Eni Rovuma Basin and Government of Cabo Delgado sign a cooperation agreement for the implementation of sustainable development projects

Pemba (Mozambique), 3 May 2022 - Eni Rovuma Basin, on behalf of Area 4 Partners, signed today a Cooperation Agreement with the Government of Cabo Delgado for the implementation of an integrated resilience project to strengthen the communities' ability to protect and restore mangroves, thus contributing towards the mitigation of climate changes. This project also includes the development of a sustainable agriculture program and access to water and sanitation to be implemented in the district of Mecufi.

The mangrove restoration and conservation program will consist of replanting the seedlings in the Zaulane A, Muaria and Muinde Localities and will cover an area of ​​about 10 hectares along the coast of Mecufi. In parallel, economic diversification activities will be promoted, such as beekeeping and aquaculture, to serve as an alternative source of income for the communities, and to help protect mangroves and biodiversity ecosystems that are at risk. The agreement includes the promotion of educational and awareness campaigns on the environmental conservation, which will be performed in the schools within the communities.

The sustainable agriculture program will cover an area of ​​40 hectares and consists on the implementation of a combined system of forest conservation and agriculture, which will allow for production of food, as well as the recovery of degraded areas and the transmission of good practices in the management and use of natural resources. This component will benefit around 500 small farmers.

Regarding access to water, 6 water wells will be built and two more will be rehabilitated in the villages of Muária, Sambene and Natuco, in order to increase the access to potable water and improve hygiene and sanitation conditions for these communities.

The Mecúfi integrated resilience project reaffirms Eni Rovuma Basin's commitment to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and it fits into Eni's strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050, combining environmental, social and economic sustainability to deliver on a just energy transition. This project is executed as part of the Sustainability Plan of the Coral South project of Area 4 and it will be implemented by Universidade Lúrio.

The Coral South project will be the first to put into production considerable resources of natural gas in Mozambique, starting in the second half of 2022. It is operated by Eni Rovuma Basin on behalf of the Area 4 partners, namely Eni, ExxonMobil, CNPC, Galp, Kogas and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos.

About Eni

Eni has been present in Mozambique since 2006. Between 2011 and 2014, the company discovered supergiant natural gas resources in the Rovuma basin, in the Coral, Mamba Complex and Agulha reservoirs, holding estimated 2,400 billion cubic metres of gas in place. Eni also holds exploration rights to offshore blocks A5-B, Z5-C and Z5-D in the Angoche and Zambezi basins.