The Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) organized at April 28, in Maputo City the national conference on “Challenges and Opportunities to Promote an Inclusive Energy Transition in Mozambique”, which served to present the report of the research conducted in the city of Pemba, as well as create a forum for dialogue between the relevant stakeholders in the energy transition process.
The conference is part of the CDD initiative, supported by the British High Commission in Mozambique, which aims to promote a more inclusive energy transition by leading a citizen consultation process that encourages greater involvement and participation of civil society. Prior to the national conference, two events were held as part of the same project: the workshop presenting the results of the “Citizens Consultation and Dialogue to Promote an Inclusive Energy Transition in Pemba”, held on March 30th, in partnership with the Pemba Municipal Council; and the webinar “Launch of the Citizens Consultation and Dialogue to Promote an Inclusive Energy Transition in Pemba”, held on February 9th.
In the 28 April conference, the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Mozambique was responsible for the opening remarks. NneNne Wuji-Eme began her intervention by stating that the British High Commission, through the partnership between the cities of Aberdeen (United Kingdom) and Pemba (Mozambique), is working with the municipal authorities of Pemba in the development of its long term objectives of promoting economic growth, prosperity and inclusive and sustainable economic systems through urbanization plans, infrastructure and energy transition.
This is a plan that is still being developed with contributions from the citizens of Pemba, and it is expected that it will improve the environment for investments in local infrastructure sectors with regional impact, contributing to the stimulation of other sectors. The plan also aims to contribute to climate change adaptation, mitigation and resilience actions, as well as enabling Pemba to join the World Energy Cities Partnership, an initiative that connects energy cities to promote sustainable energy production for the benefit of communities.
Building on the commitment made by Mozambique at the COP26 summit in November 2021, namely to reverse the scenario of land degradation, deforestation and achieve around 72% renewable energy based energy, the UK Government is committed to working with the Mozambican authorities on a long-term plan to harness future natural gas revenues from the Rovuma Basin to build resilience, adaptive capacity to climate change, improved energy access as well as the transition to cleaner energy.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME), Teodoro Vales, in his intervention, argued that in the conditions in which Mozambique finds itself, the need to ensure access to energy for all is essential. It is in this context that the Government launched in 2018 a national programme called “Energy for All”, which advocates universal access by the year 2030. Added to this challenging programme is the challenge of energy transition, a global agenda but one that carries national political and economic weight. “In a country with nearly 60% of the population without access to electricity, it is somewhat paradoxical to ask those who have never had access to electricity at home to make a statement on something inherent to the energy transition. However, this should not constitute an exclusion factor in the approach to matters related to the energy transition process.”
MIREME believes that the energy transition should be made taking into account the existing conditions in the country. “For example, there is the need to abandon or renounce coal, but at the moment coal is the main contributor to Mozambique’s balance of payments. Therefore, it is an important resource for the country’s economy, so it cannot be renounced from one day to the next. It is necessary that the energy transition be a gradual process that does not cause a rupture in the economic system”.
The Government has set a target for 2024 of increasing the generation capacity of clean and renewable energy by 600 megawatts, of which 400 megawatts will come from gas and 200 megawatts from hydro, solar and wind sources.
“The UK Government, represented by the British High Commission in Mozambique, is also committed to finding solutions to ensure that countries like Mozambique, which are most vulnerable to climate change, can access the finance and resources they need to build resilience for the future”, said the High Commissioner.
