President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique and President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi have got together in Balaka, in southern Malawi, to ceremonially start construction of a link between the Mozambican and Malawian power grids, Mr Nyusi’s government says.

The link will consist of a 400 kW power transmission line 218 km long, costing US$127 million, and construction is due to be completed in October 2023, a written statement  issued by the Mozambican government quotes Mr Nyusi as saying at the ceremony on Tuesday.

Last month a Malawian newspaper, the Nyasa Times, reported that Electricity Supply Corp. of Malawi (ESCOM) had awarded one of the contracts for the link to Sinohydro Corp.

The Chinese state-owned company will upgrade the Matambo electricity substation in western Mozambique, the Nyasa Times quoted ESCOM Senior Project Manager Alex Kaitane as having said.