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The signing ceremony of the power interconnector deal between Malawi and Mozambique which is expected to take place soon will be done in Maputo.
The event was supposed to take place during the first week or second week of December last year in Tete.
Confirming the change of venue, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola said communication has already reached Capital Hill that the signing venue is Maputo and not Tete.
“All is set what remain is for our counterparts to confirm the date and we have been assured that it will be set very soon,” said been attributed to the festive season holidays.
“Our friends had a month rest and they have only commenced work on February 1, 2013, but any time soon we will be travelling to Maputo to seal the deal,” he said.
Matola further said government is seriously working on addressing the issue of power supply in the country as it will help address challenges in foreign exchange.
“As government we are taking the issue seriously. And we will also bring the issue up for discussion at the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) conference which will be held next week in Mangochi,” said Matola.
The power interconnector received resistance from the previous regime as it was said to be costly at US$480,000 per month.
However, Ministry of Energy Principal Secretary Winford Masanjala last month said the cost was not what the nation was meant to believe.
He said there will be two levels of agreement thus government to government and supplier to supplier.
“There will be an agreement between the Mozambican and Malawi governments which is expected to be signed anytime soon and then there will be another one between Escom and Electridad.
“The supplier’s agreement is the one which will now go into specifics of different components of5 buying power,” said Masanjala.
Malawi’s total demand for power currently stands at 300MW while the country’s generation capacity is only 266MW and power supply remains the highest obstacle in doing business in the country.
