Mozambique will host the Southern Africa Energy and Infrastructure Summit taking place between 4-6 May in Maputo, the country’s capital, with several Energy Ministers from Southern Africa confirming their participation.
This is coming on the heels of Gigawatt Mozambique’s announcement in early March 2016 of an investment of $200-million into Mozambique’s power sector, alongside several global stakeholders including Standard Bank and the World Bank, amongst many others. It is expected that the investment will assist in harnessing Mozambique’s natural-gas resources, which will further benefit many of Mozambique’s neighbours in the southern Africa region.
This – along with several other projects in the SADC region – will be presented and discussed at EnergyNet’s upcoming Southern Africa Energy and Infrastructure Summit (SAEIS) (www.Southern-Africa-Summit.com), taking place in Maputo, Mozambique 4-6th May 2016. The summit will celebrate regional co-operation, and promote energy and infrastructure projects that require both private- and public-sector support in order to be realised.
EnergyNet’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Veronica Bolton-Smith commented that ‘regional development is the key to unlocking Africa’s energy investment potential – SAEIS will bring together countries from the SADC region to discuss live infrastructure and energy projects which require investment’.
This vibrant region has experienced many positive developments in recent years, both in energy and infrastructure development. Progress in governance, institution-building and democratic consolidation are contributing factors to the positive indicators that long-term investors seek.
The Summit will explore some of southern Africa’s success stories, and how these can be replicated. Southern Africa has witnessed local private-sector led initiatives, and wider participation in exciting projects such as South Africa’s ground breaking REIPPPP programme – an initiative which will be explored at the SAEIS.
The Summit will also hear from key stakeholders participating in the Moatize/Nacala railway project, which will run between Malawi and Mozambique: an infrastructure project set to re-define southern Africa and its investment potential.
