As Mozambique enters 2025, its role as a key energy provider in southern Africa has been solidified with a significant milestone: the country now exports electricity to seven neighboring nations. South Africa remains Mozambique’s largest energy customer, but the country’s growing influence in the regional energy market is now evident, with more countries turning to Mozambique to meet their energy needs.
According to the 2023 annual report from the National Statistics Institute, Mozambique exported a record 11,585 GWh of electricity last year. South Africa, as the primary recipient, accounted for 9,079 GWh of this total, underscoring the country’s continued reliance on Mozambique’s energy exports. However, the report also reveals that Mozambique’s energy trade has diversified, with six additional nations now benefiting from the country’s electricity.
In addition to South Africa, Mozambique now supplies electricity to Zimbabwe, which imported 878 GWh, Botswana (396 GWh), and Zambia (235 GWh). Smaller neighbors such as Eswatini, Lesotho, and Malawi also depend on Mozambican power, with imports of 132 GWh, 97 GWh, and 4 GWh, respectively.
Mozambique’s participation in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), a regional electrical grid that connects energy companies across southern Africa, also remains significant. The country exported 765 GWh to the SAPP in 2023, though this represented a slight decrease from the annual average of over 1,000 GWh in previous years.
The latest figures from the state-owned Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) underscore the nation’s growing prominence as a regional energy hub. The report highlighted a 9% increase in electricity exports compared to 2022, reinforcing Mozambique’s expanding role in the southern African energy landscape.
Marcelino Gildo Alberto, former Chairman of EDM, shared his optimism about Mozambique’s trajectory, stating, “Our performance in southern Africa is very encouraging. We are steadily moving toward our goal of becoming a central energy hub for the region. In addition to the rise in export volumes, we have successfully expanded energy sales to Botswana and recovered $22 million from Zambia’s ZESCO in overdue payments.”
As Mozambique looks to the future, the continued growth of its energy exports will not only strengthen the country’s economic position but also enhance regional energy security. With growing demand for sustainable and reliable power sources, Mozambique’s influence as an energy exporter is poised to expand even further in the years ahead.