Mozambique plans to privatise the national carrier and a state-owned telecommunications company in a move aimed at improving the sustainability of the two firms, according to reports monitored here on Thursday.
The reports quoted Transport and Communications Minister Mateus Magala as saying that the government is considering privatising Mozambique Airlines (LAM) and Tmcel to rescue the two companies given the “complicated financial situation” in which they find themselves.
The minister told private television channel Media Mais that a decision on the issue was expected by December.
A report published last week by non-governmental organisation Centre for Public Integrity said the two companies are technically insolvent and needed capital injections and state guarantees to respond to creditors and, as such, represented a high risk to public accounts.
Like most other African airlines, LAM has recently struggled to keep its planes in the sky due to a debt crisis and poor management.
It was forced to suspend some of its regional flights due to operational challenges, which were later worsened by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
JN/APA