Mozambique 13 Jan 2017: Investing in water and gas
Good afternoon. Water is still coming out of the taps in Zitamar’s Maputo office in the city’s Polana district, despite local utility Águas da Região de Maputo promising to turn it off on alternate days this week. One theory says that the cuts take two days to reach the city due to the length of the pipeline network - in which case we could be in for a difficult weekend.
Could privatisation and foreign investors help? This afternoon, we report that Águas de Portugal, which ran the Maputo utility until 2011, may be set for a comeback.
SEE: Águas de Portugal eyes return to Mozambique water sector
The main reason for the shortage is, however, a lack of rain - and the prospect of city-dwellers not being able to take a shower pales into insignificance compared with the 1.5 million people going hungry in Mozambique due to the prolonged drought. Aid agencies are already tens of millions of dollars short of being able to help all those in need - and the situation is likely to get worse as heavy rain is now expected to cause severe flooding in the centre of the country.
FREE TO READ: NGOs face $90m funding gap to combat effects of drought and floods
We are still waiting for an announcement from the ministry of mineral resources and energy (MIREME) on which projects it has chosen to use Mozambique’s domestic allocation from Anadarko’s offshore gas project. The results were expected on 14 December. MIREME has given no explanation for the delay.
SEE: Mozambique energy ministry delays domestic gas projects announcement
Another step was taken in December towards getting the LNG project off the ground, Zitamar reported this week - although one of the consortium members has cut its capex budget for 2017 due to the continuing delays.
SEE: Anadarko submits LNG development plan to Mozambique government
Mateus Zimba, Sasol’s Mozambique country manager until August 2016, has now lost his new job in the equivalent role at GE Oil & Gas, over his alleged involvement in an $800,000 corruption scandal at national airline LAM. There is as yet no sign of a criminal investigation into him and his alleged co-conspirator, the then-LAM chairman Jose Viegas - though a smaller fish, an LAM financial manager from the same period, was this week given a suspended prison sentence over a separate case.
SEE: GE sacks Mateus Zimba over Mozambique airline corruption case – reports
Have a great weekend.