Maputo, 3 May (AIM) – The Japanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Kenji Yamada, on Tuesday described Mozambique as an excellent gateway to southern Africa for Japanese investors.
He also believed that Mozambique is a strategic partner of Japan due to the enormous potential of its natural resources, particularly its reserves of natural gas, as well as its geo-strategic location.
Yamada was speaking in Maputo to Mozambican journalists shortly after a visit to the Maputo Thermal Power Station (CTM), an electricity infrastructure that was financed by the Japanese government.
The Japanese government and Japanese companies, he said, “are interested in Mozambique which is a gateway to the region of south-east Africa”.
Yamada’s visit precedes that of Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, who is due to arrive in Maputo on Wednesday afternoon, accompanied by a delegation of 54 people, including representatives of Japanese companies in sectors such as the building industry, banking and trade.
Kishida is expected to participate in the Mozambique-Japan Business Forum, and to visit Maputo Port and the Beluluane Industrial Park, in Boane district, where the Mozal aluminium smelter is located.
“Through this opportunity, we want to deepen our mutual understanding of business demands and opportunities, and to obtain some concrete results”, said Yamada.
He added that “Public-Private Collaboration” was one of the most important themes broached during the eighth Tokyo-Africa International Development Conference (TICAD-8) held in Tunisia in August 2022. Yamada believed that Kishida’s visit to Mozambique will help strengthen the cooperation between Japan and Africa.
The director for business development of Mozambique’s publicly owned electricity company, EDM, Pedro Ngueleme, stressed the Japanese investment of 180 million dollars for the construction of CTM, which he regarded as one of the most modern power stations in Africa.
CTM generates about 106 megawatts of power, which essentially meets the needs of Maputo city. Ngueleme said EDM plans to develop other projects with Japan including a second phase of CTM, which could generate a further 100 megawatts.
(AIM)
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