Maputo, Oct. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - Algeria has pledged to help Mozambique expand the domestic gas distribution network, train professionals in hydrocarbon research and production and support the construction of the energy distribution network.
Speaking to journalists in Maputo on Thursday, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Estêvão Pale, said that the Mozambican state-owned National Hydrocarbons Company (ENH) had signed a memorandum with the Algerian oil company SONATRACH that will allow it to gain experience in production and intervention in the oil and gas value chain.
"There are concrete and urgent actions, namely the need for Mozambique to expand the natural gas distribution network for domestic consumption and the development of industrial projects based on natural gas so that we can consume more gas from the projects under development in our country," said the minister.
Algeria's SONATRACH will also share its experience with Mozambique in providing services along the oil sector value chain, such as seismic, drilling, operations, and maintenance, he added.
The chairwoman of ENH's board of directors, Ludovina Bernardo, said the country wants to move forward with the cooking gas distribution network, acknowledging that the number of consumers has decreased.
"We have the transport area, we want Algeria to learn about the international market, how we can monetise this gas, but above all, how we can industrialise the country by transforming the gas we have in Mozambique into other priority areas and projects we have," she said, also pointing to cooperation in staff training.
'We have the area of training and institutional capacity building to operate in the hydrocarbon industry, we have to be prepared, with trained staff to develop projects, which means we have to have geologists, geophysicists, chemical engineers and with Algeria we will learn to operate effectively,' Bernardo added.
In addition to the oil and gas sector, Mozambique also agreed today to cooperate with Algeria in health, energy, and the business sector.
In the energy sector, Estêvão Pale said that the agreement signed between Eletricidade de Moçambique (EDM) and the Algerian Energy and Gas Company (SONELGAZ) provides for receiving aid from that country in the transport of energy, the construction and modernisation of power stations, and the establishment of an industrial park for the production of electrical equipment.
The chairman of EDM's board of directors said the agreement provides for the construction of a 40-megawatt gas-fired power station in Mozambique.
"We're going to set up a materials factory with them, those that are most used, the high-turnover materials for electrification, and based on this memorandum, we're going to cooperate in the area of training. Algeria has good technical schools in electrical engineering. We want to send our technicians there or have the trainers come here," said Joaquim Ou-Chim.
"Algeria manufactures all kinds of material and equipment that is used in the country, they even manufacture turbines for energy production, cable conductors, but in the first phase we are going to prioritise the area of electrification, considering universal access, and we are going to focus more on medium and low voltage material," he added.
In the field of health, the National Regulatory Authority for Medicines and the Algerian pharmaceutical company SAIDAL will cooperate on staff training and technology transfer, while the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) will cooperate with the Council for the Economic Revival of Algeria (CREIA) on exchanging experiences and publicising business opportunities, especially in the hydrocarbons sector.
PME/ADB // ADB.
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