Good afternoon. Who was the man standing next to the Chinese ambassador at the launch of the “Young City” urban development project in Maputo in April this year? His name is Alcides Chihono, but he likes to use the nickname Cantona, which adorns the registration plate of his Mercedes luxury four-wheel-drive. And along with Ingilo Dalsuco, he is one of two people who are perceived by Mozambican and foreign businesses to be power-brokers who can fix deals with President Daniel Chapo and his office. Both those men are profiled in the latest edition of newspaper Canal de Moçambique, in a way that may, or should, be embarrassing for Chapo.
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Chihono is thought to have acted as a middleman for Phoenix International Group, a Hong Kong-based property developer that does not seem to have done business in Mozambique before the Young City project was announced. He claims to be close to Chapo, and he certainly is in a literal sense: his office is located a few steps away from the presidency building. Chihono also asserts that he has ties to the security services, something which would make him part of an elite circle of trusted people in Mozambican politics. At any rate, he seems to have been successful in lobbying for the Nigerian oil company Aiteo Group. Sources within Mozambican state-owned oil and gas firm ENH speak of a Nigerian lobby there.
Dalsuco is the son-in-law of former finance minister Manuel Chang, who has since been jailed in the United States for his leading role in the so-called “hidden debts” or “tuna bond” corruption scandal. Canal says that he continued to run business interests for his father-in-law when Chang was behind bars. It also notes that, unlike other people connected to Chang, he has not been questioned over whether he was involved in the hidden debts scheme. But he is known to have sold several buildings to the public sector in Inhambane province, during Daniel Chapo’s term as provincial governor.
