The Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), a non-governmental organization (NGO), says that the governor of the Bank of Mozambique, by once again gazetting a call from the Assembly of the Republic (AR) to give explanations on some aspects of the draft law that aims to create the Mozambican sovereign wealth fund (FSM), is demonstrating his aversion to promoting transparency.

"This stance is a clear sign that this institution is not the right entity to manage the WSF, as it does not follow the principles of transparency that should guide any Sovereign Fund," the NGO states in its document.

According to the NGO, the sovereign fund proposal for Mozambique places the Bank of Mozambique (BM) as the entity that will carry out the operational management, based on a management agreement that it will sign with the government.

"By placing the WB as the operational manager, it seeks to follow the international practices of successful sovereign wealth funds that are managed by their respective central banks," says the CIP document.

The organization also points out that international practices show that the central banks that manage the funds are "immaculate" institutions that are guided by "transparency and accountability, which legitimizes them to take on this role".

The CIP also says that the frequent disrespect for a sovereign body such as the AR has been manifested not only by the constant absences from AR committee hearings, but also by the unavailability of information, such as the institution's reports and accounts.

For the hearing scheduled for April 3, the Planning and Budget Committee requested the business plan for the year 2023, the institution's report and accounts for the year 2022 and the latest audited report. These documents were not made available by the WB to the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic on the grounds that they are confidential, thus violating Article 74(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the AR, which states that the latter has the autonomy to request public and even confidential documents from the government, representatives of state bodies, individuals or legal entities and other institutions for its analysis.