Private-sector involvement
• Forum
Boris Atanassov DIRECTOR, GREENLIGHT AFRICA
MOZAMBIQUE HAS SEEN considerable interest around the green economy sector only in the last two years. Though the energy strategy of the country has long focused on the extractive industry and exports, we have recently seen an increasing shift in focus toward internal energy consumption, grid stabilization, and off-grid energy access for local communities and local industry. Indeed, taking GreenLight as an example, in the early years, we were forced to engage in a number of sectors outside green energy, due to the lack of investments. Over the past few years, we have shifted to focus mostly on the energy sector, where we see growing momentum. 2020 will be a year of regulatory reform for the sector. There are plenty of incentives for private companies wishing to explore this space, and the government is showing willingness to work on a framework conducive to private investment. Specifically, the country is pursuing two main areas of focus: promoting renewable energy projects and regulating the off-grid space. Lauren Thomas REGIONAL MANAGER MOZAMBIQUE, ELEQTRA
WE HAVE BEEN fairly enthused by the government’s adoption of policies and strategies to implement new renewable projects to support the grid, as well as the increasing attention paid to innovative ways to fund these types of projects. EDM has implemented numerous IPPs in the energy space, two of which are for solar, renewable projects. Additionally, there are several solar and wind projects in the pipeline. EleQtra is a private enterprise based out of London, but currently operating in Accra, Kampala, Lusaka, and Maputo and is developing projects in various other sub-Saharan African countries. EleQtra was the developer of the first sub-Saharan wind farm outside of South Africa, Cabeolica in Cape Verde, which increased the energy production of the entire country by about 20%. In 2016, we initiated work on the first wind farm in Mozambique, the Namaacha Wind Farm. It is currently fully developed by eleQtra, with support from the US government through USTDA and the African Development Bank through the SEFA program.
3R WAS FOUNDED in 2015 by a group of environmental entrepreneurs from Kenya and Mozambique to create an alternative solution for waste. Our mission is to transform the waste management sector in Mozambique and create a cleaner environment for the generations of today and tomorrow. In five years, we have grown rapidly and are today present in four municipalities: Maputo, Matola, Beira, and Vilankulos. We offer integrated waste management services for mediumand large-sized companies and invest in the construction of sustainable waste treatment infrastructure in strategic locations. This includes around 80 organizations across several sectors, such as oil and gas, tourism, railways, and beverage. We incentivize our clients to separate waste at source, then we collect and take it to our facilities where we further segregate and process. Our goal is to maximize the amount of waste not going to dumpsites or landfills. In 2019, 60% of what we collected was recycled.
MOZ ENVIRONMENTAL is part of South African Interwaste Group, which is fully owned by Séché Environment, a leading international waste management company. Our business is primarily focused on providing integrated waste and environmental services to industrial sectors. We are able to provide our clients with a total waste management solution from identifying and classifying their waste types to developing the right services and processes to ensure the safe treatment and disposal of their waste. We manage everything from recycling, domestic waste, sewage treatment, and sewage services to more complex and difficult hazardous waste streams. Expansion in Mozambique was a natural consequence of the post-war and post-apartheid regional integration, given the country’s huge potential. We commenced operations in 1997 and developed our business and operational footprint in alignment to growth opportunities in the region. We have been fortunate to work with many large national and international companies focused on environmental sustainability and compliance.