DGAP-News

African Energy Chamber: Mozambique Can Realize Full Benefits of Natural Gas Production - Seite 2

I respect Ms. Rawoot's right to express her views on African or any other matters.

I only wish that she, and others who are intent on saying "no to gas" in Mozambique, could start by making a thorough analyses on the pros and cons of Mozambique developing its vast natural gas reserves. The spillover and multiplying effects in terms of socio-economic development, from training and capacity building, employment, Government revenue, industrialization through domestic gas utilization and energy security. Natural gas production truly represents an opportunity for Mozambicans, and there are solid reasons to believe that Mozambique can take the steps necessary to reap significant benefits from the three LNG projects currently being developed here: the Total LNG project, valued at $23 billion; the ExxonMobil-led Rovuma project valued at $23.9 billion; and the $4.7 billion Coral Floating LNG project. But not only that, I've witnessed the positive impact of natural gas industries in other jurisdictions, from Trinidad and Tobago, Qatar, Nigeria, Australia, Norway and the United States of America. These are some of the reasons I'm confident when I say Mozambicans can shift our country's trajectory for the better: We can transform our reality from poverty despite our resources to prosperity because of them.

We Need This Opportunity

From my perspective, we should welcome Mozambique's natural gas industry and LNG projects, more importantly because there is empirical evidence demonstrating that in Mozambique, the tangible benefits resulting from LNG projects, outweigh by far any negative impact . Currently, economic opportunities in Mozambique are at a minimum, and natural gas production has the potential to simultaneously meet multiple pressing needs: job creation, capacity building, economic diversification, access to power and more importantly, poverty alleviation.

In order to have a sustainable economic development, through industrialization, Mozambique needs to increase access to power. The Mozambican Petroleum Law 21/2014, states that" Petroleum resources are assets whose proper exploitation can contribute significantly to national development". This position is also echoed in the Mozambican Gas Masterplan, which suggests that the Government of Mozambique should develop natural resources in a manner that maximizes benefits to Mozambique's society, in order to improve the quality of life of the people of Mozambique, while minimizing adverse social and environmental impacts.