China and India: Examining Cooperation in Mozambique’s Low and High Carbon Energy Sector

TY - CONF

T1 - China and India

T2 - Africa-China Conference

AU - Kirshner, Joshua Daniel

PY - 2016/3/14

Y1 - 2016/3/14

N2 - Mozambique is currently enjoying a resource bonanza from major coal and offshore gas extractive projects, potentially valued at billions of dollars. Despite the considerable planning and political challenges posed by the coal and gas boom, investments by the ‘rising powers’ economies, and particularly Indian and Chinese firms, are diversifying the landscape for capital-intensive energy and supporting infrastructural projects. One view suggests that transnational investment and commercial ties between India, China and Mozambique hold the potential for building diversified international cooperation, extending beyond the energy trade into long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships, including capabilities and knowledge transfer. Moreover, India’s large diaspora in Mozambique and its shared colonial experience have created common links, which could deepen in the future. China also has a history of cooperation and solidarity with Mozambique dating from the 1960s. Yet evidence suggests that Indian and Chinese investment patterns in Mozambique are entrenching a high-carbon development pathway, in particular through the construction of a series of coal-fired power plants and involuntary population displacement to make way for extractive activities. This paper investigates the processes and consequences of India’s and China’s energy investments in Mozambique, arguing that despite some efforts to support green energy and infrastructure, they largely contribute to a high carbon energy transition.

AB - Mozambique is currently enjoying a resource bonanza from major coal and offshore gas extractive projects, potentially valued at billions of dollars. Despite the considerable planning and political challenges posed by the coal and gas boom, investments by the ‘rising powers’ economies, and particularly Indian and Chinese firms, are diversifying the landscape for capital-intensive energy and supporting infrastructural projects. One view suggests that transnational investment and commercial ties between India, China and Mozambique hold the potential for building diversified international cooperation, extending beyond the energy trade into long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships, including capabilities and knowledge transfer. Moreover, India’s large diaspora in Mozambique and its shared colonial experience have created common links, which could deepen in the future. China also has a history of cooperation and solidarity with Mozambique dating from the 1960s. Yet evidence suggests that Indian and Chinese investment patterns in Mozambique are entrenching a high-carbon development pathway, in particular through the construction of a series of coal-fired power plants and involuntary population displacement to make way for extractive activities. This paper investigates the processes and consequences of India’s and China’s energy investments in Mozambique, arguing that despite some efforts to support green energy and infrastructure, they largely contribute to a high carbon energy transition.

KW - International Cooperation

KW - China in Africa

KW - India in Africa

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 15 March 2016 through 15 March 2016

ER -