Maputo, June 22, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, announced on Sunday that the restructuring underway at the airline LAM will continue in several other public sector companies to enhance their capacity to generate revenue for the state.
“The process is still ongoing at LAM (...), we have planned that we need, and this process is underway, to make the acquisitions [aircraft] for LAM and start building a robust company that can generate profits and dividends (...).” Now, I want to make it clear that this job extends beyond LAM,” said the Mozambican head of state at a press conference, including Lusa, in Maputo.
For several years, Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) has addressed operational challenges related to a small fleet and limited investment, and experts have linked some incidents to opportunities for improving aircraft maintenance.
The airline has since launched a programme for its revitalisation, which has led to the removal of the previous management and the appointment of a management committee, as well as the establishment of a forensic audit of LAM’s accounts for the last ten years to investigate alleged corruption schemes within the company.
The Mozambican President said public institutions must remain strong and generate profits. To do so, they must “combat” corruption, an evil that “affects and infects” society: “It is one of the barriers to development”.
“This is a task that will continue in many other public companies that currently need to increase revenue generation because they face the same situations we found at LAM.” So we need to continue sweeping, in every sense, to restructure companies so that they can generate profits,” he said.
Revealing that he is “very comfortable” working in this direction and preferring to act independently of group pressure, Chapo said that this is his “mission,” which focuses above all on fighting corruption.
“We will continue on this path, not only for public companies, but for the entire state, calmly and fairly, guided by ethics, responsibility, competence, and integrity in our public companies and in our state,” he added.
The president said on 28 April that certain individuals within LAM pursue “fox-like tactics” and personal gain, and their “conflicts of interest” delayed the company’s restructuring during the first 100 days of his government.
Meanwhile, LAM is in the market to lease up to five Boeing 737-700 aircraft, a process led by international consultancy Knighthood Global, which is responsible for restructuring the airline.
In an announcement this month published by Knighthood Global, consulted by Lusa, the Abu Dhabi-based consultant said LAM’s shareholders had mandated it to receive bids by 20 June for the supply of “up to five Boeing 737-700 aircraft” with 120 to 140 seats.
“Knighthood Global is conducting this competitive process, with limited deadlines, to secure aircraft that meet LAM’s operational, commercial and strategic requirements, whether through direct purchase, financial lease or operating lease,” the announcement said.
Knighthood Global said in May that it had three months to “stabilise and reposition” LAM, explaining that the government of Mozambique appointed it to help revitalise the company and “the country’s aviation sector in general”.
“The focus in the first three months will be on stabilising and repositioning LAM,” the statement said,
Lusa reported on 19 May that the consultant would work with the new shareholders—the state-owned companies Hidroelétrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) and Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (Emose)—which “have a mandate to acquire the appropriate aircraft and re-establish a fleet”.
LYCE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
