Mozambique: Technical Team Established to Negotiate Sale of State's Stake in Tmcel

What the report says

Mozambique’s government has set up a technical team to negotiate the sale of part of the state’s stake in Tmcel, the publicly owned telecommunications company, according to an announcement from government spokesperson and Minister of State Administration Inocêncio Impissa after a cabinet meeting in Maputo. The move is intended to help bring in a new investor and form part of a broader effort to stabilize the company.

Impissa said the state may dispose of some of its shares or transfer them to a third party as one of the solutions for reviving Tmcel, which has struggled with long-running financial problems. The company’s difficulties have included heavy debt, wage pressures and aging equipment. The article says Tmcel’s debt reached about $400 million in 2023 and that it had been unable to pay wages to 1,700 workers.

The report also recalls an earlier rescue plan under former transport and communications minister Mateus Magala, who said a strategic partnership with a multinational telecom operator was preferred. That option reportedly included selling 80% of Tmcel’s shares, with the state taking on the company’s debts and reducing the workforce by 60%.

Tmcel was created in 2018 from the merger of state firms Telecomunicações de Moçambique and Mcel. The latest move highlights how Mozambique continues to search for a durable fix for a company seen as important to national communications services, but still burdened by weak finances and outdated infrastructure.