With exceptional conditions and nearly unmatched endogenous resources—including some of the largest hydroelectric potential in southeastern Africa—Mozambique has massive potential for implementing and harnessing renewable energy sources, particularly solar and wind. This potential can and must be encouraged.
As of 2025, investments are already underway, and the renewables-based energy transition is progressing, anchored in Council of Ministers Resolution No. 61/2023 (in force since January 1, 2024). A key reference is the Fair Energy Transition Strategy (ETS) of the Republic of Mozambique, which aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement and aims to “clearly guide the development of the country’s energy sector and ensure a fair and equitable transition.”
Commonly referred to simply as ETS, often omitting the word “fair” (despite it being a realistic goal), the strategy encompasses the country’s vast endogenous resources and seeks to respond to the growing internal demand for energy within a macroeconomic framework that is both environmentally and economically sustainable.
Mozambique aspires to a future of self-sustainability and growth. It possesses extensive arable land, abundant water sources, and three deep-water seaports (Maputo, Nacala, and Beira), along with rich deposits of liquefied natural gas (LNG), biomass, and minerals (notably titanium, vanadium, niobium, aluminum, graphite, and coal), which are essential to industries such as aviation, aerospace, electronics, metallurgy, energy, transport, and construction.
Under Article 203(e) of the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique (CRM), it is the State’s duty to “stimulate and support entrepreneurial activity and private initiative and protect consumer and public interests.” This must be pursued in line with Article 90, which emphasizes the “rational use of all natural resources.” However, the transition requires investment, stable economic conditions, and a targeted (even if phased) tax policy.
In the context of increasingly green taxation, the drive toward sustainable development must balance the use and protection of endogenous resources and the environment, while also enabling the economic growth necessary for states to influence and promote behaviors aligned with their national goals.
ETS Strategic Vision (2023–2050)
ETS outlines three strategic national objectives:
- National development: Promote universal energy access via clean domestic energy and boost competitiveness in productive sectors;
- Regional energy hub: Supply low-carbon energy to SADC countries (Southern African Development Community);
- Global energy transition contributor: Export green products to help decarbonize global supply chains.
This strategy will be implemented through 14 development programs, organized around four pillars:
- A modern energy system based on renewables
- Green industrialization
- Universal access to modern energy
- Adoption of clean energy for transportation
A Modernized Green Energy Policy
The ETS is aligned with the triple purpose of modern green energy policies:
- Environmental protection and reducing external energy dependence
- Fostering growth and employment
- Helping reduce external imbalances, based on each country’s geographic, economic, and political context
A “green tax policy” provides incentives for efficient resource management, helping preserve natural capital and promote the sustainable use of land and territory, thereby facilitating the shift to a low-carbon economy. This transition is especially critical in vulnerable regions and communities, where infrastructure and investment are essential and resource use depends on adaptive capacity.
Take biomass as an example: with Mozambique’s vast forest cover, it underpins not only traditional charcoal and timber industries but also emerging sectors like briquettes, energy pellets, bioethanol, and fuel alcohol. However, deforestation due to logging and land conversion for agriculture must be balanced, and climate funds for carbon capture projects should be tied to green fuel export initiatives. As a result, economic growth policies take on a new environmental dimension, gradually positioning Mozambique as a more competitive, innovative, inclusive, and low-carbon actor, enabling broader internal access to diverse energy sources and contributing positively to the trade balance.
Incentives and Investment in Renewable Infrastructure
Fiscal mechanisms may include incentives, tax reductions, or exemptions on the supply of equipment, devices, and machinery specifically designed for solar, wind, geothermal, or other alternative energy capture and utilization. This includes biomass-derived pellets and briquettes.
Looking Ahead
Full implementation of the ETS will strengthen Mozambique’s path forward, as shown by its improving position in the Global Climate Risk Index (GermanWatch, February 2025), which analyzes how 171 countries have been affected by extreme weather (both human and economic costs). Mozambique improved from around 39th place (1993–2011) to 66th in 2022.
With ambitious goals, stability, and predictable investments, Mozambique has the potential to become a renewable energy powerhouse. The transition has only just begun.
Source: E&M
