The government has revealed that a consultant has been hired to monitor the purchase of shares in Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM). In February, the executive announced that it would sell 91% of the state’s shares in the airline through private negotiations.
Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (EMOSE), Caminhos-de-Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) and Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) have been authorised to acquire the state’s stake in the carrier.
The estimated proceeds from the sale of the state shares (around US$130 million, 8.3 billion meticals) will be used to purchase eight new aircraft and restructure the company.
In this regard, quoted in a publication on Tuesday, 29 April, by Agência de Informação de Moçambique, the Minister of Transport and Logistics, João Matlombe, explained that the companies had already met in a General Assembly, where they approved the acquisition of the shares and analysed the business plan.
Without giving many details, the minister did not mention the name of the consultant hired, but clarified that he is assisting in all stages. ‘The most important thing is to avoid contagion during the investment.’
The government expects to achieve operational stability for LAM within three years after the sale of the shares.
According to the minister, while the share acquisition process is ongoing, LAM will continue to operate and provide essential services in order to improve its performance, ensuring that the aircraft crisis has been resolved.
LAM has been facing operational problems for several years related to a reduced fleet and lack of investment, with some non-fatal incidents reported, which experts attribute to poor aircraft maintenance.
Data show that in 2021 alone, LAM recorded a loss of more than 1.4 billion meticals (21.7 million dollars), in 2022 with 448.6 million meticals (6.9 million dollars), in 2023 with 3.9 billion meticals (60.5 million dollars) and in 2024 with 2.2 billion meticals (34.1 million dollars).
On Monday (28), the Mozambican President, Daniel Chapo, stated that there are ‘foxes and corrupt people’ within the company Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, who have ‘conflicts of interest’ and who prevented the restructuring of the company in accordance with the plan for the first 100 days of government.
‘One of the impactful actions we had planned for these 100 days was the acquisition of three aircraft for LAM. However, we discovered that it is in the interests of some people for the carrier to continue leasing aircraft, because that way there will be those who earn commissions,’ explained the head of state.
All the companies have already met in a General Assembly, where they approved the acquisition of the shares and analysed the business plan
Recently, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) announced that it had opened an investigation into the hiring of South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), whose mission was to restructure Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM), which has been in a critical financial situation for years.
In April 2023, when Fly Modern Ark took over the management of the company (whose contract ended in September 2024), it acknowledged that it had an estimated debt of US$300 million and, during the work carried out, the South African entity reported money embezzlement schemes at LAM, with losses of more than US$3 million, in ticket sales outlets, through automatic payment terminal machines (TPA/POS) that did not belong to the company.
Currently, LAM carries an average of 915 passengers per day on domestic and regional routes, but the continuity of this flow is compromised, given the inadequacy of the fleet and the fragility of its operational structure.
