Mozambique Energy: EdM claims US$100M in losses due to illegal connections

Mozambican state electricity company EDM loses US$100 million annually due to illegal connections to its grid, the company’s new chairman, Ale Sicola, told Mozambican newspaper O Pais adding that he plans to introduce “smart” electricity meters to minimise the problem.

Sicola also told the newspaper that the debts of Mozambican public institutions and state-run Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) to Electricidade de Moçambique “are suffocating the company.”

In 2018, Electricidade de Moçambique recorded losses amounting to US$50 million.

Sicola was named chairman of the EDM Board of Directors last Tuesday by the Mozambican Council of Ministers, replacing Mateus Magala, who stood down in October to enable him to serve as vice president of the African Development Bank.

At the time of his appointment, the new chairman was the Director of Planning and Business Development at EDM, and he is a graduate of Electronic Engineering from Eduardo Mondlane University, where he also taught in several departments. (macauhub)