MOZAMBIQUE-ENERGY: NORWAY BOOSTS POWER SUPPLY

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

JOSEPHINE MASIMBA

MAPUTO, Nov 25 1994 (IPS) - THE NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT HAS AGREED TO FUND THE REHABILITATION OF MOZAMBIQUE’S GIANT CAHORA BASSA DAM ENABLING THE EXPORT OF HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER TO NEIGHBOURING ZIMBABWE.

THE PROJECT AGREEMENT, COSTING 22 MILLION DOLLARS, WAS SIGNED HERE FRIDAY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF MOZAMBIQUE AND THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY AND IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN BY THE END OF THE YEAR.

A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AFTER THE SIGNING CEREMONY SAID THE SCHEME “WILL ESTABLISH A POWERFUL ELECTRIC LINK BETWEEN MOZAMBIQUE AND ZIMBABWE, WHICH WILL FACILITATE THE TRANSMISSION OF 500 MW, ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE CURRENT ENERGY NEEDS OF ZIMBABWE”.

“THE REALISATION OF THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO CREATE ABOUT 400 JOBS FOR A PERIOD OF ABOUT THREE YEARS”.

THE PORTUGUESE-BUILT DAM, INTENDED TO EXPORTING HYDRO- ELECTRIC POWER THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN AFRICA, WAS ONE OF THE CASUALTIES OF THE 17-YEAR CIVIL WAR. IT WAS PUT OUT OF COMMISSION IN ATTACKS BY THE FORMER REBEL MOZAMBICAN NATIONAL RESISTANCE (RENAMO) MOVEMENT.

AS A RESULT, MAPUTO, WITH A POPULATION OF MORE THAN A MILLION PEOPLE, IS STILL FEELING THE PINCH. TODAY THE CAPITAL, WHICH DEPENDS ON AN OLD, INEFFICIENT GENERATOR FOR POWER, SUFFERS FREQUENT POWER CUTS.

HOWEVER, WITH THE COMING OF PEACE AND WORK TO REHABILITATE CAHORA BASSA, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT EXPORTS OF POWER TO ZIMBABWE AND SOUTH AFRICA COULD EARN THE CASH-STRAPPED COUNTRY AS MUCH AS 95 MILLION DOLLARS EACH YEAR.

PORTUGAL’S AMBASSADOR TO MOZAMBIQUE, LOPES DA COSTA, REGARDS THE DAM AS “AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT TO BOOST SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT AND … THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS FUTURE REGIONAL INTERGRATION”.

PORTUGAL HOLDS 82 PERCENT OF THE CAPITAL OF ‘HIDROELECTRICA DE CAHORA BASSA’ (HCB), WHICH IS IN CHARGE OF THE DAM, WHILE THE MOZAMBICAN STATE HAS A 12 PERCENT SHARE.