Communication - Presse
Sovereign Wealth Fund management is not transparent – CIP
The Mozambican anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), believes that the management of the country’s sovereign wealth fund is not transparent, and the government reports lack information.
According to a CIP report on the matter, the sovereign wealth fund is a long way from being a transparent institution in the management of revenues from the amount of revenue from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
“There is lack of detail in the reports published by the government; the absence of financial returns on the accumulated amounts; the time inconsistencies in the institution’s revenue declaration; and the permanence of government-connected figures on the Investment Advisory Board: namely, Omar Mithá, Advisor to the President, and Enilde Sarmento, the National Director of Economic Policies and Development at the Ministry of Economy and Finance”, says CIP.
The statement claims that the lack of transparency in the management as well as lack of dissemination of information about the sovereign fund harms the institution’s credibility and endangers its acceptance by citizens.
“When essential information, such as regular reports on income and expenditure, is not made available in a clear and accessible manner, an environment of mistrust is created”, reads the note.
According to the organization, another major challenge to the good governance of the sovereign fund “is the composition of the Investment Advisory Board, which does not comply with the provisions of Article 18 of the Regulation: that members must be independent of the government.”
“The opaque management of the Sovereign Wealth Fund increases the risk of resources being diverted to purposes that do not fulfill their stated objectives. International cases show that lack of transparency and weak governance are factors that often lead to corruption scandals and mismanagement in sovereign wealth funds”, the CIP document reads.
To reverse the situation, CIP calls on the body to publish detailed and regular reports, accessible to the public on the fund’s income, expenditure and investments via its website “ensuring that the resources are invested in safe and profitable financial instruments.”
“There is also a need to strengthen the selection of members of the Advisory Council, in line with good international practice to avoid conflicts of interest”, it adds.
