Mozambique is poised to attract a record-breaking $5.88 billion in foreign direct investment in 2026, representing a 22.6 percent increase driven primarily by ambitious natural gas projects in the Rovuma Basin. The dramatic influx of capital will be influenced by the implementation of major liquefied natural gas production projects, according to supporting documents for the 2026 Social and Economic Plan and State Budget proposal.
The optimistic forecast follows an impressive trend of growing investor confidence in Mozambique’s gas sector. Foreign direct investment in the country more than doubled in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2024, reaching nearly $1.63 billion, with mining and gas sectors leading the charge. FDI grew by 41.5 percent in 2024 and 2 percent in 2023, establishing a clear upward trajectory.
On October 2, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi made a firm commitment that production from the Coral North LNG platform will commence within three years, positioning Mozambique as Africa’s third-largest natural gas producer. Speaking during the signing of the $7.2 billion Final Investment Decision for the second floating LNG platform, Descalzi emphasized this was not merely aspirational but a concrete commitment. The project partners, including Eni, the National Hydrocarbon Company, CNPC, Kogas, and XRG, formally signed the agreement in Maputo in the presence of President Daniel Chapo.
Descalzi guaranteed that Coral North, working alongside the identical Coral South platform, will double the country’s current production to seven million tonnes per annum, elevating Mozambique above other African producers except Nigeria and Algeria. Mozambique has three approved mega-projects to develop the Rovuma Basin’s LNG reserves, which rank among the largest in the world off the coast of Cabo Delgado. These include a TotalEnergies project valued at $20 billion, currently resuming after suspension due to terrorist attacks in the region, and an ExxonMobil project worth $30 billion awaiting a final investment decision.
The overnent announced in September that mozambique has already collected $235 million in revenues from 137 shipments of LNG and gas condensate abroad since 2022 from the Coral South platform, providing early evidence of the sector’s transformative economic potential.
Source: clubofmozambique.com