A presidential media statement from Nyusi office says Ramaphosa’s visit aims to assess the stage of bilateral cooperation between the two neighboring states.
“The main objective of Ramaphosa’s visit is to strengthen and deepen the historical ties of solidarity, friendship and political, economic, social and cultural cooperation between the two countries” reads the statement emailed to APA on Sunday.
However, experts say Ramaphosa will also be discussing the arrest of former Mozambique Finance Minister Manuel Chang in South Africa following an international warrant of arrest issued by the United States.
U.S. charges against former Mozambican Finance minister Manuel Chang relate to loans at the center of the country’s secret-debt scandal.
He faces charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, according to indictment documents presented by South African court.
Chang, who oversaw Mozambique’s finances when it failed to disclose government guarantees for $2 billion in international borrowing by state-owned firms, was arrested in South Africa on December 29 at OR Tambo International airport while in transit to Dubai for a private visit.
Chang could to be extracted to the US for he is seen as a key figure in the debt scandal, having signed off on guarantees for the loans obtained from Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB bank in 2013 and 2014.
The discovery of the scandal in 2016 prompted foreign donors including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut off support for Mozambique, triggering a currency collapse and debt default.
The IMF said it believed Mozambique had concealed the borrowing.
This is the second visit of the South African Head of State to Mozambique since he took office as President of the Republic of South Africa in February 2018.