Some 400 officials are meeting in Maputo from Wednesday to discuss ways to involve Mozambique-based companies in business relating to the natural gas industry, which is just starting up in the country.

The Conference on Local Content in the Oil and Gas sector in Mozambique, as the event is called, is being organised by the state energy company, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), and is held on Wednesday and Thursday.

The conference is taking place at a time when Mozambique is expecting within four years to start exporting gas found in the Rovuma basin, off the coast of northern Mozambique, some 1,500 kilometres from the capital.

The projects entailed will require suppliers of all kinds – from construction materials to food for canteens – and the idea is to ensure that local companies secure a big slice of the pie.

The meeting’s main objective, according to organisers, “is to propose solutions with legal instruments that can make viable Mozambican participation in the industry, as well as in the development of financial solutions with a view to consolidating the participation of businesses.”

Local businesses are calling for the state to mobilise funding to enable companies to take part in projects relating to the production of oil and gas, according to the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA).

It stresses the importance of strengthening the private sector in the country to take advantage of the business opportunities generated by the exploitation of natural resources.