- Covid-19: Mozambique will have six million vaccine doses
Minister of Health Armindo Tiago said on Thursday that Mozambique will be entitled to six million doses of Covid-19 vaccine under the rules defined in the global COVAX initiative for equitable access to inoculation.
Armindo Tiago was speaking in the Assembly of the Republic in response to criticisms from the Democratic Movement of Mozambique that the 2021 Economic and Social Plan and the State Budget make no reference to any Covid-19 vaccination plan.
“From the calculations we made, Mozambique would receive about six million doses of vaccine in this mechanism,” corresponding to 20% of the country’s estimated 30 million population, Minister Tiago said.
The Minister of Health told the parliament that the number of doses – in case of final approval of a vaccine by the World Health Organization (WHO) – results from the percentage imposed under the referred mechanism for each of the initiative’s member countries.
- Egypt and Qatar express solidarity over humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado
The governments of Egypt and Qatar on Thursday expressed their solidarity over the humanitarian crisis caused by armed violence in Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique..
For Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, the fight against terrorism in Africa requires the involvement of the international community and Egypt is “committed” to working with the countries of the continent to curb the phenomenon.
“Egypt remains firmly committed to working closely with our African brothers and partners to purge terrorist elements from our continent,” Al Sisi adds.
- Companies move closer to stabilisation – Standard Bank PMI Index
The monthly Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) prepared by Standard Bank Mozambique has found that, as in October, private sector companies in Mozambique in November continued to recover from the crisis caused by the spread of the new coronavirus.
The analysis supports its recovery diagnosis with the fact that levels of production and volume of new orders from companies are close to stabilisation, suggesting a decrease in the impact of Covid-19.
The headline PMI rose to its highest level in eight months, at 49.4 (in November), up from 48.1 in October, and closer to the 50.0 neutral threshold.
As a result of this recovery, the Standard Bank analysis reads, firms raised workforce numbers in the month under review at the strongest pace since February.
- Frelimo approves, opposition votes against – 2021 State Budget and PES
The Assembly of the Republic approved both the Economic and Social Plan (PE) and the State Budget for 2021. Opposition parties Renamo and MDM voted against, arguing that the two instruments are unrealistic.
The Economic and Social Plan and the State Budget for 2021 were approved by Parliament in Maputo on the basis of the votes of the ruling Frelimo party. Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário looks at 2021 with optimism, despite the adverse context of Covid-19. In the words of the prime minister, the recovery of the world economy and the gradual resumption of external financing to the state budget will contribute to Mozambique achieving positive results.
- Abdul Carimo exits National Elections Commission – Cart
Submission of civil society candidates for membership of the CNE ended on November 27, the Ad Hoc Commission of the Assembly of the Republic, in charge of managing the process, having received a total of 143 applications. Only seven seats are up for grabs.
After receiving the applications, the Ad Hoc Commission started its analysis this Dec, a process which will be completed within 30 days, after which the names will be submitted to the plenary session of Parliament for consideration.
While some names begin to emerge from the pack, the spotlight turns to the current President of the CNE, Abdul Carimo Sau, who will not renew his mandate, since he did not submit his candidacy. Along with President Abdul CarimoSau, António Chipanga (first vice president) and Meque Brás (second vice) will also be leaving, having not been resubmitted by their parties (Frelimo and Renamo respectively).
- 18 truck drivers arrested in Nampula
Eighteen long-distance truck drivers are being held in Nampula for allegedly organising a demonstration last Wednesday afternoon as part of a country-wide protest against what they say is poor performance by the police on public roads and lack of adequate working conditions.
It was a very intense environment. Traffic was interrupted on the EN1 at the entrance to Nampula city, that is, after the first control from Murrupula. Truckers prevented the passage of heavy goods vehicles until the police intervened.
The demonstration lasted from noon until shortly after 3:00 p.m., when the police intervened.
Luís Vasconselhos, president of the Association of Land and Road Transporters of Nampula, considered the demonstration unnecessary and condemned the truck drivers’ behaviour, regardless of their work problems.
- Primary schools to reopen with three shifts
Mozambique’s minister for education and human development, Carmelita Namashulua, announced on Thursday the introduction of three shifts in primary education in 2021 to enable the return to school in safe health conditions from Covid-19.
Namashulua made the announcement in the parliament in response to questions from parliamentarians on the conditions for resuming classes in primary education, which have been interrupted since March.
“The government plans to return all children to school by increasing the number of shifts, taking up an experience that the country has known in the past,” said Namashulua.
Before the interruption of classes, primary school students studied in two shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Namashulua said that the third shift would be introduced between the morning and afternoon, which in turn would be shortened.
The measure will allow each classroom to have up to 20 pupils, enough for the adequate social distance between the children.
- Brussels insists on a more active EU role against Islamist attacks
Members of the European Parliament again called for a more active and urgent role for the European Union in the face of the humanitarian crisis in Mozambique, in a debate involving the new head of European foreign policy in Africa, Rita Laranjinha.
Yesterday’s debate on the situation in Cabo Delgado province held jointly in the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Development Committees, began with an intervention from Mozambique by the Bishop of Pemba, Luís Fernando Lisboa, who reported on the serious humanitarian crisis caused by armed attacks in Cabo Delgado province, which have already displaced some 500,000 people.
He pointed out that several districts, not only in Cabo Delgado province, are constantly receiving displaced people – people who “have left everything behind, lost relatives, their houses, have had their daughters kidnapped” and “arrive with nothing, just to save their lives”.
The bishop said that Mozambique’s government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Catholic Church are “trying to unite in their response,” along with other actors, including Portugal, but warned that the current response “is not enough,” because “the needs are many.
- US to help Mozambique tackle terrorism in gas-rich region
The United States on Thursday vowed to help Mozambique tackle the insurgency being waged by an Islamist group in the gas-rich northern Cabo Delgado province following a visit by its top anti-terrorism official.
The State Department counterterrorism coordinator Nathan Sales, made the pledge after talks with President Filipe Nyusi in Maputo
“The United States is keenly interested in partnering with Mozambique,” and in “deepening our friendship while we jointly confront the challenge of terrorism,” he said in a statement.
Sales who is also US Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, stressed the need for international cooperation to curb the three-year conflict that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and displaced half-a-million people.
Sales, is the most senior US government official to visit Mozambique this year following his two-day trip that ended on the 3rd of December.
- Maleiane says govt will not resort to borrowing to pay wages in 2021
The government says it will not resort to borrowing to pay civil servants’ salaries in 2021, although it expects to hire more than 17,000 people. The government says that it may resort to borrowing, but only for investment expenses.
Minister of Economy and Finance Adriano Maleiane says that “there is a difference of 15 billion [meticais] that could be available to make investment, but that is only little, because 84 billion [meticais] is needed for investment, for which we have to go to the domestic or foreign market”.
“In practical terms, the state does not go to the banking sector or to the central bank to borrow money to pay salaries – because that already it already manages to do , or to pay for goods and services. Yes, it might have to go to the central bank for cash flow deficit, that is, when the revenue collected is not enough to pay for that month’s expenses,” Minister Maleiane explained.