Mozambican President defends urgent need to combat ‘energy poverty’ in Africa

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi defended the “urgency” of fighting “energy poverty” in Africa and concerted action on security at a summit of gas exporting countries this Saturday.

“This is a difficult moment as the world experiences uncertainty due to disruptions in energy supplies caused by the war in Europe and the Middle East, which puts even more pressure on countries,” the head of state said.

He added that in his speech at the summit in Algiers, where he has been on a working visit since Wednesday, he highlighted “two themes that underpin the energy sector, especially in Africa: the energy transition and global security.”

“Our understanding is that the transition period must take into account the urgent need to combat energy poverty in Africa, as the continent needs to increase access to energy for its people, while at the same time concerted action is required from all of us to protect common interests in favor of security and stability,” said Filipe Nyusi.

The seventh Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) gathered this Saturday in Algeria the presidents of Iran and Bolivia and the emir of Qatar, as well as other heads of state and government, who will present a joint international gas strategy.

Meeting in the capital of Algiers on Thursday as part of its biennial meeting, the GECF (Gas Exporting Countries Forum in English) represents 70% of the world’s proven gas reserves, more than 40% of industrial production, 47% of exports per pipeline . and half of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Created in 2001, the GFLP consists of 12 permanent members (Algeria, Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Qatar) and seven observers (Peru, Iraq). , Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Angola and Mozambique).

Consultancy Deloitte recently concluded that Mozambique’s natural gas reserves generate potential revenues of $100 billion (€92.7 billion), underscoring the country’s international importance in the energy transition.

“The country’s vast gas reserves could make Mozambique one of the world’s top 10 producers, accounting for 20% of Africa’s production by 2040,” the international consultancy’s Africa Energy Prospects 2024 report on Mozambique said. which was previously reported by Lusa.

The country could “significantly contribute to meeting global energy needs, both during the energy transition and by building strong capabilities across the renewable energy value chain,” the report said, noting that natural gas “generates about $100 billion annually ” income of Mozambique throughout its life cycle.”

Mozambique has three development projects approved to explore natural gas reserves in the Rovuma Basin, considered one of the world’s largest, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.

Two of these projects are larger and plan to send gas from the seabed to land, cool it in a plant and export it by sea in a liquid state.

One of them is led by TotalEnergies (the Zone 1 consortium) and work continued until it was suspended indefinitely following the armed attack on Palma in March 2021, when the French energy company said it would only resume work when the area will be safe.

Another option is a yet-to-be-announced investment led by ExxonMobil and Eni (the Area 4 consortium).

The third completed smaller project also belongs to the Zone 4 consortium and is a floating platform for collecting and processing gas for export directly to the sea, which began implementation in November 2022.