In 2023, the Mozambican state transferred more than 77.1 million meticals (€1.1 million) to community development programmes, using resources obtained from mining and oil extraction, according to official figures.
According to the Citizen Account 2023 report by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, this is funding for local projects that stem from the “social responsibility of mining and oil companies.”
The community of Nyamanhumbir, in the district of Montepuez, received the most, according to the document, with funding of 21,405,750 meticals (€322,500) in 2023 for local projects, resulting from the exploitation of rubies in that community in Cabo Delgado province.
The report says that 15,260,670 meticals (€230,000) were transferred in 2023 to the community of Benga, in the district of Moatize, a coal mining area in the province of Tete, while 7,333,680 meticals (€110,500) were transferred to the community of Pande, where natural gas is extracted in the district of Govuro, in the province of Inhambane.
In 2023, Mozambique decided to allocate 10% of tax revenues from mining and oil production to structural projects in the provinces and to support local communities.
The measure is determined by a decree that recognises the “need to regulate the criteria for allocating and managing the percentage of revenue earmarked for the development of provinces, districts and local communities where mining and oil exploration projects are implemented.”
The decree defines that 7.25% of the revenue collected from the Mining Production Tax and the Oil Production Tax will be allocated to the province and districts “namely for structuring projects” and 2.75% to “local communities”.
By “structuring projects” the government said, it means “those that stimulate the productive sector, with a view to the collective development of a given region”, under the responsibility of the provincial authorities, with those related to technical and vocational education, health, agriculture, including production support infrastructures, dams and irrigation, industry, commerce and fisheries, infrastructures of social and economic interest, namely land-use planning, roads, bridges and electrification, water and sanitation, among others, being “eligible for funding.”
The financing of projects designed and selected to support local communities must result from the coordination of the Local Consultative Council, “according to principles of transparency, participation and relevance to the District Development Plan.”
The projects involve areas such as education, with the construction of classrooms and their respective equipment, technical and vocational training, health, with community porches and their respective equipment, agriculture, with community irrigation, animal breeding and treatment, aquaculture and dams.
Projects can also be launched in fisheries and fishing infrastructures, forestry, through the dynamisation of community forests, as well as roads, bridges and means of transport, including small boats, of strictly community interest, and in the water and sanitation sector.
Lusa
