THE World Bank has approved funding for Mozambique’s $5bn Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower plant, Southern Africa’s largest such project in 50 years that could also boost mining by enabling local mineral processing.
The 1,500-megawatt dam on the Zambezi River, expected to be operational by 2031, aims to spur local processing of minerals mined in Mozambique including graphite and beryllium, reducing the country’s reliance on raw commodity exports, according to a report by Bloomberg News.
Currently, much of the nation’s mineral wealth is exported unprocessed, the newswire said in its report on Monday.
World Bank President Ajay Banga confirmed the lender will provide debt and equity funding, risk guarantees and insurance for both the hydropower facility and an associated $1.4bn transmission project during an interview in Mozambique.
“We want to be the hub of energy in our region, the Southern African Development Community,” President Daniel Chapo told Bloomberg, referring to the 16-country bloc where many nations already import Mozambican power.
The project forms part of Mission 300, a World Bank initiative targeting electricity connections for 300 million sub-Saharan Africans by 2030. The programme could attract over $100 billion in funding from development banks, the IMF and private investors.
A consortium of Electricité de France, TotalEnergies and Sumitomo Corp will build the facility alongside the Mozambican government and state-owned Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa.
The dam will connect to Mozambique’s southern grid, supplying the capital Maputo and enabling power exports to Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. It represents the first phase of a decade-long expansion plan including smaller upstream plants and a 400-megawatt solar facility.
The project comes as Mozambique recovers from post-election violence that damaged investor confidence, whilst battling youth unemployment and a jihadist insurgency affecting $57bn in liquefied natural gas developments.
