By Kester Kenn Klomegah
Mozambique and Malawi, largely sharing borders, have agreed to forge cooperation in diverse economic sectors and take the advantages offered by the single continental market.
A number of African leaders have started looking at the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as it aspires to connect all regions of Africa, to deepen economic integration and boost intra-African trade and investment. It aspires to create a single market for goods and services across 55 countries and our continent, creating a market of as much as 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion.
On November 22 to 24, President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi of Mozambique went on an official working visit to Blantyre, Malawi. It was to participate in the 5th SADC Industrialization Week in Lilongwe, according to a statement from Malawi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The first strategy for regional industrialization, he noted at the conference of the Industrialization Week, includes developing synergies linked to value chains, transport corridors, energy, and human potential. It will also involve bringing down barriers at the border to strengthen the economic identity of SADC. According to Nyusi, the impact of this strategy will be amplified through changes to the trade balance as exports are increased and imports substituted.
The second strategy is based on developing technology, employing thousands of people, creating a market to absorb agricultural surpluses from the rural population with a particular focus on women, agro-processing and associated logistics, which, he said, ends up becoming a “powerful weapon” for the well-being of the population and combating poverty.
While still in Malawi during the visit, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera took his guest counterpart Filipe Nyusi to launch the construction works for the Mozambique-Malawi power transmission interconnection project at Phombeya in Balaka District. The power generation project planned to translate into improved access to electricity supply and ultimately strengthen the industrialization programmes in both countries.
Construction of the interconnection project includes laying transmission lines about 142km from Matambo substation and 76km into Malawi to Phombeya passing through Mwanza and Neno Districts – expected to be completed in 2023.
According to the Integrated Resource Plan of 2017, peak electricity demand will be 1,860MW by 2030 yet currently, Malawi’s installed electricity generation capacity is hovering at 50MW. The objectives of the interconnection project include supporting the economic growth of the region through sustainable power access by integrating the Malawi electricity market to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) in order to balance the power deficit through regional power trading.
Phase 1 of the project included a technical and economic feasibility study that was completed in 2017, project definition and scope and environmental and social impact assessment that was completed in 2019.
In his remarks, President Chakwera said like the railway rehabilitation project that the two countries have embarked on to connect Malawi to the Sena Line across the border from Vila Nova de Fronteira to Marka, “this interconnection project is yet another milestone in the linkages between our two nations.” He reminded Nyusi, that during his visit to Songo Province in Mozambique last year, Chakwera was privileged to tour the Cabora Bassa Dam which is the hub of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
“It was at that time that we agreed to hold this joint ceremony launching the construction of the electricity transmission line for Malawi-Mozambique Interconnection. I am, therefore, glad to see this coming to pass as a step in the direction of integrating infrastructure across SADC for sustainable economic development. The project aims at creating avenues for trade in the SAPP, with the prospect of more exchanges of trade and power in the future,” he asserted in remarks.
President Chakwera says Malawi and Mozambique are strategic development partners and there is a need for the two nations to continue exploring economic relations in the areas of trade, transport and mining for the mutual benefit of their people. Both presidents also identified areas of rail transport, energy and mining for developing bilateral partnerships.
With the construction of The Malawi-Mozambique Interconnector, it marches towards the goal of adding 1,000 megawatts to the national grid over the next four years is making steady progress. The project is co-funded by the World Bank- IDA Credit at $15 million; European Union through KFW Grant at $20 million and the Malawi Government at $3.5 million.
