Mozambique: HCB approves distribution of over €100 million in dividends

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: HCB approves distribution of over €100 million in dividends

1:37 CAT | 22 Apr 2025

File photo: Hidroeléctrica de Cabora Bassa

The Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant (HCB) has approved the distribution of 7.4 billion meticais (just over €100 million) in dividends, the result of record profits in 2024, the company announced in a statement today.

The decision was taken at a general meeting held on Monday and is the result of the profit of 14.1 billion meticais (over €200 million) earned in 2024, the highest in the company’s history, according to the official statement.

“In particular, the Mozambican state will receive just over 6.5 billion meticais (€88 million), which, combined with taxes and fees, will reinforce the State Budget, which is necessary for implementing the country’s social programmes,” said Tomás Matola, Chairman of the Board of Directors of HCB, quoted in the document.

The net result represents an increase of 8.48% compared to 2023.

“This net result is the combined result of the total production generated in 2024, which was 15,753.52 GigaWatt-hours (GWh), and the adjustment of the tariff for selling energy abroad,” the document also reads.

The Mozambican state holds 90% of HCB’s share capital since the transfer to Mozambique, agreed with Portugal in 2007, while the Portuguese company Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) has a 7.5% share and Eletricidade de Moçambique (EDM) holds 2.5%.

Cahora Bassa has paid the Mozambican state more than 32,869 million meticais (€476.6 million) over the last three years, making it the highest payer of taxes and public contributions, according to information released by the company in March of this year.

According to the same data, HCB contributed more than 23,172.45 million meticais (€336 million) to the State Budget from 2022 to 2024, through the payment of various tax categories (VAT, IRPS and IRPC), and more than 9,696.72 million meticais (€140.6 million) as a concession fee for the operation of the hydroelectric project in the province of Tete, “which represents 37% of the contributions made over the last 17 years”.

HCB is the main electricity producer in Mozambique and announced a “slight recovery” in storage and stability of the reservoir quota for hydroelectric production in January.

“As a result of the improvement in inflows in January, the final storage for the month, which had been forecast at 19%, was set at 21.7% with increasing trends in the first week of February,” the company explained.

The recovery allowed HCB to continue supplying power to Mozambique, South Africa and other countries in the southern region of Africa, “despite the ongoing regional drought situation that has been observed since the 2023/24 hydrological year, mitigated by the hydropower management measures implemented since 2024”.

The Cahora Bassa reservoir is the fourth largest in Africa, with a maximum length of 270 kilometres and 30 kilometres between banks, occupying 2,700 square kilometres at an average depth of 26 metres.

Source: Lusa