The Bank of Mozambique appointed a resident inspector for Absa Bank on Wednesday to monitor it, the third measure in two months, including the country’s three largest financial institutions.
‘Despite this supervisory action, the Bank of Mozambique reports that Absa Bank Mozambique, SA remains solid and stable,’ the central bank’s statement, sent to Lusa, emphasised.
In the same statement, the central bank said that the decision was part of the ‘need to strengthen monitoring’ of the bank, appointing Osvaldo Benedito Chiluvane, a Banco de Moçambique staff member, to fulfil the duties of resident inspector at the bank, with effect from today.
‘The resident inspector will, among other tasks, monitor the bank’s business model and strategy, monitor and analyse developments in the bank’s internal control system, and participate in relevant meetings of the collegiate bodies,’ the statement added.
The Bank of Mozambique had already appointed resident inspectors for BCI and Standard Bank on 14 October to monitor them, and since then, the country’s three largest financial institutions have had this type of inspection.
‘Banco de Moçambique reaffirms that, despite this supervisory action, Banco Comercial e de Investimentos, S.A. and Standard Bank, S.A. remain solid and stable,’ the central bank statement said.
In the same statement, the central bank said that the decision was part of the need to ‘ensure continuous, objective and impartial monitoring of the activities of credit institutions and financial companies, preserving the interests of customers and ensuring the stability of the financial system’.
With this decision, resident inspectors from the Bank of Mozambique have been at all three of the country’s largest banks—and now also Absa—since 14 October. This follows the appointment on 3 May of Hélder Manuel Chachuaio Muianga as resident inspector at Millennium—Banco Internacional de Moçambique (BIM), owned by the Portuguese group BCP.
In 2024, the central bank considered BCI, Millennium BIM, and Standard Bank systemic, similar to the 2023 classification. Along with Moza, Absa is one of two Mozambican banks considered quasi-systemic in the country’s financial system.
Mozambican banks made a profit of 30.8 billion meticais (€445.3 million) in 2023, up 8.1% on the previous year, of which 73.9% was concentrated in the three largest institutions, according to previous data from the Bank of Mozambique.
‘This variation is mainly justified by the increase in other operating income of around 6 billion meticais [€86.3 million] and net interest income of 2.3 billion meticais [€33 million],’ the Bank of Mozambique’s 2023 financial stability report states.
Lusa
