The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, has appointed Leticia Klemens (photo) as the new Energy Minister.This is coming just weeks after the country and Eni entered into a 20-year agreement to sell BP liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Leticia Klemens succeeds Pedro Couto who was removed in late September and appointed as the President of Mozambique's Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power company.Klemens was formerly the Chairwoman of Mozambique's largest commercial bank, the International Bank of Mozambique, and also directed the Association of Mozambican Businesswomen.

Six years ago, Mozambique discovered offshore gas reserves of about 85 trillion cubic feet, one of the biggest discoveries in ten years and large enough to supply Germany, Britain, France and Italy for close to two decades.

The Southern African Country and Italian-Eni are expected to reach a final investment decision by the end of this year on a project to construct a floating offshore platform with a capacity to produce 3.3 million tonnes of LNG annually from gas in the Coral South field. The Coral field is amongst the massive reserves discovered six years ago in the Area 4 concession off the Mozambican coast, according to Reuters.

Anita Fatunji