30 Mar 2025

With the objective to meet its power supply demands and to contribute to the resolution of  Southern Africa’s energy deficit, Botswana will leverage on the sustainable partnership that it has with Mozambique in the of sector.

During a tour of the Maputo gas combined cycle thermoelectric power plant on Saturday, President Advocate Duma Boko said the partnership was a critical vehicle that could move the two countries toward self-sufficiency in power generation and supply. “Botswana is in a serious, durable and sustainable partnership with Mozambique in many areas, no less in the area of energy; that is, power generation, power transmission, power distribution and ensuring that every citizen of our two countries is able to access electricity affordably,” he said.  

Regarding the 106 megawatt Maputo power plant, he hailed not only the level of expertise and technical skills that went into its daily operations but also the cutting-edge technology that was deployed in setting it up. President Boko said the plant was testimony to how much ground Botswana could cover in power generation, to adequately meet its people’s electricity supply needs should the country explore and harness fully the power of the renewable energy sector the way Mozambique was doing. He commended the fact that 40 per cent of staff at the facility were women, and said the figure was evidence that absolute gender parity would be attained within the next few years. Observing that Botswana too subscribed to the need to strike gender equality across sectors, he said the Maputo power plant case was an inspiration to young females to understand that they too had a place in technology and science-driven fields.

National energy director at Mozambique’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, Ms Marcelina Mataveia yearned for a deeper commitment on issues of energy between Mozambique and Botswana, which she said would culminate in improved livelihoods for the people of the two countries.  

Ms Mataveia said Mozambique, in its ambition to become Southern Africa’s energy hub, would effect several initiatives to bring on board critical partners such as Botswana with the intention to help open up the participation of their public and private sectors in the development of their respective energy sectors.

“Mozambique has identified as a top priority the development of energy infrastructure with the aim of becoming a regional power hub within SADC. In this context, different initiatives are on the way to maximise energy generation and transmission systems necessary to unlock the existing potential. Thus, many initiatives are also in place to open the participation of Botswana public and private sectors,” she said. 

Ms Mataveia said the 106MW facility that produced electricity from natural gas affirmed the Mozambique government’s commitment to utilising the country’s diversified energy resource base that comprised water, solar, wind, natural gas and coal to meet local power supply demand and drive the ambitious plan to become a regional power hub. ENDS