Maputo, Aug. 27, 2026 (Lusa) - The chair of the state-owned company Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) announced on Thursday the creation of a rapid-response unit for natural disasters, just a few weeks ahead of the country's rainy season, which runs until April.
«What the company has done is to set up a unit within the organisation that can respond to these situations; we call it the rapid response unit for natural disasters, which prepares throughout the year to be able to deal with such issues,» said Joaquim Ou-Chim, speaking to journalists during the celebrations marking EDM's 49th anniversary in Maputo.
At the event, which also marked the official launch of the company's 50th-anniversary celebrations – to be held in 2027 – the executive highlighted climate change as one of the main challenges to achieving the country's goal of universal electrification by 2030.
In the last rainy season alone, from October to April this year, Electricidade de Moçambique recorded losses of €2 million and required €8.1 million to repair the damaged infrastructure, as Joaquim Ou-Chim stated in an interview with Lusa in March.
The EDM chair acknowledged that the company continues to work to ensure electricity supply to 58 administrative posts while addressing challenges related to equipment vandalism and electricity theft.
«As for what lies ahead, it is precisely to continue creating the conditions for universal access, of course, whilst once again combating the vandalism of infrastructure and the theft of electricity,» he said.
According to Joaquim Ou-Chim, the company continues to implement measures to meet the government's target of universal access to electricity by 2030, against a backdrop of a national electrification rate already at 66.4%.
EDM plans to make at least 420,000 new connections by the end of 2026, benefiting around two million people. In the first quarter of this year alone, the company connected more than 75,000 new customers through the National Electricity Grid and autonomous systems powered by solar and mini-hydro power stations.
«What we need is to continue mobilising resources and, for this electrification process to succeed, we also need to tackle losses,» he added, referring to the fight against electricity theft and the vandalism of infrastructure.
The state-owned company also intends to step up the use of digital platforms to improve service quality and boost operational efficiency.
«We need to reduce, for example, the average response time in the event of faults or in response to a customer enquiry. That is our challenge, and we are confident that by investing in technology we will be able to resolve this issue,» he added.
For his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, António Manda, challenged EDM to deepen its commitment to modernisation, efficiency and a results-oriented approach, promoting «high standards of ethics and institutional responsibility, including good governance, transparency and accountability».
Data from EDM also indicate that Zambézia has the highest number of cases of theft of electrical equipment in the country, followed by Inhambane province.
In September last year, the company recorded losses of around 17 million meticais (€227,000) linked to the theft and vandalism of electrical transformers, and the authorities arrested at least five people in Nampula.
VIYS/ADB // ADB.
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