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Mozambique: 43 Percent of Filling Stations Are in Maputo

8 May 2008

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Maputo — There are 227 filling stations in Mozambique - but 43 per cent of them are concentrated in Maputo City, according to the Deputy Minister of Energy, Jaime Himade.

But on Thursday Himade guaranteed that this situation is about to change since the government intends to expand the network of fuel pumps into the countryside, and there are a series of investors interested in opening filling stations in the rural districts.

Speaking at the opening of a seminar in Maputo on safety regulations for filling stations, Himade said there was "a lot of interest, albeit in an isolated way" in opening rural filling stations. Investors had come to recognise the huge inconvenience caused by the shortage of fuel pumps in the districts. Furthermore, Himade argued, this pushed the price of fuel up the rural areas.

The chairperson of the National Energy Fund, Miquelina Menezes, recently told AIM that the government plans to invest around three million US dollars on installing solar-powered filling stations in rural areas. In an initial phase, at least 20 such filling stations will be build in Sofala, Manica, Cabo Delgado and Niassa provinces.

This expansion in the network of filling stations should be accompanied by legislation that will ensure better quality of service and greater security for the people who use the stations.

The Ministry of Energy is thus working to overhaul the current safety regulations which were drawn uop in 1958 and 1962.

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