Maputo — The Mozambican government needs about 100 million dollars to implement the pilot rail electrification project, from Maputo city to the border with South Africa at Ressano Garcia, over a length of 88 kilometres.

According to Transport Minister Mateus Magala, who was speaking to reporters on Thursday, in Maputo, after a meeting with the Dutch ambassador, Elsbeth Akkerman, in the context of energy transition, there is a consensus that clean, green energies are the best bet for the future, in order to guarantee the well-being of new generations.

During this occasion, the ambassador demonstrated her first electric car and its solar-powered charging system, as a way to encourage the use of clean energy.

"We have a master plan that talks about how we should improve our mobility, the big challenge is the limited resources we have in terms of funding. Mass transport is the way to improve people's mobility', Magala said.

According to Magala, one of the ways out that the government has found is to create some demonstration projects, one of which is to encourage the use of railways.

For her part, the ambassador said that the planet is subject to many man-made pressures, pointing to climate change as being at the root of these phenomena.

"It's good that climate change is discussed every year at a global level at the United Nations conference on climate change. At the COP 28 in Dubai, Mozambique outlined its Energy Transition Strategy and intends to position itself as a clear destination for investments in renewable energy infrastructure and green industrialization', she said.

In the Netherlands, electrification of vehicles is already under way and they will enter the market in 2030, with an expected 1.9 million fully electric passenger vehicles on the road that can be charged at the same number of charging stations.