Electricity of Mozambique, a state-owned company, (EDM) recorded a loss of 6.7 billion Meticais in 2022, according to a press release that MZNews had access to.

According to the Chairman of EDM's Board of Directors, Marcelino Alberto, who was speaking yesterday at a meeting to review the financial year for 2022, the negative results are due to the occurrence of Cyclones Ana and Gombe, in the central and northern regions of the country, which caused extensive damage to the company's infrastructure.

"In the same period, the impacts of energy theft and vandalization of electrical infrastructure contributed negatively to the Company's performance," said EDM's PCA quoted in the statement.

But not everything was negative for the public company. For example, in terms of achievements, Marcelino Alberto announced that the company had exceeded 7,694GWh of energy supplied to the National Electricity Company (REN) in 2021, rising to 8,146GWh in 2022, which represents a growth of around 6%.

With regard to energy expansion, the source revealed that last year, 11 administrative offices were connected to the national electricity grid. As part of the Energy for All Program (ProEnergia), EDM exceeded the annual target of 320,000 new connections for the second year running, reaching 356,640 new connections.

"The number of the company's customers rose from 2,588,588 in 2021 to 2,936,751 in 2022, representing a growth of 14%. The Population's Domestic Access Rate to the National Electricity Grid increased by 4 percentage points, from 39% in 2021 to 43% in 2022," said EDM's PCA.

And in terms of challenges, EDM's ambition over the next few years is to consolidate its leadership in the electricity business in southern Africa, with the aim of winning the African continent's market.

"The challenges of the sector in which we operate must continue to determine increasingly careful management, through reforms and modernization of services, as well as the adoption of an organizational culture that encourages, above all, productivity, teamwork and exceeding targets at all levels," he urged.

It should be noted that the results discussed at the National Meeting to Review EDM's Activities will be presented to the shareholder, Instituto de Gestão das Participações do Estado (IGEPE), at the General Meeting.