Mozambican power utility Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM) has promised to pay off by December this year the US$50-million debt it owes to Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi River.

EDM chief executive Mateus Magala was quoted by the local media on Tuesday as saying that there were just a few documents left to conclude before reaching a definitive arrangement on the debt clearance.

“We are concluding the documents soon and this year we shall implement it,” he is quoted as saying by private television station STv.

According to the Maputo-based broadcaster, the official made the announcement during a seminar in the capital which discussed the master plan for the energy sector over the next 25 years.

EDM buys power for local distribution from HCM.

To guarantee universal access to energy and a surplus to export to other members of the Southern African Development Community, Magala said Mozambique needed to produce 8,000 megawatts by 2043 and his company needs to invest up to US$16 billion to achieve that target.

Source: Journal du Cameroun