MAPUTO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced Monday in central province Tete that the state will release 7.5 percent of the shares of Hidroelectrica Cahora Bassa (HCB) to the Mozambique Stock Exchange.
As the fourth largest dam in Africa and the main hydroelectric facility on the Zambezi River in western Mozambique, HCB supplies power to several Southern African countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Nyusi announced the plan during the 10th anniversary celebration for the transfer of the dam from Portugal to Mozambique.
"Through the Mozambican Stock Exchange (BVM), we will make available to citizens, companies and national institutions, 7.5 percent of the total shares of HCB," said Nyusi.
"After deep reflection, we decided to add value to the Mozambican saying that 'Cahora Bassa is already ours'. Thus, we announced that we have opened the shareholder structure of HCB to Mozambicans without any racial distinction," said the president.
The president added that Mozambicans and institutions that have capacity to generate income through national asset shall benefit too.
"All state-owned or private institutions should be managed through principles of profitability and transparency, being able to generate profits and contributing to the state treasury," he said.
The president also acknowledged that the waived shares of HCB "will not reach everyone, but it is a sign of inclusion and innovation through which this infrastructure is to be managed with transparency respecting the highest international standards" .
Filipe Nyusi also said that the debt of 800 million U.S. dollars that the Mozambican state had with Portugal was paid off last year.
The construction of Cahora Bassa Dam was completed in 1974, during the Portuguese colonial period. The HCB Company was owned by Portugal until 1992 and most of the shares were sold back to Mozambique until October 2007.
