Browsing by Subject "Mozambique"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    A critical analysis of the taxation of income arising to contractors in relation to the execution of engineering, procurement, construction and installation (‘EPCI') contracts in the oil and gas sector
    (2020) Smith, Shirlynn; Roeleveld, Jennifer
    Globally, the past two years have been successful years in oil and gas exploration with discoveries almost doubling those made in 2017.1 Notwithstanding Africa's endowment in vast natural resources, including substantial oil and gas reserves, one of the most dramatic finds in Africa has been Mozambique's natural gas developments. Mozambique is set to become one of the largest and most dominant natural gas finds in the world. These developments have attracted the attention from countries around the world, the UAE, in particular, taking the lead. Engineering, procurement, construction and installation (“EPCI”) contracts, are a common form of contract in the oil and gas sector, which is used to undertake large scale oil and gas projects. The nature of these contracts consists of significant local (in-country work) and foreign (out-of-country work) elements. Due to the complex nature of EPCI contracts, one of the major areas of dispute in the taxation environment are the uncertainties around the taxation of profits arising to contractors under these contracts. The taxpayer and the Revenue Authorities have different views as to where the income arising from EPCI contracts is to be taxed. The taxpayer takes the stand that only such income from the project as is relatable to activities in the host state, should be taxed in the host state. The Revenue Authorities contend that EPCI contracts are to be considered as one and indivisible, and hence the entire income from the contract is liable to be taxed in the host state. Based on an examination of recent judgments passed by the Authority of Advanced Rulings (“AAR”) and various Tax Courts, currently, there seems to be no certainty regarding the taxation of income arising to contractors under an EPCI contract and this has in turn resulted in a number of contractors having to pay excessive taxes. This dissertation seeks to analyse the tax treatment of income arising to contractors, from supplies and services under an EPCI contract in the context of the oil and gas sector entered into between Mozambique and the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), in Mozambique. The purpose of this analysis is to determine how these profits should be taxed, in light of the Mozambique-UAE Treaty2 and Mozambican domestic legislation. In other words, the question that this dissertation seeks to answer is, whether profits arising from an EPCI contract in the oil and gas sector, should be taxed as a whole in Mozambique, or per the various components of the EPCI contract. 1 Fuel for thought, Africa oil and gas review, 2019, Current developments and a look into the future, www.pwc.co.za/oil-gas review [November 2019]. 2 Convention between the Republic of Mozambique and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income and Capital (2003). The key finding arising from the research presented in this dissertation is that although an EPCI contract is entered into in Mozambique (consisting of both offshore and onshore elements), this would not make the entire income from that contract to be taxable in Mozambique. Importantly, only such part of the income as is attributable to the operations carried out in Mozambique can be taxed in Mozambique. Following the analysis, as described above, this dissertation finally endeavors to provide recommendations on how contractors should approach and structure EPCI arrangements in order to create the best possible situation for themselves within the limits of what the law allows, and to reduce potential tax litigation. This can serve to inform other developing countries who have oil and gas operations.
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    The clinical and economic impact of point-of-care CD4 testing in Mozambique and other resource-limited settings: a cost-effectiveness analysis
    (Public Library of Science, 2014) Hyle, Emily P; Jani, Ilesh V; Lehe, Jonathan; Su, Amanda E; Wood, Robin; Quevedo, Jorge; Losina, Elena; Bassett, Ingrid V; Pei, Pamela P; Paltiel, A David
    Emily Hyle and colleagues conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis to estimate the clinical and economic impact of point-of-care CD4 testing compared to laboratory-based tests in Mozambique. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary
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    Five years of antimalarial resistance marker surveillance in Gaza Province, Mozambique, following artemisinin-based combination therapy roll out
    (Public Library of Science, 2011) Raman, Jaishree; Mauff, Katya; Muianga, Pedro; Mussa, Abdul; Maharaj, Rajendra; Barnes, Karen I
    Antimalarial drug resistance is a major obstacle to malaria control and eventual elimination. The routine surveillance for molecular marker of resistance is an efficient way to assess drug efficacy, which remains feasible in areas where malaria control interventions have succeeded in substantially reducing malaria transmission. Community based asexual parasite prevalence surveys were conducted annually in sentinel sites in Gaza Province, Mozambique from 2006 until 2010, before, during and after antimalarial policy changes to artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in 2006 and to artemether-lumefantrine in 2008. Genetic analysis of dhfr , dhps , crt , and mdr1 resistant genes was conducted on 3 331 (14.4%) Plasmodium falciparum PCR positive samples collected over the study period from 23 229 children aged 2 to 15 years. The quintuple dhfr/dhps mutation associated with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance increased from 56.2% at baseline to 75.8% by 2010. At baseline the crt 76T and mdr1 86Y mutants were approaching fixation, 96.1% and 74.7%, respectively. Following the deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapy, prevalence of both these chloroquine-resistance markers began declining, reaching 32.4% and 30.9%, respectively, by 2010. All samples analysed over the 5-year period possessed a single copy of the mdr1 gene. The high and increasing prevalence of the quintuple mutation supports the change in drug policy from artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine to artemether-lumefantrine in Mozambique. As chloroquine related drug pressure decreased in the region, so did the molecular markers associated with chloroquine resistance ( crt 76T and mdr1 86Y). However, this reversion to the wild-type mdr186N predisposes parasites towards developing lumefantrine resistance. Close monitoring of artemether-lumefantrine efficacy is therefore essential, particularly given the high drug pressure within the region where most countries now use artemether-lumefantrine as first line treatment.
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    Hepatitis B infection, viral load and resistance in HIV-infected patients in Mozambique and Zambia
    (Public Library of Science, 2016) Wandeler, Gilles; Musukuma, Kalo; Zürcher, Samuel; Vinikoor, Michael J; Llenas-García, Jara; Aly, Mussa M; Mulenga, Lloyd; Chi, Benjamin H; Ehmer, Jochen; Hobbins, Michael A; Bolton-Moore, Carolyn; Hoffmann, Christopher J; Egger, Matthias; IeDEA-Southern Africa
    BACKGROUND: Few data on the virological determinants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are available from southern Africa. METHODS: We enrolled consecutive HIV-infected adult patients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) at two urban clinics in Zambia and four rural clinics in Northern Mozambique between May 2013 and August 2014. HBsAg screening was performed using the Determine ® rapid test. Quantitative real-time PCR and HBV sequencing were performed in HBsAg-positive patients. Risk factors for HBV infection were evaluated using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests and associations between baseline characteristics and high level HBV replication explored in multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Seventy-eight of 1,032 participants in Mozambique (7.6%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.1-9.3) and 90 of 797 in Zambia (11.3%, 95% CI: 9.3-13.4) were HBsAg-positive. HBsAg-positive individuals were less likely to be female compared to HBsAg-negative ones (52.3% vs. 66.1%, p<0.001). Among 156 (92.9%) HBsAg-positive patients with an available measurement, median HBV viral load was 13,645 IU/mL (interquartile range: 192-8,617,488 IU/mL) and 77 (49.4%) had high values (>20,000 UI/mL). HBsAg-positive individuals had higher levels of ALT and AST compared to HBsAg-negative ones (both p<0.001). In multivariable analyses, male sex (adjusted odds ratio: 2.59, 95% CI: 1.22-5.53) and CD4 cell count below 200/μl (2.58, 1.20-5.54) were associated with high HBV DNA. HBV genotypes A1 (58.8%) and E (38.2%) were most prevalent. Four patients had probable resistance to lamivudine and/or entecavir. CONCLUSION: One half of HBsAg-positive patients demonstrated high HBV viremia, supporting the early initiation of tenofovir-containing ART in HIV/HBV-coinfected adults.
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    Hitting a Moving Target: A Model for Malaria Elimination in the Presence of Population Movement
    (Public Library of Science, 2015) Silal, Sheetal Prakash; Little, Francesca; Barnes, Karen Irma; White, Lisa Jane
    South Africa is committed to eliminating malaria with a goal of zero local transmission by 2018. Malaria elimination strategies may be unsuccessful if they focus only on vector biology, and ignore the mobility patterns of humans, particularly where the majority of infections are imported. In the first study in Mpumalanga Province in South Africa designed for this purpose, a metapopulation model is developed to assess the impact of their proposed elimination-focused policy interventions. A stochastic, non-linear, ordinary-differential equation model is fitted to malaria data from Mpumalanga and neighbouring Maputo Province in Mozambique. Further scaling-up of vector control is predicted to lead to a minimal reduction in local infections, while mass drug administration and focal screening and treatment at the Mpumalanga-Maputo border are predicted to have only a short-lived impact. Source reduction in Maputo Province is predicted to generate large reductions in local infections through stemming imported infections. The mathematical model predicts malaria elimination to be possible only when imported infections are treated before entry or eliminated at the source suggesting that a regionally focused strategy appears needed, for achieving malaria elimination in Mpumalanga and South Africa.
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    Incentives for non-physician health professionals to work in the rural and remote areas of Mozambique - a discrete choice experiment for eliciting job preferences
    (BioMed Central, 2015-04-26) Honda, Ayako; Vio, Ferruccio
    Background: Successfully motivating and retaining health workers is critical for the effective performance of health systems. In Mozambique, a shortage of health care professionals and low levels of staff motivation in rural and remote areas pose challenges to the provision of equitable health care delivery. This study provides quantitative information on the job preferences of non-physician health professionals in Mozambique, examining how different aspects of jobs are valued and how health professionals might respond to policy options that would post them to district hospitals in rural areas. Methods: The study used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to elicit the job preferences of non-physician health professionals. Data collection took place in four Mozambique provinces: Maputo City, Maputo Province, Sofala and Nampula. DCE questionnaires were administered to 334 non-physician health professionals with specialized or university training (‘mid-level specialists’ and N1 and N2 categories). In addition, questionnaires were administered to 123 N1 and N2 students to enable comparison of the results for those with work experience with those without and determine how new N1 and N2 graduates can be attracted to rural posts. Results: The results indicate that the provision of basic government housing has the greatest impact on the probability of choosing a job at a public health facility, followed by the provision of formal education opportunities and the availability of equipment and medicine at a health facility. The sub-group analysis suggests that job preferences vary according to stage of life and that incentive packages should vary accordingly. Recruitment strategies to encourage non-clinical professionals to work in rural/remote areas should also consider birthplace, as those born in rural/remote areas are more willing to work remotely. Conclusion: The study was undertaken within an overarching project that aimed to develop incentive packages for non-physician health professionals assigned to work in remote/rural areas. Based on the DCE results, the project team, together with the Mozambique Ministry of Health, has developed a range of health workforce retention strategies focusing on the provision of housing benefits and professional development opportunities to be utilized when assigning non-physician health professionals to rural/remote areas.
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    Madagascar: A pacemaker for the Agulhas Current system?
    (2006) Penven, P; Lutjeharms, J R E; Florenchie, P
    [1] Western boundary currents are driven by zonally integrated wind-stress curl over the width of subtropical basins. This cross-basin integration is interrupted in the South Indian Ocean where Madagascar presents a formidable barrier. Nevertheless, a western boundary current has been thought to exist in the Mozambique Channel, the Mozambique Current. Recent observations have however shown that no such current exists and that the flow in the channel instead consists of a train of eddies. Is this western boundary anomaly due to the presence of Madagascar? We have used a primitive equations model to investigate the flow in the South West Indian Ocean as if there were no Madagascar. We show that a normal, continuous western boundary current is then formed that constitutes a continuum with the Agulhas Current. The presence of Madagascar is shown to affect the frequency of inter-ocean exchange events south of Africa.
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    Non-state forms of conflict resolution: opportunities for improving criminal justice a case study of community courts in Mozambique
    (2022) Lorizzo, Concetta; Amien, Waheeda
    The Mozambican criminal justice system faces two main challenges, namely lack of access to justice for all and deplorable prison conditions. Judicial courts are distant and expensive; legal terminology is incomprehensible to the majority of people; and prisons are overcrowded. Mozambicans continue to rely on different normative systems, other than state justice, to resolve their disputes. Recognised mainly as informal, these non-state mechanisms have always been considered as closer, cheaper and faster than judicial courts. However, the literature on legal pluralism and the state has historically ignored the role that they play in criminal justice. Given this background, the thesis examines the limitations of legal pluralism and how the past shaped and continues to shape the particular relationship of the state with community courts in relation to criminal justice. The study makes use of materials derived from exploratory work in the Mozambican capital city of Maputo, including focus group discussions, individual interviews, access to case files, and various other empirical observations. The thesis analyses the functioning of community courts. The discourses and practices on criminal justice of these courts are most usually seen as situated within Eurocentric dominant political discourses about the nature of access to justice and punishment. Through a postcolonial analysis, however, the thesis aims at identifying community courts as forms of local knowledge; it explores the legal and practical obstacles and opportunities that community courts provide to improve access to criminal justice for petty crimes and ultimately their impact on the condition of prisons. The thesis shows that the revision of the community courts' law presents an opportunity to broaden the competence of the courts to include criminal cases punishable with imprisonment up to three years. Because of this, petty crimes would go through the state criminal justice system and more cases would be resolved at the community level. Community courts are trusted by the people and make use of a form of restorative justice. They reach decisions through mediation; assess the socioeconomic causes of a case; involve families and communities when needed; and apply alternatives to imprisonment. A shift of the state's mainstream attitude to community courts in relation to criminal justice is now needed – a move away from Eurocentric discourse and towards the recognition, in practice, of local knowledge.
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    Prison Reforms in Mozambique Fail to Touch the Ground: Accessing the Experience of Pre-trial Detainees in Maputo
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2012) Lorizzo, Tina
    This article presents the findings of research on pre-trial detention in the Mozambique capital city Maputo. Conditions of detention and access to legal representation of a group of pre-trial detainees are analysed within the context of development of the prison system in Mozambique. The research shows that while progress has been made at the legal and institutional level of the prison system, reforms have yet to impact on pre-trial detainees’ lives.
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    The significance of African lions for the financial viability of trophy hunting and the maintenance of wild land
    (Public Library of Science, 2012) Lindsey, Peter Andrew; Balme, Guy Andrew; Booth, Vernon Richard; Midlane, Neil
    Recent studies indicate that trophy hunting is impacting negatively on some lion populations, notably in Tanzania. In 2004 there was a proposal to list lions on CITES Appendix I and in 2011 animal-welfare groups petitioned the United States government to list lions as endangered under their Endangered Species Act. Such listings would likely curtail the trophy hunting of lions by limiting the import of lion trophies. Concurrent efforts are underway to encourage the European Union to ban lion trophy imports. We assessed the significance of lions to the financial viability of trophy hunting across five countries to help determine the financial impact and advisability of the proposed trade restrictions. Lion hunts attract the highest mean prices (US$24,000-US$71,000) of all trophy species. Lions generate 5-17% of gross trophy hunting income on national levels, the proportional significance highest in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. If lion hunting was effectively precluded, trophy hunting could potentially become financially unviable across at least 59,538 km 2 that could result in a concomitant loss of habitat. However, the loss of lion hunting could have other potentially broader negative impacts including reduction of competitiveness of wildlife-based land uses relative to ecologically unfavourable alternatives. Restrictions on lion hunting may also reduce tolerance for the species among communities where local people benefit from trophy hunting, and may reduce funds available for anti-poaching. If lion off-takes were reduced to recommended maximums (0.5/1000 km 2 ), the loss of viability and reduction in profitability would be much lower than if lion hunting was stopped altogether (7,005 km 2 ). We recommend that interventions focus on reducing off-takes to sustainable levels, implementing age-based regulations and improving governance of trophy hunting. Such measures could ensure sustainability, while retaining incentives for the conservation of lions and their habitat from hunting.
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    The CombinADO study to assess the impact of a combination intervention strategy on viral suppression, antiretroviral therapy adherence, and retention in HIV care among adolescents and young people living with HIV: protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial
    (BioMed Central, 2021-12-27) Mogoba, Phepo; Lesosky, Maia; Zerbe, Allison; Falcao, Joana; Mellins, Claude A; Desmond, Christopher; Arnaldo, Carlos; Kapogiannis, Bill; Myer, Landon; Abrams, Elaine J
    Background Adolescents and youth living with HIV (AYAHIV) have worse HIV outcomes than other age groups, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). AYAHIV in SSA face formidable health system, interpersonal- and individual-level barriers to retention in HIV care, uptake of ART, and achievement of viral suppression (VS), underscoring an urgent need for multi-component interventions to address these challenges. This cluster-randomized control trial (cRCT) aims to evaluate the effectiveness and monitor implementation of a community-informed multi-component intervention (“CombinADO strategy”) addressing individual-, facility-, and community-level factors to improve health outcomes for AYAHIV. Methods This trial will be conducted in 12 clinics in Nampula Province, Northern Mozambique. All clinics will implement an optimized standard of care (control) including (1) billboards/posters and radio shows, (2) healthcare worker (HCW) training, (3) one-stop adolescent and youth-friendly services, (4) information/motivation walls, (5) pill containers, and (6) tools to be used by HCW during clinical visits. The CombinADO strategy (intervention) will be superadded to control conditions at 6 randomly selected clinics. It will include five additional components: (1) peer support, (2) informational/motivational video, (3) support groups for AYAHIV caregivers, (4) AYAHIV support groups, and (5) mental health screening and linkage to adolescent-focused mental health support. The study conditions will be in place for 12 months; all AYAHIV (ages 10–24 years, on ART) seeking care in the participating sites will be exposed to either the control or intervention condition based on the clinic they attend. The primary outcome is VS (viral load < 50 copies/mL) at 12 months among AYAHIV attending participating clinics. Secondary outcomes include ART adherence (self-reported and TDF levels) and retention in care (engagement in the preceding 90 days). Uptake, feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity of the CombinADO strategy during implementation will be measured. Trial outcomes will be assessed in AYAHIV, caregivers, healthcare workers, and key informants. Statistical analyses will be conducted and reported in line with CONSORT guidelines for cRCTs. Discussion The CombinADO study will provide evidence on effectiveness and inform implementation of a novel community-informed multi-component intervention to improve retention, adherence, and VS among AYAHIV. If found effective, results will strengthen the rationale for scale up in SSA. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04930367 . Registered on 18 June 2021
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    The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability
    (Public Library of Science, 2013) Lindsey, Peter Andrew; Balme, Guy Andrew; Funston, Paul; Henschel, Philipp; Hunter, Luke; Madzikanda, Hilary; Midlane, Neil; Nyirenda, Vincent
    The trophy hunting of lions Panthera leo is contentious due to uncertainty concerning conservation impacts and because of highly polarised opinions about the practice. African lions are hunted across at least ∼558,000 km 2 , which comprises 27-32% of the lion range in countries where trophy hunting of the species is permitted. Consequently, trophy hunting has potential to impart significant positive or negative impacts on lions. Several studies have demonstrated that excessive trophy harvests have driven lion population declines. There have been several attempts by protectionist non-governmental organisations to reduce or preclude trophy hunting via restrictions on the import and export of lion trophies. We document the management of lion hunting in Africa and highlight challenges which need addressing to achieve sustainability. Problems include: unscientific bases for quota setting; excessive quotas and off-takes in some countries; fixed quotas which encourage over-harvest; and lack of restrictions on the age of lions that can be hunted. Key interventions needed to make lion hunting more sustainable, include implementation of: enforced age restrictions; improved trophy monitoring; adaptive management of quotas and a minimum length of lion hunts of at least 21 days. Some range states have made important steps towards implementing such improved management and off-takes have fallen steeply in recent years. For example age restrictions have been introduced in Tanzania and in Niassa in Mozambique, and are being considered for Benin and Zimbabwe, several states have reduced quotas, and Zimbabwe is implementing trophy monitoring. However, further reforms are needed to ensure sustainability and reduce conservation problems associated with the practice while allowing retention of associated financial incentives for conservation.
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    Tropical Cyclone Eline and Its Unusual Penetration and Impacts over the Southern African Mainland
    (2004) Reason, C J C; Keibel, A
    February-March 2000 saw devastating floods in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Due to the huge damage and loss of life, global media attention was extensive. Less well known is that one of the weather systems that contributed to these floods (ex-Tropical Cyclone Eline) tracked almost 2000 km across southern Africa toward the cool southeast Atlantic and led to substantial rainfall over arid to semiarid southern Namibia (over two standard deviations above average for these two months and the wettest summer since 1976). Less than 5% of southwest Indian Ocean tropical cyclones actually make landfall on the east coast of southern Africa and even fewer significantly penetrate into the interior, because of the relatively dry 1-1.5-km-high interior plateau that covers most of the region. It is argued that the precursor synoptic conditions together with large-scale circulation and SST anomalies over the Indian Ocean associated with a strengthening La Niña were highly favorable for this unusual evolution and track of Eline. A summary of the accuracy of La Réunion and Met Office forecasts of Tropical Cyclone Eline over the Indian Ocean is given. Over the mainland, almost all countries do not have any NWP capacity, and the challenges and potential solutions for improved forecasting for the region are discussed. It is argued that by keeping informed of current rainfall, vegetation, and soil moisture conditions over southern Africa, as well as evolving climate signals in the tropical oceans, local forecasters could at least be in a state of heightened alert in advance, since these factors significantly influence extreme weather event characteristics in the region.