Maputo, 17 May (AIM) – Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi river, in the central Mozambican province of Tete, has approved the acquisition of 25.2 percent of the share capital of the state-owned company Mozambique Airlines (LAM).
The acquisition is part of the government’s plan to restructure LAM. Within the same plan, two other publicly-owned companies, the rail and port company, CFM, and the insurance company EMOSE also acquired 15.4 percent of LAM’s shares by investing
22 million dollars each.
These companies are responsible for the LAM restructuring committee, which is tasked with solving LAM’s current financial crisis and normalizing the company’s operations.
According to 2025 General State Account, an investment of 36 million dollars was approved to allow the creation of Fly Moz, an entity aimed at guaranteeing financing for LAM.
The document also points out that the State directly subsidized LAM with 255.4 million meticais in 2025.
A year ago, the intention to divest 91 percent of LAM’s share capital was announced, but these three operations still total only 56 percent.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned that transparent strategy is crucial to improve LAM’s efficiency and ensure that investments are based on rigorous cost-benefit analyses.
Over the last 10 years, LAM, which used to operate with just two airplanes, has been shaken by a financial crisis involving corruption practiced by the company workers during the acquisition of services. The company has recorded debts with suppliers, valued at over 230 million dollars as a result of embezzlement.
In 2024, LAM was under the management of the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), which was hired by the government to bring the company into profitability and rescue it from bankruptcy. However, the effort did not solve anything.
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