Inhambane, Mozambique, Dec. 4, 2025 (Lusa) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that Mozambican gas should be exploited for the benefit of the country and Southern Africa, considering the act imperative for the development of the region.
"Mozambique is well endowed with massive hydrocarbon resources in the northern part of the country. And this Mozambican gas, this natural resource of the Mozambicans, should be exploited for the good of Mozambicans and for the good of the Southern African region, this is imperative," said the South African head of state during the inauguration ceremony of the new Integrated Processing Plant (IPP) for domestic gas in Inhambane, southern Mozambique, on Wednesday.
For the South African President, who has been visiting neighbouring Mozambique since Wednesday, access to hydrocarbon resources is important for diversifying the energy mix, particularly in the two countries, and joint investment in infrastructure construction and regulatory alignment, considering that regional demand is "vital" to attract open investment and ensure energy security for all countries.
"We believe this can be done. It is a valuable suggestion and we would like our ministers and our companies to look at it and be courageous, they cannot be timid and they cannot be cowardly," said Cyril Ramphosa, reiterating that leaders must "look to the horizon" and to the possibility of ensuring that gas is transported both to South Africa and to other regions of the continent.
The new Integrated Processing Plant, which is the result of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between Mozambique and South African oil company Sasol, with an investment of US$1 billion (€866 million), is, for Ramaphosa, a step towards achieving regional stability and cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector.
"This new facility will bring gas, it will also bring light oil and cooking gas to domestic markets," said the South African head of state, reiterating that "continued collaboration" will guide the region's energy transition, while also contributing to industrialisation and economic resilience.
Mozambican president Daniel Chapo said on the occasion that Mozambique "deeply" values the energy partnership between the two countries and their shared commitment to the shared prosperity of the Southern African region.
"Today we show our peoples and the world that Mozambique and South Africa do not grow separately - they grow together," Chapo said.
For the Head of State, the First Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Production Unit, known as domestic gas, is part of a "larger, integrating and transformative" project that will continue to develop and revolutionise the Mozambican economy and that of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the coming years.
"May this infrastructure be a living testimony to our determination, that of the Mozambican and South African people, to build a sovereign, industrialised, prosperous SADC region with inclusive and sustainable development for our peoples," concluded the President of Mozambique.
The Production Sharing Agreement project advocates the production of 53 million megajoules of natural gas per year, which will materialise the implementation of the Temane Thermal Power Plant (CTT), and the production of 4,000 barrels of light oil per day, according to data from the Mozambican Government.
The CTT will have the capacity to produce 450 megawatts of electricity and the processing unit 30,000 tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) per year.
The first stone of the unit was laid in 2022 and the Mozambican government had previously estimated that production at that unit would start in 2024, but this was postponed to March and later to November this year.
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