Mozambique: ‘Poor and Rural Mozambicans Hit Hard By Lack of Access, Connection to Electricity Grid

Majority of citizens say their government is doing a poor job of providing a reliable supply of electricity.

Key findings

• Fewer than half (47%) of Mozambicans live in zones served by the national electricity grid. o Only 22% of rural residents are within reach of the grid, compared to 88% of urban residents. More educated and economically better-off citizens are also far more likely to live in zones served by the grid than those with less schooling and lower economic status.
• Similarly, 44% of Mozambicans live in households that are connected to the national power grid. o Among those who are connected to the grid, 89% say their electricity works “most of the time” or “all of the time.”
• Combining connection and reliability rates shows that only about four in 10 citizens (39%) enjoy a reliable supply of electricity, including just 11% of those with no formal education, 18% of rural residents, and 24% of citizens experiencing high lived poverty.
• Electricity ranks fourth among the most important problems that Mozambicans want their government to address.
• A slim majority (53%) of citizens say the government is doing a poor job of providing a reliable supply of electricity, up from 42% in 2021. o This assessment is particularly widespread among the less educated (61%-73%), the poorest citizens (62%), and rural residents (67%).

While Mozambique sells energy to its regional neighbours – South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia being the largest export markets – only 40% of the country’s population has access to grid electricity (OEC World, 2024; Energypedia, 2022).

Notwithstanding substantial improvements in the country’s electrification rate, which stood at 6% in 2000, a major report by five multilateral organisations on energy progress found that 22 million Mozambicans still lack access to electricity (IEA, IRENA, UNSD, World Bank, & WHO, 2023). Moreover, only 5% of citizens have access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, placing Mozambique among the bottom 20 countries worldwide (World Bank, 2021). The country’s access deficit can be explained by an underdeveloped transmission and distribution network, limited financing, and a complex bureaucracy that stalls the development of new power projects (International Trade Administration, 2024).

Mozambique’s national electrification strategy aims to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030 by expanding electricity infrastructure and introducing off-grid solutions (Government of Mozambique, 2018). It is complemented by the national power utility’s strategy, which seeks to widen access to energy, provide quality electricity, and expand generation and transmission capacity to meet growing domestic energy needs and promote industrial development (Electricidade de Moçambique, 2018).

In 2019, Mozambique received grants worth US$148 million from the World Bank and the European Union, Sweden, and Norway to improve energy access in five of the country’s poorest provinces – Niassa, Nampula, Zambezia, Cabo Delgado, and Sofala (World Bank, 2019). More recently, the African Development Bank (2023) provided a US$33.25 million grant to build the Songo-Matambo electricity transport line to distribute power to central and northern Mozambique.

A recent Afrobarometer survey provides an on-the-ground look at electricity access in the country. Findings show that electricity ranks fourth on citizens’ list of priorities requiring urgent government attention. More than half of Mozambicans say the government is performing poorly in the provision of electricity.

While close to half of citizens live in zones served by the electric grid, only about four in 10 enjoy a reliable supply of electricity, including just one-fifth of rural residents and one-fourth of the poor.

Asafika Mpako Asafika is the communications coordinator for Southern Africa

Stephen Ndoma Stephen is the assistant project manager for Southern Africa