Maputo, Nov. 26, 2025 (Lusa) - The Brazilian Senate's Economic Affairs Committee on Wednesoday approved the authorisation of a debt restructuring agreement between Mozambique and Brazil for US$143 million (€123.3 million).
This is a proposal from the presidency office, dated 2024, presented in the most urgent manner by Senator Fernando Farias and which will be converted into a draft resolution, according to information from the Senate.
The decision comes after the Brazilian President's visit to Mozambique on 23rd and 24th November, during which Lula da Silva promised to relaunch relations with the African country, starting with the economic area, signing nine legal instruments in various areas in Maputo.
According to the bill approved by the Senate, the first instalment of US$6.7 million (€5.8 million) is to be paid by Mozambique 60 days after the agreement is signed, followed by 10 half-yearly instalments of the remaining amount, with an interest rate of 3.6% per year. "If payment is not made on time, default interest will be 1% above the interest rate," it adds.
It adds that Mozambique's debt to Brazil consists of amounts in arrears from two operations, the first being "remaining credits from the Debt Restructuring Agreement signed by Brazil and Mozambique in 2004".
"Due to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, several countries, in a multilateral agreement, suspended debt payments. In the case of Mozambique, the request for suspension was submitted in 2020," the same information reads, adding that the second operation covers financing for the construction of Nacala International Airport in Nampula province.
These contracts were guaranteed by the government of Mozambique, but the African country "stopped paying the financing from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) in 2017", with the instalments due being “compensated” to the BNDES by the Brazilian government, "which is now the creditor of the debt with Mozambique".
The President of Brazil said on 24th November in Maputo that the country is "back" in Africa, resuming its commitment to Mozambique in sectors such as agriculture, food security, energy and biofuels.
"I see enormous potential for joint progress in energy, biofuels, health, agriculture, defence and technology. Brazil has everything it needs to contribute to food security in Mozambique," said Lula da Silva at the close of the economic forum between the two countries in Maputo.
Together with his Mozambican counterpart, Daniel Chapo, the Brazilian head of state assured the dozens of businesspeople from both countries who participated in this meeting that his government is "ready with everything" to "resume talks," acknowledging the distancing of Africa in recent years from the country's public policies and priorities.
Insisting on his regret at Brazil's neglect of Africa, in an allusion to the policies of the previous government of Jair Bolsonaro, contrary to what he claims to have done in the first two terms of his government, he pointed out that the last two years have been spent "recovering" the country.
"Two years recovering the BNDES [which finances Brazil's exports], two years recovering the economy of this country, two years recovering the ministries that were closed, two years recovering the credibility that Brazil had lost," he emphasised, addressing his Mozambican counterpart to say that Brazil is once again looking to Africa: "And that is why, my dear comrade, I am back in Mozambique. I am back".
Lula da Silva also lamented the reduced weight of the Mozambican market, "very little for a family like Mozambique and Brazil," and to change this scenario, he said he was counting on the renewed BNDES: "No country can export goods and services without offering credit options. And the BNDES needs to do this again, and we want the BNDES to do this again. Today, the BNDES has fully recovered and is a rigorous bank. I am sure that with the BNDES, we will be able to do many things here."
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
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