Mozambique offered a portfolio of small renewable energy projects to foreign investors on Tuesday which it hopes will attract $500 million in investment and give everyone in the southern African country electricity by 2030.

Around 60 percent of people living in Mozambique, which is highly indebted, have no access to electricity.

“The initiative is intended to ensure that within a 15 year horizon the Mozambican population has access to electricity outside the national power grid, thanks to small autonomous systems,” the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy said.

It plans to do this by providing electricity to some 332 villages around the country using hydro and solar power.

The portfolio has identified potential sites for projects using solar, hydro or a combination and could attract an estimated investment of $500 million, it said

Reporting by Manuel Mucari; editing by Alexander Smith

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