The LNG tanker British Mentor, operated by BP, is due to arrive this Wednesday, 24th, at the Italian company Eni's new floating terminal in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, to carry out the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Analysts say that while this is good news, it poses challenges to the government in terms of transparency, the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, and the diversification of the economy.

Bloomberg news agency says that Mozambique is ready to export its first cargo of LNG, a first step towards the ranks of the world's largest producers, and Eni is already planning a second floating export platform on Mozambican territory, which could be operational in less than four years.

All this comes at a time when there is a global energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

For the analyst João Feijó, quoted by VOA, the beginning of LNG exportation is good news, because it means that, effectively, the gas is already being produced and commercialized and the first revenues from the exploration of this resource will enter the State Budget.

However, Feijó noted that there are other issues, namely the fact that the gas that is going to be exported is produced offshore and is not transformed on land, and "it doesn't generate other jobs, it doesn't have an effect on local companies and it doesn't generate such significant revenues, but it is good news.

In addition, there is also the issue of transparency, since, in this analyst's opinion, all countries in the world that have problems with transparency, access to justice and serious internal rifts, usually, when they discover important natural resources, the result has always been the opposite.

"There was an expectation of creating development and well-being for the populations, but in practice, this has translated into increased frustration of social expectations of inequality and conflict, when other ethnic, political, and age-related factors are mixed in," emphasized Feijó.

He pointed out that the Government has three major challenges, firstly to show, publicly, transparency in the management of these resources, "but this has already started badly, because part of this money will serve to pay hidden debts committed, in the past, in the expectation that there was at the time of obtaining these resources.

The second great challenge is at the level of the creation of such a sovereign fund, because we have to make sure that these revenues do not only benefit the local populations, but also the future generations; and, thirdly, we have to think above all about the economic integration of the markets and the diversification of the economy of this country".

For the analyst Alexandre Chiure, it will be necessary to know how to manage expectations, especially now that the President of the Republic has decided to increase from 2.75 percent to 10 percent the amount to be allocated to communities where natural resources are explored.

"This will make sure that the communities have the resources to invest in development projects that benefit the communities themselves," that analyst pointed out.

It should be noted that Eni's $7 billion Coral-South project was targeting first exports by October.

Despite the pandemic and Islamic State-linked insurgency in Cabo Delgado, which "stopped" TotalEnergies' $20 billion onshore project, BP signed a deal in 2016 to buy all production for 20 years from Coral-Sul, which is designed to produce 3.4 million metric tons of LNG.