The President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, criticized today in Maputo the reluctance of some countries and institutions to finance natural gas exploration projects, defending the importance of this resource in the global energy transition.

The head of state was speaking at the opening of the 9th Mining and Energy Conference and Exhibition (MMEC), which brings together national and international companies from the sector in the Mozambican capital.

Nyusi emphasized that Mozambique and other African countries have enough natural gas to contribute to the energy transition, but "face the dilemma of financing, not because of a lack of viability, but because some countries and financial institutions are not willing to finance projects that use fossil fuels".

This radical position, he continued, is counterproductive, since natural gas is the least polluting of all fossil fuels.

Filipe Nyusi highlighted the importance of natural gas in the production of electricity in the country, pointing out that dependence on hydroelectric plants could be reduced due to the uncertainty over the supply of water in quantity.

Nyusi said that Mozambique and Africa have other important natural resources for the energy transition, such as graphite, cobalt and lithium, used in the electronics and battery industries.

He pointed to the start of exports this year of graphite produced at a Mozambican mine in the Balama district, in northern Mozambique, to the US electric car industry, as proof of the strategic importance of the mining sector in the world today.

The Mozambican head of state defended the creation of a local industry in the extractive sector, with the aim of guaranteeing African countries the export of finished products and the collection of capital gains and foreign exchange.

"In the race towards decarbonization, on the African continent, from north to south, the reserves of strategic minerals are significant," he said. (Vision).