Mozambique: Gas to propel foreign direct investment to record high in 2026

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Gas to propel foreign direct investment to record high in 2026

11:50 CAT | 07 Nov 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Mozambique expects a record Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of US$5.88 billion in 2026, an increase of 22.6%, driven by natural gas projects.

This growth will be “influenced by the implementation of structuring projects in the Rovuma Basin” for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, according to supporting documents for the 2026 Social and Economic Plan and State Budget proposal (PESOE), which will begin to be discussed in parliament in the coming days.

FDI in Mozambique more than doubled in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2024, reaching nearly US$1.63 billion, driven by projects in the mining and gas sectors.

Foreign direct investment in Mozambique grew by 41.5% in 2024 and 2% in 2023.

The CEO of oil company Eni, Claudio Descalzi, assured on 2 October that production of Coral North LNG will start within three years, elevating the country to the position of third largest natural gas producer in Africa.

Claudio Descalzi was speaking during the signing of the Final Investment Decision (FID) of US$7.2 billion for the second floating LNG platform /FLNG), Coral North.

“We have initiated the schedule for 2028. This means we are starting now with the FID and, within three years, we will start production. And this is a commitment, it is not just talk. It is not a dream; it is a commitment to the President, in front of everyone,” Descalzi stated.

The partners of Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, off Cabo Delgado — Eni, the National Hydrocarbon Company (ENH), CNPC, Kogas and XRG — signed the FID for the new project in Maputo in the presence of Mozambican President Daniel Chapo.

The leader of the Italian oil company, which operates the Coral North floating platform, as well as the identical Coral South, guarantees that this will “make Mozambique the third largest LNG producer in Africa,” after Nigeria and Algeria, doubling the country’s current production (only Coral South) to seven million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

Mozambique has three approved mega-projects to develop the LNG reserves in the Rovuma Basin, ranked among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado. These include a TotalEnergies project (13 mtpa), valued at US$20 billion, currently resuming after suspension due to terrorist attacks in the region, and another ExxonMobil project (18 mtpa), worth US$30 billion, awaiting a final investment decision, both on the Afungi peninsula.

Mozambique has already collected US$235 million in revenues from 137 shipments of LNG and gas condensate abroad since 2022, from the Coral South platform, the government announced in September.

Source: Lusa