MAPUTO, Some 400 officials are meeting in the Mozambican capital this week to discuss ways to involve local companies in business relating to the emerging natural gas industry, which is just starting up in the country.
The Sttate energy company, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), organized the meeting, the Conference on Local Content in the Oil and Gas Sector, which ends on Thursday.
The conference is taking place at a time when Mozambique is expecting to start exporting gas found in the Rovuma Basin, off the northern coast of the country, some 1,500 kilometres from the capital, within four years.
The natural gas projects, including the planned gas liquefaction plants, will require suppliers of all kinds, from construction materials to food, and the idea is to ensure that local companies secure a big slice of the pie.
According to organizers, the main objective of the meeting is to propose solutions with legal instruments that can make viable Mozambican participation in the industry, as well as in the development of financial solutions with a view to consolidating the participation of businesses.
Local businesses are calling for the government to mobilize funding to enable companies to take part in projects relating to the production of oil and gas, according to the Confederation of Economic Associations
(CTA), which has stressed the importance of strengthening the private sector in the country to take advantage of the business opportunities generated by the exploitation of the country’s natural resources.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK