Business Corruption

According to the ACIS’s Combating Business Participation in Corruption in Mozambique Toolkit 2006, companies cite the payment of commissions to those responsible for both government and private procurement as a major issue. Corruption in public procurement typically takes the form of bribes and kickbacks for contracts, conflicts of interests, collusive bidding, bid rigging and manipulation of bidding procedures by public officials, false or duplicate invoices by contractors, and fake purchases which are then used for personal consumption or resold, as reported by Transparency International's National Integrity Systems 2007.

Furthermore, nearly one-third of companies surveyed in the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2007 report that they expect to give gifts in order to win a government contract. Companies are recommended to use a specialised public procurement due diligence tool in order to mitigate the corruption risks associated with public procurement in Mozambique. 

Read more about public procurement in Mozambique under 'Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives' in the Initiatives section.

Political Corruption

According to Global Integrity 2007, the regulations addressing conflict of interest for public procurement officials are not enforced, as many companies bidding for public tenders are owned by senior public officials. This is especially the case in public tenders for road construction. Unsuccessful bidders can challenge procurement decisions in courts, but due to the prevalence of conflicts of interest they may not succeed in actually altering the decision. This picture is backed by Transparency International's National Integrity Systems 2007, according to which contracting procedures in local municipalities are marked by corruption, especially within infrastructure development and maintenance, such as municipal roads, where contracts are used to strengthen patronage networks or demand commissions.

Read more about public procurement in Mozambique under 'Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives' in the Initiatives section.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the diversion of public funds to companies, individuals, or groups due to corruption a score of 2.5 on a 7-point scale (1 'very common' and 7 'never occurs').

- Business executives give the favouritism of government officials towards well-connected companies and individuals when deciding upon policies and contracts a score of 3.0 on a 7-point scale (1 'always show favouritism' and 7 'never show favouritism').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- 32% of companies polled expect to give gifts to secure a government contract.

- The value of a gift expected to secure a government contract is 2.4% of the contract value.