European Union (EU) advocates alternative clean energy and critical raw materials, such as graphite, as avenues for Mozambique's development in a global context of "green and digital growth".
This Thursday, the EU pledged that it will "continue to support Mozambique in order to maximize the potential" for clean energy production, said António Gaspar, European ambassador in Maputo, during the fourth edition of the EU-Mozambique Economic Roundtable.
The event, part of the Europe Day celebrations (which took place on May 9th), was this year dedicated to the theme "opportunities for the private sector in the face of ecological and social transition".
Cited by Lusa, António Gaspar added that Mozambique should, in the meantime, be able to exploit its gas reserves as a transitional resource.
"The success of the ecological pact depends on access to raw materials critical to clean energy. The consumption of these materials is expected to increase four times in the case of graphite, one of the most abundant in northern Mozambique," António Gaspar stressed in a speech distributed to journalists and that he himself summarized during the event.
The country's graphite is already being exported privately to the US for processing and assembly into Chinese electric car batteries.
"The growing demand for critical raw materials creates opportunities for Mozambique, despite the risks of simultaneously accelerating environmental devastation, exacerbating climate change," which requires care with a view to sustainable exploitation.
"We must therefore establish a partnership based on the sustainable exploitation of natural resources," he added.
Also in the context of balance, the EU intends to support Mozambican agriculture to meet global sustainable standards, as they will be "a condition for access to the European market."
"The EU-Mozambique cooperation program plans to fund in the first four years of its implementation (2021-2024) projects up to €200 million in the area of green and digital growth," namely in natural and ecosystem protection, ecological transformation of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, building resilient infrastructure (in the areas of renewable energy, transport, water and sanitation) and digital transformation for inclusive growth.
The EU has other support mechanisms for fixing investments - the Global Gateway strategy, launched at the sixth EU/African Union summit - but Mozambique must promote "a propitious business and investment environment," António Gaspar stressed.
The same line of reasoning was followed by Simone Santi, president of the Association of European Businessmen in Mozambique (Eurocam), who pointed out examples of several obstacles to business activity.
The businessman asked Industry and Trade Minister Silvino Moreno that airport officials welcome foreign businessmen "with a smile," instead of "complicating" their arrival by compromising successful investments.
The reduction of bureaucracy in domestic circulation and the stabilization of laws, without changing rules "in the middle of the game," were other examples given by Santi - who says he believes "in Mozambique's potential" - and to which the governor said he will take note in order to seek solutions.
"The EU can assist Mozambique" to develop "sectors with export potential" in the new context of green growth, Silvino Moreno stressed.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce pointed out as a goal "to consolidate the commercial relationship between Mozambique and the EU".
Silvino Moreno also heard criticism from Adriano Nuvunga, director of the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), a Mozambican non-governmental organization (NGO), who warned about internal political contradictions and the persistent poverty of the majority of the Mozambican population.
"Industrialization is a word that, in Mozambique, exists only in the dictionary," he said, adding: "I didn't hear the word once in the minister's speech.
"With the population hungry, the green economy debate remains only for the elites and will not be sustainable," Nuvunga concluded.