UNHCR, African Development Bank and Mozambican government help refugees

In Mozambique’s Nampula province, UNHCR has partnered with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the government to provide electricity to refugees and displaced people living at the Maratane refugee settlement.

under the Energy for All project.

Charlotte Fatuma and Neema Cenga are refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) living in Mozambique. 

Charlotte is a successful businesswoman, running a small shop in Maratane refugee settlement, and Neema is a mother trying to raise and educate her children.

“When you don’t put on electricity, everything is dark. The customers can’t enter here to buy when you don’t have electricity", said Charlotte Fatuma, Congolese Refugee living in Mozambique. 

"I am happy about the electricity because I don’t need to buy kerosene anymore.
It helps me a lot. My children are happy because the young ones used to be afraid of the night, because it was dark", added Neema Cenga, a Mozambican Internally Displaced Person. 

The Energy for All project has several components and contributes to the government’s ambition to provide every Mozambican, including refugees and displaced people in Nampula province with electricity by 2030.

"Nampula province's exposure to extreme events makes it one of the most vulnerable provinces, because it has a long coastline, which is cyclically affected by natural extreme events. UNHCR is doing its best in benefiting the communities mainly in the approach of integrating the internally displaced. The province has defined as a priority, when we benefit the internally displaced, we also look at the host communities. These kinds of actions are taking place with more impact", explained Alberto Armando, from Mozambique's National Disasters Management Institute.

In December 2022 Mozambique counted over one million internally displaced people due to violence in Cabo Delgado province and as a result of climate change. 

The country also hosts around 29,000 refugees.