Through Decree 31/2021 of 29 June, the Council of Ministers (CM) dissolved the Mozambican Company of Mining Exploitation (EMEM, SA). With this measure, the Government withdraws from the mining sector the business economic arm of the State, which had the objective of managing its holdings, ensuring the defense of national public interests in a sector dominated by foreign investors and strongly directed towards the export of raw materials and with few links with the creation of internal value chains.
The Government's decision to dissolve EMEM is controversial and problematic, as it ignores essential variables in this process, namely: (i) the growing need for the State to be present in the mining sector, as described in the investment strategy defined by IGEPE; (ii) the need for transparency in the management of said company; (iii) the need for transparency in the dissolution process; and (iv) the role of IGEPE in defending national public interests in the mining sector.
