Lisbon, Oct. 30, 2025 (Lusa) - The oil company ExxonMobil will provide US$40 million (€34.4 million) in funding for the construction of a technology centre in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, to train oil and gas engineers, the Mozambican president announced on Thursday.
‘'We believe this memorandum is very important. ExxonMobil will provide US$40 million [€34.4 million] to support the construction of a technology centre in the city of Maputo to train young Mozambicans,’’ Mozambican president Daniel Chapo told reporters after visiting the headquarters of US oil company ExxonMobil in Houston, Texas, United States.
According to the Mozambican president, who is on a working visit to the US, this technology centre will be built starting next year in the area of the Zimpeto National Stadium, on the outskirts of Maputo, with plans to begin training at least 100 young people from all provinces of the country in gas and oil exploration.
Daniel Chapo said that this centre will include classrooms, onshore and offshore operations simulation, accommodation, a restaurant, a gym and a clinic, infrastructure that will create a comfortable environment for young people to be trained in oil and gas.
"It will be a complete centre that will allow young people from all provinces of the country to have accommodation and training for about three years. The aim of this centre is to transfer the technology and knowledge that multinational companies have in the oil and gas sector to Mozambicans," said the Mozambican head of state.
Chapo added that this training aims to place a skilled workforce on the Mozambican and global market to work on the mega-projects underway in the country and the region.
“The main resource we have in Mozambique to develop the country is human capital, and that human capital really needs knowledge, and we believe that technical knowledge in the oil and gas sector is extremely important,” said the Mozambican president.
While still in the United States, Daniel Chapo announced a memorandum of understanding with ExxonMobil to provide US$10 million (€8.6 million) to the Mozambican Hydrocarbons Company (ENH) to carry out feasibility studies to maximise the use of domestic gas in the country.
For the Mozambican president, these agreements are “a very strong signal” from ExxonMobil, expressing its desire to transfer “above-average” knowledge in the area of oil and gas exploration, where the oil company already uses the most advanced technology.
‘'The country will undoubtedly be one of the world’s gas benchmarks, and it is important that this gas is operated and explored by young Mozambicans, which is a great gain. And the other advantage of financing feasibility studies is that the Mozambican Hydrocarbons Company ENH will be leading these studies," he said, advocating this type of investment for the industrialisation of the country through the use of domestic gas.
"The other important aspect is undoubtedly the overall contribution that these projects will make to our economy. We will have more revenue in the state coffers through production tax, we will have more revenue through export taxes and more Mozambicans will be working," added the head of state, referring to the gains from these memoranda and from gas and oil projects in general.
Mozambique has three approved mega-development projects for the exploration of LNG reserves in the Rovuma basin, ranked among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado, including one by TotalEnergies, which is in the process of resuming after being suspended due to attacks in the region, and another by ExxonMobil, which is awaiting a final investment decision, both on the Afungi peninsula.
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