Mozambique Electricity Situation
Overview
Mozambique has undertaken significant efforts in recent years to electrify the country. The electrification rate has increased from 5% in 2001 to 24% in 2017, and to 29% in 2019. Access to electricity, however, remains low and is mainly focused on urban areas. In 2019, 72% of the urban population had access to electricity compared to 5% of the rural population[1]. This imbalance represents an important challenge to achieving country-wide electrification by 2030, considering that the vast majority (63% in 2019) of Mozambique’s population lives in rural areas[2].
Electricity Situation
In 1977, two years after Mozambique’s independence, State-Owned utility, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), was founded. The purpose of EDM was to act as a unification body for the existing generation centres to promote industrial and agricultural development, as well as improve the extension and quality of household electrification. During the first years of operation, EDM functioned with a corporate management based on profit and later changed to a centralised price setting. However, it was not until the economic re-structuring of Mozambique in 1995, when EDM turned into a public company officially known as “EDM-E.P”[3].
