Mozambique is considering selling part of its stake in Tmcel
August 14th 2026
Tmcel was created in December 2018 from the merger of Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TDM) and Moçambique Celular (Mcel), an operation intended to improve the situation of two struggling public companies. This merger did not resolve the structural problems: high debt, losses, and cash flow difficulties persisted.
The Mozambican government announced on Tuesday, August 11, the creation of a technical team tasked with negotiating the sale of part of the state’s stake in Tmcel, the public telecommunications operator. The announcement was made by government spokesperson and Minister of State Administration, Inocêncio Impissa, following a meeting of the Council of Ministers in Maputo.
“The sale is one of the solutions found to revive this company, which has been facing financial difficulties for several years. It is one of the mechanisms that the State has found to revitalize Tmcel, to give it a little more vitality so that it can continue to provide essential telecommunications services nationwide ,” he said.
Tmcel has accumulated over $400 million in debt since 2023. Facing cash flow difficulties, the company has also experienced delays in paying the salaries of its approximately 1,700 employees. The 2024 results, published in July 2025, confirm this worsening situation: the company recorded a loss of €59.7 million, double the loss recorded in 2023, while its total liabilities reached €510.5 million. The state, through its direct holdings (66%) and those of the State Holdings Management Institute (IGEPE, 26%), controls approximately 92% of the operator’s capital, which now holds only 13% of the Mozambican mobile market, behind Vodacom and Movitel.
The Mozambican case illustrates a trend observed in several African countries. Many states are seeking to divest themselves of loss-making public operators in order to attract private investors likely to finance their modernization.
In Ethiopia, the partial privatization of Ethio Telecom, initiated in 2021 with the goal of selling 45% of its capital, has been repeatedly postponed. Ultimately, 10.7% of the capital offered during the October 2024 IPO was sold, as bids from international investors fell short of expectations. In Kenya, the government finalized the sale of 15% of its stake in Safaricom to Vodacom in June, reducing the state’s shareholding to 20%.
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