Mozambique could join Australia, Qatar in league of world’s largest Gas producers
Mozambique could become the third world’s largest Gas producer after Australia and Qatar should it secure the needed foreign investment in the range of $20Bn to $25Bn according to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
The study released this week says East Africa will become a focus of the global gas industry with Mozambique and Tanzania leading as the new gas frontiers in the region.
“Large gas finds in both African nations would make the world take note of east Africa as an emerging player in the global industry. A huge obstacle to growth in Tanzania and Mozambique is the cost of the infrastructure required, which neither country can afford without help from foreign investors,” Says the Coordinator of PwC study Chris Bredenhann.
The study lauds ongoing funding and upgrades on infrastructure by the Chinese government and corporations in countries like Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa which it says will make it easier for foreign investors to operate in Africa.
Despite the increased investments PwC warns that the inflow of foreign investment into the continent that has been put at $1 billion every 17 days in 2013 will not reflect in the economies of these nations immediately.
Oil and gas heavyweights including BP, Chevron and Eni have already invested in Mozambique as they position themselves to be at the forefront in presumably Africa’s largest gas region the study adds.
At the same time Mozambique is also expected to rival Australia, the USA and Papua New Guinea as a major gas exporter to Asia once it starts exports in the next five years.
In Tanzania and Kenya the study warns that corruption remains a major hurdle for investors with Transparency International ranking the two at 102 and 136 respectively out of 177 countries.
In the meantime Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt continue to lead in gas production in Africa with a total annual gas output of 1.8 trillion cubic meters accounting to 90 percent of the continent’s output.