Mozambique’s megaprojects are meant to be the engine of the country’s fiscal future. The latest state accounts show why that engine is still unreliable.
Excluding concession fees, large-scale projects contributed MZN11.68bn ($184.6m) to state revenue in 2025, down 40.56% from MZN19.65bn ($310.6m) the previous year. Fiscal benefits granted to the same category of projects reached MZN30.94bn ($489m), up 12.5% in nominal terms. Those benefits are not direct spending, but they are revenue the state gives up through exemptions, incentives and preferential tax treatment.
The country’s production of gas, aluminium, coal, heavy sands, graphite and other minerals will remain central to exports, foreign exchange and public revenue. The government’s latest budget amendment, incorporating an additional MZN3.5bn ($54.7m) in natural gas revenues for public investment and reconstruction, already shows how useful these revenues can be.
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.
But the general state account (Conta Geral do Estado, CGE) also shows the weakness of depending too heavily on large projects as export and tax machines. Their contribution rises and falls with commodity prices, production cycles, cost structures, fiscal incentives and project-specific disruptions. A country that waits for taxes and royalties from raw or lightly processed exports remains exposed to decisions and prices set largely outside its control.
Mozambique has long talked about adding more value to its resources before they leave the country. The argument is easy to make and hard to deliver. Graphite can feed battery supply chains, heavy sands can support more advanced mineral processing, gas can supply power, fertiliser, transport and industry, and electricity can make new processing possible. But none of that follows automatically from having the resource underground or offshore.
