Good afternoon. “An unprecedented diagnosis” is how the newssheet Mediafax today describes transport minister João Matlombe’s speech last week, where he decried the state of Mozambique’s aviation sector. Matlombe found faults in all areas, from poor security to underinvestment in infrastructure to a lack of a guiding mind for the whole sector, which would allow the different organisations involved to work in harmony.
The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscribers. Subscribers to the Zitamar News tier can read the top half, including the full leader article, here.
Among the minister’s eye-catching comments was that 40% of state-owned airline LAM’s air routes are probably running at a loss. Matlombe suggested that not many people wanted to fly to the cities of Quelimane in Zambézia province or Lichinga in Niassa province, for example. His comments go further than the government has been willing to go in the past in talking about waste at LAM. Raising the possibility of closing air routes is a politically sensitive subject in a country like Mozambique, which due to its size and the lack of alternative means of transport (bad roads, no north-south railway line) depends on domestic flights to allow people to get around. Some of those loss-making routes will be saved from closure, either due to political pressure or because they provide a useful social purpose. But it is still significant that Matlombe has put the issue on the table.
