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The Mozambique hidden loans case: An opportunity for donors to demonstrate anti-corruption commitment

When the Mozambican government issued guarantees for over 1 billion US$ – ignoring their own oversight mechanisms and lending rules – they ended up in public debt distress. Donors have stopped funding the government and those hit hardest are ordinary Mozambicans. A leaked 2017 audit report helps us reflect on prospects for justice and accountability for the loans case outside and within Mozambique. From an anti-corruption policy perspective, development partners can collaborate with ongoing UK and US investigations, consider travel and visa bans, an anti-corruption court, support victims’ lawsuits, and call for an IMF debt-monitoring system review.

14 October 2018
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The Mozambique hidden loans case: An opportunity for donors to demonstrate anti-corruption commitment

Main points

  • Secrecy persists around the Mozambique loans case and cooperation with the Kroll audit was limited.
  • Business plans for the three companies involved were not credible and there is a likelihood of misconduct and rule-breaking on many sides.
  • Development partners to Mozambique should closely coordinate with ongoing investigations in the UK and USA.
  • The administrative tribunal in Mozambique should be supported.
  • Development partners should look into setting-up a specialised anti-corruption court and supporting victims’ lawsuits.
  • The application of visa and travel bans on individuals found guilty of wrongdoing should be considered.

Cite this publication


Williams, A. (2018) The Mozambique hidden loans case: An opportunity for donors to demonstrate anti-corruption commitment. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Brief 2018:6)

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About the author

Aled Williams is a political scientist and senior researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute and a principal adviser at the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre. He is responsible for U4's thematic work on corruption in natural resources and energy, and holds a PhD from SOAS, University of London, on political ecology of REDD+ in Indonesia.

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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