By Ntombi Mhlongo
Mozambique has used the Spring Meetings in Washington to advocate for assistance in financing resources for energy security in the SADC region.
According to the Club of Mozambique News, the country intends to seek financial 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.
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The Spring Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, Parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations, and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.
Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial system.
“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 is quoted as having said.
This, according to the Mozambican media house, was during 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).
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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.
He is also said to have 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.
