Parliament met on Wednesday 22 May to consider, among other matters, the draft resolution on the creation of a Commission to select candidates for the Supervisory Committee of the Sovereign Fund (SWF), the entity that will be responsible for managing the natural gas revenues from the Rovuma basin.
According to a press release, the Supervisory Committee is an independent body, which should be made up of representatives of civil society, the business community, academia, professional associations and religious associations of good repute, of recognised merit and national scope.
The body, which reports to Parliament, will be made up of nine members, all appointed by the Assembly of the Republic, and each member will have a three-year term, renewable once.
The FS Supervisory Committee’s duties include controlling and monitoring matters relating to revenue; deposits in the transitional account; the allocation of revenue to the state budget and the Fund; and supervising the management of the FS.
In addition to a Supervisory Committee, the Sovereign Wealth Fund, to be managed by Banco de Moçambique, will also have an Investment Advisory Board, a body that consults the government on the SWF’s Investment Policy.
The body will be made up of seven members, including financial experts and independent members of the Executive with experience in managing investment portfolios. They must also have held executive positions in companies in the financial sector, including public companies, the Bank of Mozambique or international financial organisations, or be or have been academics at a university or higher education institution.
Recently, during the 19th Annual Private Sector Conference, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said that the creation of the Sovereign Fund, to be fuelled by revenues from natural gas exports, demonstrates the country’s intention to raise the level of governance and transparency in public management.
Nyusi explained the importance of all stakeholders being involved in the materialisation of the GSF, in order to guarantee gains for future generations.
‘The Sovereign Wealth Fund attests to our deliberate intention to establish good levels of governance and transparency in public management. We all have to work to ensure that the objectives are achieved.’
In the first quarter of this year, the state collected 5.9 billion meticals (94.2 million dollars) in revenue from oil and natural gas exploration, which was fully invested in Mozambique’s new Sovereign Fund.
According to data from the economic and social balance sheet on the implementation of the state budget from January to March, the accumulated revenue includes 73.37 million dollars (4.6 billion meticals) for the current year, 20 million dollars (1.2 billion meticals) for the first quarter and 800 thousand dollars (50 million meticals) for 2022.
