Srpring Meetings: Mozambique seeks financing for regional energy security agenda

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Srpring Meetings: Mozambique seeks financing for regional energy security agenda

7:27 CAT | 18 Apr 2023

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

Mozambique intends to seek the finance resources to explore its high potential for hydroelectric and green energy production, thereby contributing to the realisation of the national and regional agenda in this sector.

The intention was advanced in Washington on Saturday by Mozambique’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, and comes in a context where around 560 million people living in Southern Africa have no access to energy.

“We are a country that has a high energy potential, especially hydro, in the Zambezi valley, but we also have renewable sources and natural gas that are still little explored and that can provide conditions to respond to internal needs and for exports to the southern region of the continent,” Tonela said.

Minister Tonela was speaking at a lecture entitled ‘Uniting for Energy Security and Sustainability: Triple Win from Regional Power Trade’, held within the scope of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The minister explained that Mozambique has exported more than 1,000 MW of power, and was still investing further in energy transfer capacity.

“We have joint electrification infrastructure projects with neighbouring countries, including South Africa and Zimbabwe. We have reinforced the connection with Eswatini, within the scope of the Motraco project, among other connections that allow bilateral trade, but also through the existing Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) networks, which guarantee supply to other states not directly connected to our country,” Minister Tonela said.

Max Tonela also referred to the fact that between 2014 and 2024 the country’s goal is to complete projects representing around 975 MW, powered mainly by renewable energies and natural gas, and involving public-private partnerships.

The government’s overall objective is to invest around US$34 billion in the generation of more than 3,000 MW by 2030.