Mozambique will produce 70% of cooking gas to feed the domestic market from the end of this year, the National Director of Hydrocarbons and Fuels at the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME) said on Thursday in Maputo.

According to Moisés Paulino João, the fuel will be produced with the start-up of the production unit in Temane, in Inhambane province. The plant is expected to supply thirty tons of gas a year.

The head of MIREME said that this plan will help reduce the cooking gas import bill by a large amount.

"Today we import all our cooking gas, but by the end of this year we will be producing around 70% of what the country consumes. This is a strategic point," he said, noting that "Mozambique, like other countries in the world, is already in a position to deal with some energy transition issues".

In his opinion, this step will give the business sector more opportunities to expand its business and bring clean energy closer to the population, mostly outside the cities.

Moisés Paulino João was speaking during a press briefing ahead of the first Southern African seminar on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), to be held on April 17 and 18 in Maputo, which aims to promote LPG as a cooking energy in the African region.