Mozambique’s energy sector sees investments of US$3.2 billion in 2014

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The Mozambican energy sector received the largest amount of in investment in 2014 in projects through the Mozambique Investment Promotion Centre (CPI), attracting over US$3.238 billion for just five projects.

The CPI data showed that the sector accounted for 45.6 percent of total investments approved by the government agency, which reached US$7.102 billion for 487 projects.

At a cost of US$1.072 billion, the Lupata Hydroelectric Dam on the Zambezi River was the biggest single investment, originating in Mauritius, followed by the ACWA Power Moatize thermoelectric plant, in Tete province, expected to cost US$907.7 million, invested by the United Arab Emirates.

Also on the Zambezi River and with financing from Mauritius, the Boroma Hydroelectric project had an investment of US$572.5 million, while the Buzi Thermal Power Plant, in Sofala province, received US$421 million from Portugal.

Behind the energy sector, the Services sector had a total of 134 investment projects amounting to US$809.5 million, and the Transport and Communications sector received US$684.1 million for 108 projects.

The Agriculture and Agro-business sector, with 44 projects, was the sector to receive the fourth-largest amount of investment (US$637.1 million), followed by Tourism and Hospitality (US$598.1 million), Aquaculture and Fisheries (US$513.9 million), Industry (US$338.9 million), Construction and Public Works (US$275.8 million) and Banking and Insurance (US$6 million).

Speaking to Macauhub, the Director General of the CPI, Lourenço Sambo, said the “explosion of investment in the Services and Transport and Communications sectors,” was linked to the “challenge of providing logistics services” to the mineral resources sector, “starting with coal,” in addition to the energy needs of the country, which explain the large power generation projects.

And in this context, he explained why the province of Tete, where the Moatize coal region is located, received the largest share of approved investment (US$2.739 billion), followed by the city of Maputo (US$1.281 billion), Sofala province (US$1.132 billion) and Cabo Delgado province (US$1.066 billion), the latter where several multinational groups are preparing to move forward with natural gas exploration mega-projects.

“With gas discoveries, we must also accelerate the development of infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports and airports, and this combination created an explosion in investments in 2014,” said Sambo.

As for the remaining provinces, Maputo Province had investments of over US$405 million, followed by Zambézia (US$107.7 million), Manica (US$24.9 million), Inhambane (US$21.9 million), Nampula (US$19.8 million) and Niassa (just over two US$2 million).

Among the 44,362 jobs that may be created by the 487 projects approved by the CPI, the Agriculture and Agribusiness sector will benefit most with the creation of 9,119 jobs, although the province of Maputo City will have the largest number of job opportunities, with 11,681 possible jobs, representing 26.3 percent of the total.

In order to attract more foreign investment, the CPI is planning to hold promotional campaigns in countries such as Japan, Russia, Czechoslovakia and Poland in 2015, and plans to open delegations in Beijing, Brasilia and Singapore, along with existing offices in Pretoria and Brussels, Sambo said.