Sasol, the South African company operating the Pande and Temane natural gas blocks in Inhambane Province, is set to significantly increase its spending on the procurement of goods and services from Mozambican companies, particularly those located in the areas directly influenced by its operations, according to the Mozambique Information Agency (AIM).
The information was disclosed by Juma Malindasse, the company’s Local Content specialist, on the sidelines of a seminar recently held in Vilankulo. The event was promoted under the “More Opportunities” project, an initiative of the Ministry of Economy financed by the World Bank, aimed at strengthening the capacity of national Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and enhancing their access to economic opportunities generated by major ongoing projects in the country.
“Our commitment is to give greater priority in our operations to spending on Mozambican companies that have, for the most part, Mozambican shareholders,” said the representative of the petroleum company, emphasising that Sasol’s goal is the effective inclusion of national entrepreneurs in its supply chains. He detailed that, under the Petroleum Production Agreement (PPA), Sasol has already awarded 13 service packages to Mozambican companies, totalling 1.2 billion meticais (20 million dollars). Under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), around 83% of contracts have also been awarded to national operators, amounting to 13.5 billion meticais (211 million dollars).
The official also highlighted that, through the MERIC set-aside mechanism (a mandatory contractual reserve exclusively for national suppliers), nine contracts were signed with local operators. Sasol intends to expand this model with concrete import-substitution projects, including the local production of the company’s uniforms. “Currently, our uniforms come from abroad. We want them to be produced locally. If they are made in Inhambane, even better, because it will create jobs,” he stressed.
The company’s Local Content Plan (LCP), initially set to run until 2025, will be extended to further consolidate the gains achieved since its implementation. As an example, the number of Mozambican companies integrated into the supply chain has tripled and, in Inhambane alone, spending exceeded the initially planned amount fivefold, reaching 894 million meticais (14 million dollars).
“Excluding highly specialised areas that still do not exist in the country, about 90% of Sasol’s regular operating expenses are contracted with Mozambican companies, especially in transport, logistics, and catering services,” he noted.
In addition to contracting goods and services, Sasol has been investing in technical and vocational training as well as institutional capacity building. In training alone, 351.5 million meticais (5.5 million dollars) were invested, benefiting approximately 600 workers, mostly from communities surrounding the company’s operations.
In the entrepreneurial domain, 191.7 million meticais (3 million dollars) were allocated to capacity-building initiatives focused on internal organisation, financial management, accounting, and compliance with standards. “Some companies did not even have organisational charts or internal regulations. We needed to prepare them to meet the international standards required,” Malindasse explained.
Sasol also operates an MSME support fund in partnership with Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI), aimed at providing financing under favourable conditions. While acknowledging operational challenges in the effective disbursement of loans, the company assured that it is working to remove administrative barriers and improve the efficiency of the financial mechanism.
During the seminar in Vilankulo, the managers of the “More Opportunities” project shared data on the participation of local companies in grant competitions. The province of Inhambane submitted 115 applications in the areas of agribusiness, civil construction and tourism. However, only 42 passed the first evaluation phase due to structural weaknesses in the proposals, which, according to the organisers, reveal significant gaps in the internal organisation of local MSMEs.
Source: Diário Económico
