Thursday, December 30, 2021
Vulcan for $270 million
Vale (NYSE: VALE) is selling its Moatize coal mine and the Nacala logistic corridor, a multibillion-dollar port and rail project in Mozambique, to Vulcan Minerals (TSX-V: VUL) in a transaction valued at $270 million. The Brazilian mining giant said it will receive $80 million immediately and the rest at the close of the deal. There will also be a 10-year royalty contract, it added.
The Rio de Janeiro-based company has set as goal to be carbon
neutral by 2050. To reach that target, it plans a 15% reduction by 2035 in
so-called scope 3 emissions, those generated when customers burn or process its
raw materials. The sale of Moatize is one step towards meeting that goal, it
has said. The Nacala Logistics Corridor connects the Moatize mine in
Mozambique’s north-west Tete province via a 900km rail line to the deep-water
port of Nacala in the east, passing through Malawi on the way.
The mine, which started production in 2011, has been a source
of ongoing problems and losses for Vale.The company fully impaired Moatize in
2019, after taking a $2.4 billion charge on the operation in 2016.The Moatize
mine is expected to reach an annual production rate of 18 million tonnes in
2022. The complex has a capacity of 22 million tonnes of coal a year, including
metallurgical and thermal types.
Financial close solar power project
The London-based independent power producer Globeleq (an institution formed by Norwegian and British funds) on Tuesday announced that it has reached financial close on the 19 megawatt peak Cuamba Solar photovoltaic project in Mozambique. This will include the country’s first grid-scale battery storage system with a capacity to store two megawatts (seven megawatt hours). The 36 million US dollar project will be constructed in the town of Cuamba, in the northern province of Niassa and is being developed in partnership with Mozambique’s publicly-owned electricity company EDM and the company Source Energia.
This sentiment was echoed by the chief executive of Globeleq, Mike Scholey, who stated, “we fully support the Mozambican government in their initiatives to support the Paris Agreement and provide its citizens with reliable and clean alternative energy options”.The construction of the power plant began earlier this year and will be the third solar power station in the country. The first was built in Mocuba, in Zambezia province, and has been in operation since 2019, whilst the second, at Metoro, in Cabo Delgado, is still under construction.The first power from Cuamba is expected to flow in the second half of 2022. Globeleq is 70 per cent owned by CDC and 30 per cent owned by the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, Norfund.
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
LAM carries out first commercial flight to Chongoene
The first flight took place on Saturday, December 18, with the first 20 passengers disembarking at the air terminal in Chongoene, Gaza province, receiving a commemorative certificate. For its first commercial flight into the Filipe Jacinto Nyusi Airport, LAM resorted to a South African operator providing a 35-seat aircraft. LAM’s initiative aims to attract tourists and businesspeople who want to cut travel time to Gaza province from Johannesburg or Maputo. LAM general director João Carlos Pó Jorge said that, after the certification of the Filipe Jacinto Nyusi Airport, the company decided to explore the route in response to the demand of passengers looking beyond tourism and other businesses.
“It makes sense to explore this potential market. I think this is an excellent strategy. We are aware of the challenges that the route can bring. At this moment, we started operating commercial flights with a weekly frequency, on Saturdays, depending on market demand, which start at JHB or vice versa. If the market is receptive, we will introduce a second weekly flight,” Ferreira explained Among the passengers, South African citizen Ane Mari Pienaar said that the LAM initiative, originating in Johannesburg, with a stopover in Maputo, and having as final destination the city of Xai-Xai, would improve travel times for tourists who wish to fly to Gaza province.
“I come from South Africa and
go to Xai-Xai. I am going to Xai-Xai FJN Airport for the first time. It’s
always safer and time-saving to go by plane compared to by land. It’s better,”
she explained. Sidónio Marco, who was traveling with his children, said: “It is
gratifying to be part of the first group of passengers to disembark at the
newly built airport, which reveals a lot about the development of our country”.
‘Urgent action needed to avoid catastrophe’
Mozambique is one of several countries in Africa where “urgent action is required to avoid catastrophe” arising from active conflicts on the continent, according to a report from the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC).
Northern Mozambique, Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon “are six African trouble spots to watch in 2022,” the institution said in a report released on Monday. In the case of northern Mozambique, “a more holistic approach is needed to address the socio-economic challenges of communities in Cabo Delgado province and more recently Niassa, where the Islamic extremist insurgency has expanded in recent weeks.
“Also of concern are the regional ramifications of the Cabo Delgado insurgency, including links to countries such as Tanzania, and the possible spread to create a larger-scale extremist axis along the continent’s eastern flank,” the PSC said.
The extremist insurgency in Cabo Delgado has
been ongoing since late 2017. “The slow response led, early on, to the
deterioration of the situation,” the report considers. Since last July, a
deployment of Rwandan troops based on a bilateral agreement and then a
multilateral deployment from the Southern African Development Community have
helped to quell the insurgency and restore humanitarian access to affected
populations, however, “while the military response seems to have pushed back
the insurgents [who in recent weeks have been particularly active in
neighbouring Niassa province, but also Cabo Delgado], a more holistic approach
is needed to address the socio-economic challenges of the communities,” the
text stated.
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Praises Mozambique for prudent policies
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised Mozambique’s prudent economic management at a time when the country faces severe challenges. Following an IMF Staff Visit to Mozambique, which concluded on 16 December, a statement released by the head of mission, Alvaro Piris, pointed out that “the Mozambican economy is recovering from a sharp contraction, following several years of economic shocks”. Piris added that “a modest but broad-based recovery is taking hold in 2021. After real GDP contracted in 2020 – the first contraction in 30 years – growth resumed in early 2021 and is expected to reach 2.2 per cent for the year. Robust growth in agriculture and mining was complemented by a modest recovery in services as COVID-related restrictions were eased. Seasonal factors, supply-chain constraints, and international food and fuel price increases led inflation to rise to 6.8 per cent year on year in November, remaining within the Bank of Mozambique’s target of less than ten per cent”.
Mozambique has been hit by the twin crises of the Covid-19 global pandemic and islamist terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, and Piris pointed out that “the Covid pandemic, and the conflict and humanitarian emergency in the north of the country are intensifying fragility”.
“Two large waves of Covid infections in the first and third quarters of 2021 prompted strict confinement measures, lowered incomes, and resulted in the loss of schooling for an already vulnerable population”, Piris added. “Terrorist attacks have caused thousands of deaths and displaced more than 800,000 people in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, with many in the northern region suffering food insecurity”. In addition, he warned that “while the authorities have managed prudently and successfully addressed Covid and security-related challenges, including with international support, concessional financing has now declined, and high public debt and tight financing constraints should be addressed through fiscal measures”.
“A tight monetary stance”, the statement continued, “has helped keep inflation in check and preserve macro-economic stability, but limits credit growth and scope for the exchange rate to facilitate economic adjustment. Reducing fiscal financing needs through a moderate adjustment that does not impair recovery will help put debt on a firm downward trajectory and allow for a better policy balance”. Looking to the future, Piris noted that “the longer-term outlook is shaped by LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) production, with downside risks. Growth is expected to rise further in 2022, reflecting a broader recovery of the non-LNG economy. In the longer term, non-LNG growth is projected at 4 per cent”. Piris added that growth will rise sharply as LNG projects begin production, “currently expected in 2023 and 2026”. However, he also pointed out that “while agricultural performance may be stronger than envisaged in 2022, considering expected favourable meteorological conditions, new waves of Covid infection could prompt confinement measures, while firms’ (including state-owned enterprises’) balance sheets have been weakened by the crisis, reducing the scope for investment, and potentially weakening banking sector asset quality over time”.
Another danger to the economy is the “vulnerability to natural disasters and the effects of climate change”. Piris described this as “a recurrent vulnerability, as is renewed deterioration of the security situation that could further delay or stop the LNG projects”. The team leader also revealed that the IMF will soon enter into discussions with the government to support its programme with an Extended Credit Facility, which “could help ease financing pressures as the economic recovery takes hold, support the authorities’ agenda in poverty reduction and restoring sustainable and equitable growth, while also helping catalyse additional development financing”.
Lions return to Zinave National Park
A lion has been spotted in the Zinave National Park, in the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, for the first time in several decades, according to a press release from the South African-based Peace Parks Foundation. The Peace Parks Foundation revealed that a camera trap has recently captured an image of a male lion, which it states was drawn to the prey-rich habitat of the 18,600 hectare sanctuary that has been established within the park. For the Foundation, this is evidence of the “remarkable restoration of this once-silent wilderness” with “the establishment of healthy ecosystems that are naturally attracting Africa’s top predator”.
Over the last decade, the park has undergone intensive restoration and rewilding and has seen over 2,300 game animals reintroduced into the sanctuary including 200 elephants. In addition, four spotted hyenas and two leopards were recently relocated to the park. This relocation programme was accelerated following the signing in 2015 a 20-year co-management agreement between Mozambique’s National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) and the Peace Parks Foundation. The eventual goal is to rewild the entire 408,000 hectare park and to develop eco-tourism to cover the operating costs.
Zinave National Park forms part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, which also includes Banhine and Limpopo national parks in Mozambique, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and various other state and privately-owned conservation areas across the three countries. According to the chief executive of the Peace Parks Foundation, Werner Myburgh, the appearance of lions in Zinave provides evidence that the goals of setting up the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area are being met. He said “one of the stated objectives was to enhance eco-system integrity and natural ecological processes and remove artificial barriers impeding the natural movement of wildlife”.
Myburgh added, “with the continued rewilding and steady development of the three national parks in the Mozambique component, it was only a matter of time for wildlife to start moving naturally between these protected areas, but to see this happening now in reality, is a momentous conservation milestone”. For ANAC’s Maria Cidalia Mahumane, “this is an extremely exciting moment for Zinave and for conservation in Mozambique as a whole. The extensive efforts that ANAC and the Peace Parks Foundation have directed into restoring and managing the park have led to some incredible outcomes, and the presence of lions is another clear indicator of the ecological health of Zinave”.
The Peace Parks Foundation’s project manager Bernard van Lente explained that “destabilisation and lack of prey in an eco-system are the main reasons for the absence of large carnivores in an area. Since the park started animal reintroductions, and because of successful protection efforts, the game numbers have grown rapidly and the eco-system has stabilised sufficiently to host apex predators once more”. He added, “with the abundant prey and safe environment available, the fact that the park is able to sustain large carnivores is very encouraging, and it will not be too surprising if more lions, leopard, wild dog and cheetah start to make sporadic appearances, over and above the carnivores that are set to be reintroduced into the park over the coming years”. The Peace Parks Foundation pointed out that over the last century lions have disappeared from 95 per cent of their historic range and lamented that “over 200,000 lions once roamed across Africa. Now, only an estimated 23,000 to 39,000 remain, due to habitat destruction, human-wildlife conflict, poaching and poisoning”.
Thursday, December 16, 2021
FNB Mozambique steps up security
FNB
Moçambique has just increased the security of online transactions with its
Smart, Platinum, Gold and Signature credit and debit cards. ‘3D Secure’ is a
solution designed to increase the security of online payments and foil attempts
at online fraud. 3D Secure is an authentication method designed so that FNB
customers can confirm payments relating to their purchases made online, by
entering a one-time password (OTP) sent by SMS to the contact associated with
their card.
“It is a sign of the investment that FNB Moçambique is making in the security and protection of its customers’ transactions, adjusting to the growing requirements and needs of digital payments and the e-commerce environment. We will continue to reinforce these solutions to increase the range of payment options available to our customers, always with security as the main pillar,” said Sérgio Gomes, chief operating officer of FNB Moçambique.
In
practical terms, when making online purchases with the FNB card, the customer,
in addition to entering the normally requested data (card number, expiry date
and CVV code), will enter the OTP code sent to the contact via SMS as the final
confirmation step. The OTP – a series of numbers – is only sent to the contact associated
with the card holder. 3D Secure has been automatically activated on all FNB
cards and does not entail any additional cost for customers. The authentication
tool was exclusively designed to ensure that the payment of online purchases
with an FNB card is, in fact, carried out by the respective cardholder.
Desportivo de Nacala inaugurates renewed
The Bela Vista stadium rehabilitation
creates a facility that does justice to the challenges of a competitive team at
regional level. Following the financing and completion of the rehabilitation
works at Clube Desportivo de Nacala, KARMOL on December 9, 2021, inaugurated
the new Bela Vista stadium in Nacala.
Funding for the club has covered the rehabilitation of the perimeter wall, central stand, public toilets, changing rooms and restrooms, and funded acquisition of branded sports equipment for the players, such as soccer boots, slippers, travel bags, goalkeeper gloves and braces.
The initiative sits within the framework of promoting sport as a window of access to health and social well-being of KARMOL’s corporate social responsibility programme and reflects its commitment to integrated local community development. The inauguration will hopefully offer the youth of Nacala a new perspective, taking them off the street and onto the sports field.
“The rehabilitation of the Bela Vista
field by KARMOL represents a gesture of nonconformity by a company that
believes in a club that can go even further if it has the infrastructure to
implement its projects,” said KARMOL representative Çumhur Aksoy. “The
rehabilitated field, in addition to stimulating the philosophy of the
professional game, could also be a gateway for new talent.”
KARMOL, co-owned by Turkish Karpowership and Japan’s MOL, owns and operates its own liquid natural gas (LNG) fleet. With abundant expertise and experience in the field, it aims to serve as a one-stop shop for LNG solutions as a single supplier across the entire value chain, including supply, transportation, delivery, regasification and LNG power generation. Joint company KARMOL’s first project is in Mozambique.
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Covid-19: Control measures may be revised
The
prevention measures approved by the government to contain the spread of
Covid-19 in Mozambique may be readjusted in the coming days, in response to a
possible worsening of the epidemiological situation in the country. The
director-general of the National Institute of Health (INS), Ilesh Jani, said
that the sector was closely following the evolution of the health situation in
the country and in the region. He warned that, despite the country going
through a period of low transmission, with a positivity rate below one percent,
a fact allied to the reduction of hospitalizations and deaths, the situation
deserves constant attention. He said that Mozambique had been taking
restrictive measures based on the principles of proportionality,
reasonableness, gradualism and the best available scientific evidence, and the
restrictions in place correspond to the level of the pandemic.
“We
are monitoring the various epidemiological indicators and the system used to
define the restriction measures and, if the trend is for the epidemic to
worsen, clearly the measures could be readjusted,” he said.
He
added that South Africa, especially the province of Gauteng, which borders
Mozambique, was beginning to register a significant increase in the number of
cases, though without this being reflected in any rise in hospitalisations. The
increase in cases in this region comes at a time when a new Covid strain,
Omicron, was discovered, with two suspected cases in Mozambique. Ilesh Jani
said that national health authorities had stepped up controls at entry points,
including testing for Covid-19, adding that Mozambique was further
strengthening genomic surveillance as regards new variants.
In parallel,
the authorities are accelerating the mass vaccination of intended target
groups, intensifying surveillance of Covid-19’s prevention measures and
preparing the health system for an eventual ‘fourth wave’ of the disease. The
Delta variant, discovered in India, continues to dominate the Covid-19 cases
reported in recent months in the country, Jani reported.
Mozambique,
he said, already has the capacity for sequencing the genome of the new
coronavirus, having completed the training of health professionals and
laboratory technicians and allocated the necessary equipment. Meanwhile, health
authorities warn that the number of infections has been on the rise. Between
Tuesday and Wednesday, 47 individuals tested positive for Covid-19, with three
new hospital admissions recorded and 24 patients designated ‘recovered’. The
country had, by Wednesday, seven Covid hospitalisations, all in the city of
Maputo; 111 active cases and a cumulative of 1,941 fatalities due to the virus.
Friday, November 19, 2021
Growth through sustainable ocean
Mozambique will promote ocean literacy through formal education, awareness and conservation activities so that its economic and social growth is sustainable and does not harm the environment, said the country’s President Filipe Nyusi Thursday. Nyusi made the remarks while addressing the opening of the 2nd edition of the “Crescendo Azul” (Growing Blue) Conference, which took place under the motto “Investing in the Health of the Ocean Is Investing in the Future of the Planet,” in the tourist resort of Vilankulo, southern province of Inhambane. Speaking to around 1,500 participants in physical and virtual forms, the president said the country has an ambitious commitment to the issues of the sea and the planet.
“Investing in the health of the oceans
presupposes the development of a sustainable, socially just, equitable and
inclusive blue economy, as well as promoting peace and stability,” he said.
The two-day event brought together prominent
personalities, including the President of the Republic of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta,
and politicians, diplomats, business people, and scholars in oceanology, from
Portugal, Indonesia, Seychelles, among others. Participants of the Crescendo
Azul conference will also debate maritime spatial management plans that involve
several countries in the Indian Ocean region.
Agribusiness sustainability
The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of
Mozambique (CCM) has challenged commercial banks to grant agriculture credit
lines at an attractive cost, so as to boost a sector which occupies 80% of the
economically active population in the country. Álvaro Massingue revealed that
many credit applications filed by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the
agricultural sector were unsuccessful. The Chamber of Commerce therefore
proposes urgent attempts to find “a cushion in an agricultural guarantee fund
or in the coverage, through insurance, of the risks associated with
agriculture”.Massingue also stressed the need for the government to create
fiscal policies and strategies which encourage agriculture throughout all of
its value chain.
“We took note with some apprehension of the
introduction of yet another fee on water boreholes,” he said. “This [new fee]
will have negative effects on the development of agriculture. We are therefore
calling for a review of this measure, due to the impacts that it will have on
business indicators.” Massingue was speaking at a webinar on the rice and
tomato value chain in Mozambique organised by CCM in partnership with the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Stuttgart this week. “We chose rice and
tomatoes for their importance in the economy and for the fact that they
constitute a raw material for boosting the associated industries, as well as
for their valuable contribution to family incomes,” Massingue noted. Participants
included members of the government and representatives of the private sector.
Coral-Sul FLNG ready to sail away to Mozambique’s
The FLNG, which is part of the Coral South
Project, will be now towed and moored at its operating site in the Rovuma basin
offshore Mozambique. Production startup is expected in the second half of 2022,
and it will contribute to increase gas availability in a tight market.
Coral South Project achieved Final Investment
Decision in 2017, only 36 months after the last appraisal well. FLNG
fabrication and construction activities started in 2018 and were completed on
cost and on time, despite the pandemic. While performing the construction
activities in Korea, several significant activities were undertaken in
Mozambique, with full support from the Mozambican Authorities, including the
ultra-deep water (2000m wd) drilling and completion campaign that involved the
highest technological and operational skills and equipment.
The Coral South Project will generate
significant Government take for the Country while creating more than 800 new
jobs during the operation period.
Stefano Maione, Director Development,
Operations & Energy Efficiency at Eni, said: “The Coral Sul FLNG is a
world-class feat of engineering, construction know-how and technology, suited
to kick-off the development of Mozambique’s world-class resources. The project
fits integrally with and within the Eni’s energy transition strategy, as we
move towards a decarbonised energy future, in which gas is playing an essential
and transitional role”.
Coral-Sul FLNG has implemented an energy
optimization approach, integrated in the design via a systematic analysis of
energy efficiency improvements. These include among others, zero flaring during
normal operations, use of thermal efficient aero-derivative gas turbines for
refrigerant compressors and power generation, use of Dry Low NOx technology to
reduce NOx emission and waste heat recovery systems for gas processing.
The Coral Sul FLNG is 432 meters long and 66 meters wide, weighs around 220,000 tons and has the capacity to accommodate up to 350 people in its eight-story Living Quarter module. Once the FLNG facility will be in place, the installation campaign will begin, including mooring and hook-up operations at a water-depth of around 2,000 meters by means of 20 mooring lines that totally weight 9,000 tons. FLNG treatment and liquefaction installation has a gas liquefaction capacity of 3.4 million tons per year (MTPA) and will put in production 450 billion cubic meters of gas from the giant Coral reservoir, located in the offshore Rovuma Basin.
About Eni
Eni has been present in Mozambique since 2006.
Between 2011 and 2014, the company discovered supergiant natural gas resources
in the Rovuma basin, in the Coral, Mamba Complex and Agulha reservoirs, holding
estimated 2,400 billion cubic metres of gas in place. Eni also holds
exploration rights to offshore blocks A5-B, Z5-C and Z5-D in the
Angoche and Zambezi basins.
About Area 4
Area 4 is operated by Mozambique Rovuma
Venture S.p.A. (MRV), an incorporated joint venture owned by Eni, ExxonMobil
and CNPC, which holds a 70 percent interest in the Area 4 exploration and
production concession contract. In addition to MRV, Galp, KOGAS and Empresa
Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P. each hold a 10 percent interest in Area 4. Eni
is the offshore Delegated Operator and is leading the construction and
operation of the floating liquefied natural gas facility on behalf of MRV.
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Aiming at 62% of renewable energy by 2030
Speaking at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change currently underway in Glasgow on Tuesday, Prime Minister of Mozambique Carlos Agostinho do Rosário committed the country to achieving 62% of energy from renewable resources by 2030.
“It is a priority for Mozambique to implement an energy transition program based on a diversified matrix, with cleaner and more environmentally friendly sources, in line with our country’s development programs,” the prime minister said, indicating investment in hydroelectric, solar and wind power. However, transitioning away from energy based on fossil sources entails costs, and must be a phased process.
“Mozambique prefers an energy transition to cleaner and more environmentally friendly energies that is gradual and phased, in order to minimize the impact on the process of economic development in our country,” he explained.In this sense, the country intends to make the energy transition process via natural gas, even though it is considered non-environmentally friendly, a decision influenced by the discoveries of great qualities of this resource in the national territory.
“Mozambique proposes to use natural gas as a transition to cleaner energy sources,” and with that, Carlos Agostinho do Rosário guaranteed that the country will do everything to “reach, by the year 2030, the levels of 62% of the contribution of renewable energies in the national energy matrix within the scope of the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Mozambique PM at #COP26 “We
are in favour of an energy transition” – but need international support to
achieve it Mozambique
is one of 21 countries that still have more than one planned coal plant. #NoNewCoalhttps://t.co/hWNTNMS0BU pic.twitter.com/WVQw6YegZH
— Ember (@EmberClimate) November 2, 2021
We call for the mobilisation of more
resources for resilience
In comments at the climate change conference, Mozambique could not ignore the extreme events that have devastated the nation. Do Rosário reminded those present at COP-26 that “we are a country on the route of extreme weather events that are occurring in a cyclical and increasingly frequent and more intense way, such as cyclones, floods, and droughts”.
— Rafael Moser (@rafamoser) November 2, 2021
The summit runs until the 12th of November, with the next 10 days set aside for
technical meetings to fine-tune the details of the final Glasgow Agreement. Egypt
has applied to host the COP-27, and Mozambique is supporting its candidacy.
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