Mozambique seeks to recover $1.9 billion in hidden debts
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Agência de Informação de Moçambique
The Mozambican government says it wants to recover $1.9 billion in the hidden debts case, linked to loans illegally guaranteed by the state to three state-owned companies. Court rulings in Mozambique’s favour have helped restore its international image, according to a government source cited by the Lusa news agency.
The Mozambican government wants to recover $1.9 billion in the hidden debts case, a government source cited by the Portuguese news agency Lusa said. Maputo believes that court rulings favourable to the state have helped restore its international image and strengthened its right to compensation.
Proceedings brought in London target companies in the Privinvest group, as well as Clara Martinez Thedy de Safa, widow of Franco-Lebanese businessman Iskandar Safa. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales rejected her appeal on 21 October and authorised her inclusion in the proceedings, allowing Mozambique to seek assets from Safa’s estate.
The case concerns loans of more than $2 billion granted to Proindicus, Ematum and MAM, three state-owned companies linked to Mozambique’s intelligence service, SISE. The loans, guaranteed by the state under President Armando Guebuza, were not repaid after the companies went bankrupt. British courts had already issued a ruling in Mozambique’s favour in 2024, which the government source cited by Lusa considers final and binding.
