Mozambique green lights 30 Mgy sugar ethanol project, but is it wise?

The government of Mozambique signed with Central African Mining and Exploration Company (CAMEC) for the 30 Mgy sugar-based ethanol plant known as Procana. The plant and sugar cane will be located in 30,000 hectares in Massingir district, in the southern province of Gaza.

The plant is expected to commence operation in 2010. The financing of the plant and surrounding infrastructure was not disclosed.
“Mozambique can probably finance its [biofuels] goals,” said Nik Kornaros, CEO of North State Group, a communications company that works extensively in the region. “However it begs the question if this is an optimal use of the national resources. My concern would be that this is an effort to gain a national presence internationally as a country moving forward. Will this investment make them constrained to have to provide the agricultural base to support a plant as opposed to having the flexibility to address some newer direction that agriculture might lead them?”

Last month, Brazil and Mozambique signed a cooperation agreement for sharing resources in biofuels production and training.

The document, which was signed by Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mozambique’s Armando Guebuza, details a technical exchange between the countries, training, and support from Brazil for production and marketing of biodiesel and ethanol in Mozambique.

Mozambique and Brazil are members of the IPA, the association of Portuguese-speaking countries, which include Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor.

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