On Monday, 8 January, the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, promulgated the law creating the Sovereign Fund of Mozambique (FSM), approved by Parliament on 15 December 2023.
“The head of state has promulgated and ordered the publication of the law that creates the Sovereign Fund to be financed by the revenues generated from the export of natural gas. The legal instrument was recently approved by the Assembly of the Republic and submitted to the Mozambican President, who has verified that it does not contravene the Fundamental Law,” said a statement.
The proposal to create the WSF, presented by the government, received 165 votes in favour only from the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), while 39 opposition MPs [Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM)] voted against.
“Projections indicate that annual gas exports could amount to around 91.7 billion nominal dollars over the life cycle of the project, in a scenario in which all the development initiatives approved so far by the government are in operation. In this scenario, annual revenues for the state will peak in the 2040s at more than 6 billion dollars a year,” explained the Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, at the time.
The fund will have Banco de Moçambique as its operational manager, and will be made up of revenues from the production of liquefied natural gas from areas 1 and 4, offshore in the Rovuma basin, from future oil and natural gas development and production projects, as well as from the “return on investment from the revenues” from the fund.
