1 November 2019 by Inocencia Mapisse (former Money Trail trainee Nairobi 2019)

The Mozambican government signed a 30 year contract with major oil companies to produce, liquefy and market natural gas fields located in the Area 4 block 1, offshore Mozambique. ExxonMobil leads on natural gas liquefaction as part of a joint venture. Eni leads upstream facilities. The first project to be operated in the Rovuma Basin presents risks of an illicit outflow of capital by applying transfer prices, originating from the commercial structure adopted by the project. A possible additional source of risks regarding illicit capital outflows is the financing structure, which provides for the financing of the vessel from an special purpose vehicle (SPV) registered in a free trade zone in Dubai, with benefits from tax exemptions.

Please read this publication from the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI) in Mozambique: here