The Government is expected to sign, in the coming weeks, a management agreement with the Bank of Mozambique to operationalize the Mozambique Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), an instrument to be financed by revenues from natural gas exploration, the Lusa news agency reported on Thursday, October 23.
“We are at a very advanced stage. The management agreement will be signed in the coming weeks with the central bank, and we will begin the full implementation of the law that establishes the Mozambique Sovereign Wealth Fund,” announced Secretary of State for Treasury and Budget, Amílcar Tivane, during a press conference held on Thursday (23) in Maputo.
The clarification follows a recent opinion issued by the Administrative Court, which pointed to the withdrawal of around 33.6 million dollars (1.93 billion meticais) from the SWF, corresponding to natural gas revenues collected before 2024. The Secretary of State explained that those revenues were allocated to the State Budget according to the legislation in force at the time, before the final approval of the law establishing the SWF in January 2024.
“What happened is that, before the law creating the SWF was passed, revenues related to the production tax were used to finance the State Budget, as provided for by existing legislation. Therefore, there was no diversion of funds,” stated Tivane, dismissing suspicions raised in public debate. With the entry into force of the new law, revenues from taxes and capital gains on gas and oil are now divided, with 60% allocated to the State Budget and 40% to the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
According to Tivane, the fund’s operationalization now depends solely on signing the management agreement with the central bank, which will allow for the full application of the 60-40 revenue-sharing mechanism and the start of the SWF’s financial operations.
“All conditions are in place to implement the legal provisions established in the law creating the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Once the management agreement is signed, we will have a structured and transparent system for managing revenues from gas exploration,” assured Tivane.
The official also revealed that, as of October 23, 2025, the SWF’s transitional account balance stands at 204.5 million dollars (12 billion meticais), which will be redistributed according to the legally established mechanisms.
The Mozambique Sovereign Wealth Fund was approved by Parliament in December 2023 to ensure prudent and sustainable management of natural gas revenues. The Government projects that by the 2040s, the country could generate up to 6 billion dollars annually (348 billion meticais) from gas exploration.
Source: Diário Económico
