From November, Mozambique will earn USS5 million a month from the export of 50 megawatts of electricity from Tete province to Malawi.
The revenue could reach up to US$10 million per month if Malawi agreed to import 100 megawatts, but the foreign exchange shortage faced by the Lilongwe government is hampering the deal.
Construction of the 218 km 400-kilovolt transmission line connecting the Matambo substation in Tete, Mozambique, to the Phombeya substation in Balaka, Malawi, is nearly complete, with only finishing work in Mozambique remaining to be done.
Kankwamba Kumwenda, chief executive officer of ESCOM (Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi), acknowledged recently that the payment method for imported electricity will be a challenge for Malawi, a country with limited foreign exchange reserves, to meet all its needs outside the country.
Kumwenda said that Malawi will have to reinvent itself to find foreign currency, one way being by renegotiating contracts with Malawian companies to pay their consumption expenses in dollars.
Speaking at a press conference, Kamkwamba Kumwenda admitted that Malawi is experiencing an electricity crisis, due to the failure of components in generating equipment. Currently, 41 megawatts of Malawi’s 500 megawatt electricity generation capacity are offline, affecting electricity supply, especially in cities
