opposition party, following a conversation between the head of state, Filipe Nyusi, and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama.“During the interaction, the Mozambican head of state and the Renamo president focused on progress in the peace process and noted with appreciation that progress is being made towards mutual consensus and finalisation of the content of the documents to be agreed upon,” a statement issued by the presidency after the event reports.Filipe Nyusi travelled to the Chitengo camp in Gorongosa National Park, but did not meet the Renamo president face to face.“For organisational reasons, the meeting had to be held in an indirect manner, with the President of the Republic sending the Commander General of the Police as his envoy” to meet Dhlakama, the presidency’s statement relates.The document does not clarify why the conversation took place at a distance.

Filipe Nyusi spoke with the opposition leader “through a teleconference that took place in an environment of cordiality,” it adds, without clarifying why the conversation had taken place at a distance.“The proposals on the process of decentralisation, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration should be presented to the Assembly of the Republic for discussion,” the presidency communique announces.According to the statement, “both leaders reaffirmed their unequivocal commitment to peace in Mozambique and foresaw a radiant future for all Mozambicans”.Following an escalation in the military conflict in the centre of the country in 2015 and 2016, a ceasefire was declared by Dhlakama in December, and relations between the Renamo leader and the president have improved.Negotiations for a new peace agreement were marked by a handshake between the two on Aug. 6, when Filipe Nyusi went to the Gorongosa mountains for a two-hour meeting with Afonso Dhlakama.

Bank card service in Mozambique

China UnionPay International launched a bank card service on Thursday here that will allow UnionPay cardholders to make transactions in Mozambique.The launch ceremony was attended by Chinese ambassador Su Jian, Bank of Mozambique Administrator Augusto Bila, the CEO of Société Générale Mozambique Laurent Vanh and members of the Chinese Enterprises Chamber in Mozambique.

“We want this card to make life easier for Chinese people in Mozambique. The UnionPay card is the most used card in China. The launch of UnionPay service is a way to attract one of the biggest economies in the world, which is China,” said Laurent Vanh to Xinhua.In turn, Augusto Bila said that the government has been consolidating international partnerships, in particular with China, which is a strategic partner in several areas.According to Bila, the Bank of Mozambique has been interacting with Union Pay International, a bank service provider since 2013, within the Sino-Mozambican bilateral cooperation framework.

“The launch of UnionPay that we are witnessing today marks a significant moment in the national payment system, as a result of the cooperation between Mozambique and China, a strategic partner for the country, as well as one of the most populous economies in the world,” said the administrator.Ambassador Su said that the partnership between the two countries has been fruitful. “China is currently the largest investor, one of the biggest financier and constructor in infrastructure and commercial areas in Mozambique,” said Su.

“This cooperation will continue through banking and financial institutions such as UnionPay International,” he added.According to the ambassador, the Chinese Enterprises Chamber in Mozambique has 60 member companies, besides which, there are still many small and medium enterprises in Mozambique in various areas.The UnionPay International, headquartered in Shanghai, has already provided card services in many African countries such as Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Madagascar.

Erik Prince!

US businessman Erik Prince, chairperson of the Frontier Service Group, has pledged to invest in the bankrupt Mozambican Tuna Company, Ematum.At a Maputo press conference on Wednesday (to which AIM was not invited) Prince declared that his company will enter the Mozambican fisheries sector through Ematum, but did not state how many money he is prepared to invest.

Cited by the independent television station STV, Prince said “we are here to work and finalise details of a joint venture with the Mozambican government to develop and improve its fishing capacity in a sustainable, professional and ethical manner”.He added that FSG would work with Ematum “in training operations and changes in logistics so that we link Mozambique to the international fisheries market”.

Prince said he also hoped to improve the protection of Mozambican marine resources against illegal operators.“We know there’s a lot of illegal fishing”, he said. “We hope to improve Mozambique’s capacity to protect its fisheries. We have agreements in this direction, but the details have not yet been finalised, although we are very close to doing so. We shall also look at other investment areas in Mozambique”.The largest shareholder in FSG s the Citic Group, an investment fund owned and controlled by the Chinese government. FSG has signed contracts to support China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative. This is a strategy proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is supposed to promote cooperation between countries of the Eurasian land mass.Prince is a founder of the US security company Blackwater (now known as Academi). Prince founded Blackwater in 1997 and was its chief Executive Office until 2010. It achieved notoriety in 2007 when a US court convicted four Blackwater employees of massacring 14 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad.

 

Ematum is one of three companies (the others being Proindicus and MAM, Mozambique Assets Management) which benefitted from loans of over two billion US dollars from the European banks Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia in 2013 and 2014. These loans were illicitly guaranteed by the Mozambican government of the time, headed by President Armando Guebuza. The guarantees were illegal because they smashed through the ceilings on government guarantees laid down in the 2013 and 2014 budget laws.Despite this huge injection of funds, the companies are not functioning and cannot possibly repay the loans. Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government accepted an independent international audit of the three companies, undertaken by Kroll Associates, reputedly the world’s foremost forensic auditing company, earlier this year.

Kroll’s audit report is a damning indictment. It revealed invoicing procedures that were grossly inadequate. The invoices for the assets and services provided by the Lebanese Privinvest Group to each of the three companies were just a page long.Kroll says it spoke to an industry expert who said invoices should include a clear and detailed description of all the assets and services provided. “The invoices provided to Kroll do not supply sufficient detail to gain comfort that the documents accurately reflect the true price of these assets and services, and therefore do not allow accurate accounting records to be maintained by the company”, the audit report notes.There was no sign that the inventory of assets required by the Mozambican Commercial Code had been kept, and the companies failed to provide Kroll with reliable balance sheet records – in breach of Article 60 of the Code which requires companies “to prepare an annual balance sheet of assets and liabilities during the first three months of the immediately following year, to enter it into the inventory and balance sheet records, and to duly sign it”.Regardless of the Kroll audit, the three companies had a legal duty to publish audited accounts every year. There are accounts for Ematum for the 2013 and 2014 financial years, but nothing for 2015 or 2016 (and nothing at all for the other two companies).

Kroll checked the state of the assets and found that, while they had mostly been delivered, they were not functioning properly. Ematum had a fleet of 24 fishing boats (21 longliners and three trawlers) “but none of the assets are fully operational for several reasons, including a lack of trained crew, and the limitation on available working capital”, Kroll said.As a result Ematum has done hardly any fishing, and has struggled to pay wages to its workers.The government’s Economic and Social Plan for 2018, discussed earlier this week in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, predicts that commercial vessels (i.e. Ematum) will fish 1,000 tonnes of tuna in 2018. The projection for artisanal fishermen, who do not have state-of-the-art fishing vessels builT in European shipyards, and have not benefitted from gigantic loans from European banks, is that they will bring in 2,870 tonnes of tuna.Currently the Ematum vessels are not putting out to sea, but are lying idle in Maputo fishing port.