Maputo, March 5, 2026 (Lusa) - The value of the Mozambique sovereign wealth fund (FSM) grew by 6.5% in the first three months of central bank management, to US$117.026 million (€100.8 million), according to data compiled by Lusa.
On 10 December, the government handed over the first US$109.97 million (€94.8 million) in gas exploration revenues to the Bank of Mozambique (BM), as the fund manager, for capitalisation and start-up of the FSM's operations.
On 6 January, the government made a further capital injection into the FSM in the amount of US$6.159 million (€5.3 million).
As of 2 March, according to the latest data from the Bank of Mozambique, the FSM had almost US$117.026 million - a 6.5% increase in three months - and a market value of US$117.061 million (€100.9 million).
On 15 December 2023, the Mozambican parliament approved the creation of the FSM, providing that it be funded with 40% of annual revenues from natural gas exploration, which in the 2040s are expected to reach US$6 billion (€5.123 billion) per year.
In its role as the fund manager, the Bank of Mozambique explained earlier that the FSM "is a portfolio of financial assets, managed in accordance with the principles, rules and procedures established by law," and that its creation was "motivated by the imperative need to ensure that revenues generated by oil and gas exploration drive the country's social and economic development."
"Maximising the benefits for the domestic economy and ensuring that they serve as a pillar of stabilisation for the state budget, as well as a solid basis for the creation of savings and accumulation of wealth for future generations," explained the central bank, as operational manager.
The FSM "is owned by the State" and aims to "accumulate savings for future generations by collecting revenues from oil and natural gas exploration and the results of the respective investments" and "stabilise the state budget in cases of oil revenue volatility".
The Government is responsible for the overall management of the FSM, which "is operationally managed by the central bank in the international financial market," based on investment policy, subject to internal and external audit.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) argued in February that the Mozambican Government should strengthen governance reforms and safeguard the future management of the new FSM, which it considers to already follow international best practices.
"Strengthening governance reforms will be key to safeguarding the integrity of the FSM structure and ensuring the efficient use of natural resource revenues," the IMF writes in its conclusions on the annual consultations on the Mozambican economy.
The report, dated 19 February, recalls that the agreement for the management of the FSM by the Bank of Mozambique, signed in November 2025, made it possible to "complete the legal framework of the fund".
"This will ensure that revenues are managed in accordance with the law," it describes.
Mozambique has three approved mega-development projects for the exploration of gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, ranked among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado, including one by TotalEnergies, with 13 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), currently in the recovery phase after suspension due to terrorist attacks in the region, and another by ExxonMobil (18 mtpa), awaiting a final investment decision, both on the Afungi peninsula.
In addition, in the ultra-deep waters of the same basin, Area 4, a consortium led by Italy's Eni, has been operating since 2022 at the Coral South floating unit and is moving forward with the second Coral North unit, which will start production in 2028.
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
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