Maputo, Aug. 25, 2026 (Lusa) - The Mozambican Government has given the team responsible for negotiating the partial sale of the state's stake in the mobile network operator Tmcel until January 2027 to identify a strategic partner and finalise the terms of the transaction.
By Resolution No. 67/2026 of 21 August, the Cabinet authorised the ministers of finance and communications to set up a technical team to negotiate the partial sale of the state's shares in the telecoms operator.
The Government had announced on 11 August its intention to proceed with the entry of a new investor into Tmcel, with a view to revitalising the company following several years of financial difficulties. At the time, the spokesperson for the Cabinet, Inocêncio Impissa, indicated that the State might sell part of its majority stake, but without providing details on potential interested parties or a timetable for the completion of the process.
However, the resolution to which Lusa has had access stipulates that the transaction will be carried out by private negotiation and already identifies several potential interested parties, such as Axian Telecom, a pan-African telecommunications group headquartered in Mauritius, which operates in various African markets through telecommunications services, digital infrastructure and mobile financial services.
The resolution also identifies a consortium that includes Optimum Systems W.L.L., a technology company specialising in information technology solutions and business connectivity, and Meridian Ventures Investment FZCO, an investment and consultancy platform based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
Another potential interested party is Aikun Solutions DMCC, a Dubai-based company engaged in consultancy, investment and technology activities across various sectors, including media and telecommunications.
According to the resolution, the technical team will comprise representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Communications and the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (Igepe).
The resolution stipulates that the ministers responsible for these two areas must, within a maximum of 135 days, submit a detailed report on the negotiations, identifying the selected strategic partner and a draft decree setting out the terms and conditions for the partial sale of the State's shares in Tmcel.
The resolution justifies the operation on the grounds of the need to «preserve the State's strategic interest in telecommunications infrastructure», as well as to «carry out the technological modernisation» of the company and «ensure the continued provision of essential public services» by Tmcel.
The operator, one of three in the country, has not yet published its accounts for 2025 and, in the latest available financial statements for the 2024 financial year, recorded losses of 4,441 million meticais (€59.7 million), more than double the 2,130 million meticais (€28.6 million) reported in 2023.
It ended 2024 with negative equity of 14,563 million meticais (€195.9 million), total assets of 23,378 million meticais (€315 million) and liabilities of 37,942 million meticais (€510.5 million).
Despite its financial situation, the operator made operational progress, with the number of active mobile subscribers rising in 2024 to 841,171, compared with 717,052 in the previous year. It also reported the modernisation and/or activation of 1,248 masts as part of the second phase of the network modernisation and expansion project launched in 2022.
Since March 2023, Tmcel has been under the supervision of Igepe, which holds 26% of the operator's share capital, whilst the Mozambican state directly holds 66%.
In September 2023, the chair of the operator's management committee, Mahomed Adamo Mussá, stated that Tmcel was undergoing a «new rebirth», underpinned by a revitalisation programme budgeted at $132 million (€121 million) and by the network modernisation process financed by the Export-Import Bank of China.
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