Mozambique, China in Talks on Hydro-Power Project
Date: 20-Mar-07
Country: MOZAMBIQUE
Author: Charles Mangwiro
China's Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) already has agreed to finance studies for the Moamba Major project, which would expand the supply of electricity as well as drinking water in the Mozambiquan capital, Zararias said.
The talks could see the Chinese taking a much larger stake in the project, according to Zacarias, who did not provide further details.
"We are about to close the discussions and hope China will fund and construct the dam," Zacarias told Reuters in an interview. He added that the project could help control flooding and droughts in the impoverished southern African nation.
Dozens of people were killed and some 170,000 forced to flee their homes in central Mozambique in February when heavy rains triggered flash flooding along the Zambezi river and its tributaries.
Mozambique officials said last year that Eximbank planned to invest some US$2.3 billion in the construction of the new Mepanda Nkua dam and 1,300 Megawatt hydro-electric plant on the Zambezi River, south of the giant Cahora Bassa power development.
At the time officials said discussions were also under way with China on the Moamba Major project.
Although Mozambique has large supplies of fresh water, much of the infrastructure required to transport it to Maputo and other cities was destroyed or allowed to fall into disrepair during a two-decade civil war that ended in the early 1990s.
Zacarias said the government planned to expand the number of medium-sized and large dams in the country -- there are currently 12 -- in order to meet its goal of extending clean drinking water to 60 percent of the population by 2015.
Only about 40 percent of Mozambiquans have access to clean water.
The Moamba Major project would also allow Mozambique, which currently relies on Cahora Bassa in northern Tete province, to meet growing domestic and regional power demands.
Cahora Bassa generates some 2,075 megawatts of power, providing Mozambique with US$100 million in annual electricity exports. There are plans to expand the site to add a further 850 megawatts of capacity.
South Africa, the economic powerhouse in the region as well as the African continent, is expected to absorb the bulk of the additional electricity produced in neighbouring Mozambique.
