An audit carried out at Finland–Mozambique Cooperation Programme on Science, Technology and Innovation

An external audit was performed at Finland–Mozambique Cooperation Programme on Science, Technology and Innovation (STIFIMO), covering the period from August 2011 till December 2012.

The auditors found weaknesses in the Mozambique Ministry of Science and Technology's (MCT) financial management system and irregularities in the implementation of sub projects carried out by third parties receiving STIFIMO funding. Some of the irregularities were partly due to insufficient procedural instructions and oversight by MCT.

The funds that were used for other than STIFIMO related activities add up to approximately 58 000 Euros.

The audit covered 70 % of the vouchers of MCT and 90 % of the vouchers of the third parties. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland has decided to extend the audit to cover 100 % of all vouchers.

The MCT has already given a response to the recommendations presented by the auditors and it has prepared a Plan of Action to enhance its financial management and oversight systems. Improvements are already being made to prevent irregularities in the future.



The MCT will also demand the reimbursement of the irregularly used funds from eight of its partner organizations (among them universities, regional technology centers and other public institutes).

Finland has been funding STIFIMO since June 2010. Its present phase will end in December 2014. The programme has so far received approximately 11,7 million Euros of its total budget of 22 million. STIFIMO supports the implementation of Mozambique´s own science, technology and innovation strategy (MOSTIS).

The programme includes projects that focus on the creation of business incubators, development of mobile applications, science, technology and innovation services for small and medium size enterprises, the national biotechnology programme, and the development of innovations into products.

In particular the youth ICT skills component and grant programmes have been successes.

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