The Russian-Ukrainian war could bring advantages to Mozambique and Angola in terms of diversification of European energy markets, since the impact of the conflict will be reduced in the short term.

This projection is from the consultancy Fitch Solutions, which believes in a minor impact of the war in these two African countries due to the reduced trade flow with Russia and Ukraine, according to the Director of the risk analysis department for Sub-Saharan African countries.

"Angola imported products worth less than $39,000 from Ukraine in 2019 and Mozambique imported less than $19,000 in 2020," noted Jane Morley, quoted by Lusa.

The expert pointed out, however, that in the short term there might not be a substantial impact. With this, in the medium term the two could benefit from any new European strategy on more diversified energy sources.

"There could, of course, be an impact in terms of gas supplies if Russia decided to cut off supplies to Europe, but it is doubtful that any country has a sufficiently deployed gas infrastructure to maximize the short-term benefits," Morley said.

For the African director of the consultancy, owned by the company responsible for the financial rating agency Fitch Ratings, the scenario could change in the medium term, especially considering the investments planned for natural gas exploration in Mozambique and the effort that Angola is making to boost gas exploration to offset the drop in oil production in recent years.

"In the medium term, both countries can benefit from the efforts Europe is making to diversify supply chains," Morley said.