Mozambique’s Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (Avitum) said on Tuesday that suspicions of money laundering involving travel agencies, identified in an official report, reinforce warnings it had previously directed to the government regarding vulnerabilities in the sector.
The reaction follows the release of a report by Mozambique’s Financial Intelligence Office (GIFiM), which identifies signs of travel and tourism agencies being used in alleged money laundering schemes, illicit capital export, and tax fraud. The document points to movements of at least 58.2 billion meticais — equivalent to 805.5 million euros — between January 2022 and September 2025.
“In the recent past, Avitum had drawn the state’s attention to the need to restrict the licensing of travel agencies to Mozambican citizens, or to partnerships between Mozambicans and investors whose objective was to develop the sector in a meaningful way,” said the association’s president, João das Neves.
According to das Neves, the concern raised with the authorities was aimed at preventing practices already identified in other markets from being replicated in Mozambique, and at ensuring greater oversight of the industry.
“Unfortunately, some foreign agencies emerged that, in a short period of time, positioned themselves as the top sellers in Mozambique and among various airlines, with no prior history of presence in our market. At the time, we found that these same agencies were issuing tickets for international routes with no departure, stopover, or destination in Mozambique,” das Neves explained, noting that the report had now brought “to the surface” further data on a process that Avitum had already considered irregular.
The association had previously advocated to the government for restrictions on the licensing of travel and tourism agencies to Mozambican nationals, or to partnerships between nationals and foreign investors, as a way to mitigate irregular practices identified in other markets and to strengthen industry oversight mechanisms.
“It is worth noting that the lack of reliable statistics and market information never allowed for a systematic analysis of trends that would have enabled Avitum to understand the behaviour and activities of those agencies,” das Neves said, adding that the companies named in the report were not members of Avitum.
Das Neves stressed that the association distances itself from the practices described in the report, which it considers harmful to airlines, to domestic agencies, and to the Mozambican economy. Avitum also called for stronger cooperation between the state and representative organisations in the sector, expressing its willingness to collaborate with the authorities both in clarifying the case and in initiatives aimed at strengthening prevention and control mechanisms.
“The government should strengthen its partnership with Avitum as the principal support arm for sector regulation and encourage all agencies to become members of this association, because in that way it will be easier to guide and monitor the industry,” das Neves said.
The association’s president concluded by underscoring that “strengthening the sector’s associative movement is the most effective way for the state to have a strategic market partner capable of self-regulating with knowledge, consideration, and balance.”
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/08/economia/financas/avitum-liga-suspeitas-de-branqueamento-de-capitais-a-alertas-anteriores-ao-governo/
