In the three-day meeting, the participants, especially parliamentarians from Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tome and Principe, Timor-Leste, Portugal, and international experts will focus on the Legislative Oversight of Sovereign Funds.
Speaking on the occasion, the President of the Plan and Budget Commission of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique, António Niquice, said that the meeting constitutes an opportunity for Mozambique “to gather the experiences of other countries to understand how the sovereign wealth fund was created in other countries, how it has been operating, taking into account the principle of inclusion, transparency, good governance, accountability, and eliminating any possible vice that may occur upstream.”
Niquice also highlighted the need to create a Sovereign Fund in Mozambique, taking into account the expectation that the country has to raise a significant amount in the next 20 to 30 years. “From the studies carried out, the country expects to collect around US$100 billion over the 25 to 30 years of exploration in the extractive industry, especially in the area of oil and gas. It is a very high volume of resources that needs to be absorbed and executed in a planned way (…)”, underlined Niquice.
On the other hand, Niquice spoke about the need to leave something for future generations. “(…) because they are exhaustible (extractive resources) there must be a planned process that allows, in the medium and long term, the generations that cannot benefit today to benefit in the future.”
In addition to António Niquice, the Political Adviser of the European Union Delegation in Mozambique, Stefan Simosas, and the Resident Representative of UNDP Mozambique, Narjess Seidane, also spoke at the opening ceremony, emphasizing the need to create a sovereign wealth fund and pass laws that ensure that this fund benefits the country and the population in general.
Today’s meeting aims to:
- Promote the exchange of experiences and learning among peers involving the Parliamentary Budgetary Committees of the PALOP and Timor-Leste (including Brazil and Portugal) and access to best practices in the field of budgetary legislative oversight;
- Familiarize parliamentarians and staff of PALOP-TL National Parliaments, in a context of south-south and triangular cooperation, with the challenges and opportunities for effective legislative oversight of sovereign wealth funds and the flow of capital they generate.
The meeting is organized by the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique in partnership with UNDP/Pro PALOP-TL ISC Phase II.
It is expected that, at the end, the Maputo Charter will be produced with the main recommendations and actions to be taken to strengthen the capacity for fiscal legislative oversight of sovereign funds and other sources of large capital flows in the PALOP and Timor-Leste.
