The Minister of Economy, Basílio Muhate, recently met with the Director-General of TotalEnergies in Mozambique, Maxime Rabilloud, to assess the current status of the country’s largest natural gas exploration project, located in Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin, Palma district, Cabo Delgado province, the Ministry of Economy announced on Monday, August 4.
According to the statement, the meeting covered strategic matters such as biodiesel production, strengthening local content, and prospects for expanding the project led by the French multinational. TotalEnergies shared updates on progress made to date and reiterated its commitment to continued cooperation with the government, contributing to the country’s economic development.
Basílio Muhate, in turn, presented the government’s strategic vision for the energy sector, highlighting as key pillars: the promotion of private investment, strengthening local content, and accelerating national industrialization, within the broader objective of achieving greater economic independence.
On the same day (August 4), business owners in Cabo Delgado expressed concerns about being excluded from the resumption of the LNG megaproject by TotalEnergies, which is expected to restart this month in Afungi, after being suspended since 2021 due to attacks by Islamic extremist groups.
The Chairman of the Provincial Business Council, Mamudo Irache, questioned the ability of local entrepreneurs to supply goods and services to the complex, citing security constraints that limit land access, predicting that supplies will be made exclusively by air and sea.
“We are afraid of being left out of the project,” he stated, emphasizing that direct contact with communities and providing services outside the complex are essential for the local business sector to benefit economically from the enterprise.
Source: Diário Económico
