Mozambique: MDN reflects on creation of National Defence Fund

The Ministry of National Defence (MDN) reflected, this Saturday, 6 December, on the creation of a National Defence Fund (FDN) as an alternative financing mechanism for the Armed Forces – perspectives, methodology, actors and management mechanisms. The topic of debate on the FDN, which took place on the sidelines of the 26th Coordinating Council, was presented by the Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Mozambique, Ferhat Alkkan, and by the Chairman of the Board of Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric (HCB), Tomás Matola. Turkey faced terrorism and to tackle the problem, this country decided to create the Defence Industry, focusing heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

Ferhat Alkkan stated that one of the financing methods for the Defence Industry in that country was through allocating a percentage of funds from tax collection to the Defence Sector. For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric, Tomás Matola, argued that a lack of security in a country deters investment in development projects. To meet security challenges, Tomás Matola proposes the creation of the National Defence Fund in Mozambique, which will be an entity overseen by the Ministry of National Defence, with the function of mobilising, managing and allocating financial resources for the implementation of various operational and investment activities in the Defence Sector.

Priority areas for FDN funding in the sector should be defence, with a focus on strategic national defence infrastructure, defence equipment and technology in all areas, the training and specialised education component of the FADM, research and scientific production in military and other fields. Economic and social areas should also be prioritised, with attention to agriculture, agribusiness and forestry exploitation; fishing and aquaculture; mineral resources and energy; real estate, construction of social housing; ecotourism, among others. According to Matola, the advantages of creating a National Defence Fund are numerous, including reducing exclusive dependence on the State Budget, improving the capacity to finance economic and social projects with structural impacts on the economy, enhancing medium- and long-term planning capacity of the National Defence Sector, among others.