A report by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Centre for Public Integrity has again warned that the level of transparency of companies operating in the extractive industry in Mozambique will decrease by 2022, with an emphasis on the environmental component.
“The transparency of the extractive sector for the third edition was rated low, having achieved 21 points out of a total of 100. These results, when compared with those of the second edition, reveal that transparency levels in the extractive sector in the country have been deteriorating,” said the report from the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), which analysed the transparency levels of 21 companies in the sector operating in the country.
Kenmare Resources, which explores heavy sands in the north, was once again named as the most transparent company in the extractive sector in Mozambique, with 93 points.
“This result consolidates the positions achieved in previous editions and represents improvements in terms of providing information, such as the content of its page in Portuguese and openness for the presentation of activities carried out at the mining site,” the report said.
Sasol, a company that explores gas in the south of the country, came in second place, with 60 points, on a list in which Vulcan, which recently bought coal exploration in central Mozambique from Brazil’s Vale, is in the bottom three positions.
The NGO notes that, once again, the big players in the Rovuma basin gas projects, where huge revenues are expected to accelerate Mozambique’s development, were not in the top positions of the index.
“It should also be noted that, once again, the major players in the Rovuma basin, from where huge revenues are expected that could catapult Mozambique’s development, did not feature in the index’s top positions,” the CIP report said.
The ITSE is based on a rating assigned to Mozambican and foreign companies in the mining and oil sector, which aims, based on international analysis criteria, to assess the levels of transparency with regard to sharing useful information about their investments.
The initiative, launched by CIP in 2020, assessed companies based on four indicators: fiscal, social, environmental and corporate governance component.
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