Maputo, June 12, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Climate Agency acknowledged on Friday that Mozambique has favourable conditions for the energy transition, despite the challenge of securing funding, emphasising that Portugal’s experience shows that this path “is possible”.
“As part of the ministry for the environment, what I can see is that Mozambique is currently well positioned and has a number of projects in the pipeline which obviously need to secure funding from the international community, but, comparatively speaking, it is in the same position that Portugal has also been in," said Catarina Sousa, director of the Department of European and International Affairs at the Climate Agency, in an interview with Lusa in Maputo.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 5th Mozambique Renewable Energy Business Conference (RENMOZ 2026), which has been bringing together representatives from the energy sector, including Portuguese and European Union delegates, since Thursday to discuss investment opportunities in the country’s energy sector, Catarina Sousa said that Portugal is now beginning to see results in the transition to clean energy, and can serve as an example to the African country in sharing experience and knowledge, “because it has already gone down that path”, despite the challenges in financing major energy projects.
“At the moment we have the technical capacity and tangible results that allow us, in essence, to show Mozambique that it is possible,” she stated.
Catarina Sousa cited Portugal as an example to illustrate how investing in renewable energy can strengthen energy independence, particularly in contexts of international instability.
Referring to the recent impact of global conflicts, such as the war in the Middle East, she considered that these situations highlight the importance of reducing external dependence.
In Portugal’s case, she explained, energy production from sources such as hydro and solar power has enabled the country to face such moments with greater resilience, providing certain “safeguards” against external volatility.
She added that this development, combined with the technical capacity that has been built up, also contributes to how Portugal is perceived internationally today.
“We have renewable hydro and solar energy, and this also allows us to be seen in a different light by the world,” she said, arguing that Mozambique can learn from this path and adapt it to its own reality.
For Catarina Sousa, among Mozambique’s advantages are its “very distinctive characteristics”, which include transboundary basins and green corridors, coupled with the fact that the country is already taking concrete steps towards implementing energy transition projects.
"The greatest difficulty would be if Mozambique had not identified what its needs are, and which projects it actually wants to implement in order to, ultimately, embark on the energy transition journey," she said, highlighting this as the most difficult part of the process.
She also highlighted the mobilisation of funding as one of the main challenges Mozambique may face: “Given the progress made in political terms, in terms of looking to the future and investing, it seems to me that the investment aspect will perhaps be the greatest challenge, but it will certainly be overcome.”
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