During the international conference on mining and energy, Nyusi said that access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is still very precarious. Half of the population does not have electricity at home, and those who do consume very little.
He referred that African countries, including Mozambique, are producing natural gas, but mainly for export.
“This vision, only oriented towards the export market, diverts our attention from two situations that the energy sector faces in our continent and in the SADC region”, said Nyusi.
“The first is the fact that almost 45% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, around 950 million people, do not have access to electricity in their homes. Per capita consumption, excluding South Africa, is estimated at 185 kilowatt hours per year, compared to 6,500 kilowatt hours per year in Europe and 12,000 kilowatt hours in America”.
He noted that around 80% of the electricity consumed in sub-Saharan Africa comes from hydropower.
To reduce dependence on energy production through water, a source associated with various climate risks, Nyusi said that natural gas can play a very important role. But for gas, the difficulty is financing.
“In the last 10 years (until 2021), around two-thirds of new electricity generation came from gas-fired power plants, which offered greater flexibility and stability in the face of uncertainties arising from climate change, being beneficial for the African continent.”, Nyusi said.
