The Mozambican state could lose more than 2.3 billion dollars over 25 years - 92 million dollars a year - on a new gas contract that ENI is forcing it to sign.

According to the Center for Public Integrity (CIP) the multinational is pressuring Mozambique to sign a contract for the Coral Norte project, located in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, in Cano Delgado province. The project is valued at seven billion dollars.

The contract proposed by ENI includes the exclusion of two clauses crucial to the national interest, namely the possibility of paying production tax in kind and the requirement for local content.

For the CIP, "the negotiation of a contract of this magnitude, with long-term impacts on the national economy, should be postponed until the next government, out of respect for the principle of prudence and the need to guarantee greater transparency and stability in decisions that affect the country's future".

Signing the contract without these clauses can have several negative implications, including the loss of local benefits, the reduction of strategic revenues and increased dependence on multinationals.

A CIP forecast of possible financial losses indicates that: "considering that the North Coral project has similar characteristics to the South Coral project, we estimate that economic losses could reach 2.3 billion dollars over the 25-year duration of the project - around 92 million dollars per year."

Faced with this scenario, the CIP recommends, among other things, that the current government - already on its way out - initiates meetings with various social groups to defend the national interest, strengthen the legitimacy of decisions on natural resources, and challenges the next government to develop a legal framework on local content, creating specific legislation that ensures the fair redistribution of benefits.