Maputo — Mozambican Minister of Industry and Trade Silvino Moreno says the country meets all the requirements to adopt Green Industrialization, thanks to its huge power generation potential, adequate infrastructures and favourable geographical location.
The minister voiced his conviction on Wednesday (26), in Maputo, at the 28th Conference of Senior Officials of the United Nations Council for Southern Africa (UNECA), which runs in parallel with the 61st Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OEACP) and the 42nd Session of the African, Caribbean and Pacific - European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
"We have all the conditions to implement green industrialization, which we have already started with, for example, the construction of the Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric dam and solar power projects all over the country.
These are good indicators of Mozambique's preparedness for Green Industrialization", Moreno said.
The minister appointed out as another major development challenge digital technologies, as these require huge investments.
"Digitalization is a challenge for Mozambique, and we want to adopt Green Industrialization policies. We want to develop Green Industrialization, because it presents itself as an environmentally friendly platform, by the adoption of low polluting technologies", the minister said.
During the meeting participants also discussed Mozambique's preparedness to join the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The country signed the agreement but, according to Mozambique's Constitution, it must be ratified by the Assembly of the Republic.
"We are taking the necessary steps to domesticate the legislation, while also looking at the customs legislation", Moreno said, adding that this is a good opportunity for the country, looking at the huge number of consumers, which is estimated at 1.3 billion.
"We have an extensive coastline and we have infrastructure that can boost African trade", he said, adding that the meeting, which ends on Thursday (27), will produce some important decisions and recommendations from the point of view of actions for the country to easily integrate the African Free Market.
At the meeting, UNECA regional director, Eunice Kamwemdo, stressed the need to boost Green Industrialization in Mozambique as a means to protect the environment and arrest climate change.
"Mozambique is a country struggling with climate change. The implementation of Green Industrialization has the potential to generate environmental gains", Kamwemdo said, stressing that natural disasters affect the entire southern African region, hence the need for adoption of strategies for environmental protection.
"We must industrialize and diversify our economies by creating sustainable jobs. There is a need to invest deeply in Green Industrialization. This can be done without using the same path of the developed countries. We have to invest in other economies, such as tourism, for example", she said.
In attendance were representatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), experts from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNICTAD), government officials and other guests.
*GEMROCK CALLS FOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT TO RESUME MINING OPERATIONS AFTER TERRORIST ATTACK*
Maputo, 26 Oct (AIM) - The company Gemrock, which holds a concession for ruby mining in the district of Montepuez, northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, confirms a terrorist attack on the morning of 20 October, and calls for government support to resume its operations.
Gemrock explains in press release that its operations were attacked by a group of heavily armed insurgents, who "in about 30 minutes, torched the heavy machinery equipment, vehicles, living accommodations and other key infrastructure at the Gemrock operations.
Thanks to Gemrock security team and Gardaworld they successfully managed to evacuate all their personnel from its site unharmed.
Gemrock praises the swift response of the Mozambican army who averted what could have been a much bigger loss to both life and assets, though no insurgents could be apprehended.
"Gemrock was forced to suspend its operations after this ghastly attacked since most of the heavy mining equipment required to run its operations has been charred by the insurgents", reads the statement.
This attack not only affected Gemrock but also the neighbouring ruby mining companies Gemfields and Fura.
There is panic and chaos amongst all its team members comprising of expats from India, UK, South Africa etc. and the locals, affecting the lives of thousands of people connected directly or indirectly with the Montepuez ruby mining complex.
Gemrock explains that the situation has been further exacerbated by the fact that nearby villages which were a growing community and had one or more family member employed with Gemrock have fled their villages and are trying to resettle in safer areas and may never return to their homes.
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This will not only impact Gemrock but would deprive these people of their steady income and make them go back to living a life which is neither in their interest and nor in the interest of the overall society at large.
While Gemrock is doing its best to work closely to find a best way to resume its operations, without critical Government support the entire Mozambique ruby industry remains at risk. Gemrock has invested over 2 billion meticais (31 million US dollars at the current exchange rate) in its Mozambique operations and was on the cusp of expanding its operations.
However, these plans have now been on the back burner.
Gemrock to resume its operations and bring normalcy to the neighbouring villages, it is imminent that various Government departments proactively help and support.
The shareholders and management of Gemrock are quite concerned about the situation on the ground and would like to request the support of the Mozambican Government authorities to bring normalcy to the operations as soon as possible.
