African leader given £1bn of aid by Britain buys £7m private jet
we’ll continue to see waste.” Anticorruption campaigners said the Mozambique jet was bought last month for £6.8million with a loan from the state-owned BNI bank, said to have links with the finance ministry.
The 14-seater Bombardier Challenger 850, identical to the aircraft Beyonce bought for rapper husband Jay Z last year, boasts a plush carpeted cabin, leather seats and a “generous food and drink preparation area”.
The website Africa Confidential said: “Commentators were amazed at the insensitivity and extravagance of the acquisition in view of the country’s deep economic crisis.”
Mozambique’s state-owned airline LAM denied the 10-year-old plane was for the president’s exclusive use but Nigel Morgan, of Rhula Intelligent Solutions risk management specialists, said: “LAM is in a terrible financial state so the idea of it venturing into the executive jet market is very unlikely.”
Last year Mozambique’s government confessed to £1.5billion debts it kept secret while taking aid money, including £84million from Britain. A DfID spokesman said: “No UK funding goes to the government of Mozambique. We continue to work with trusted partners to deliver water, healthcare and other lifesaving aid directly to those in desperate need of support.”
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