Data-center law in Mozambique

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-07

Mozambique has no data-centre-specific siting, permitting, or utility statute; a data-centre project is governed by the general grid-connection, environmental, and investment-incentive regimes that apply to any large facility.

Grid connection and any onsite generation fall under the Electricity Law (Lei n.º 12/2022, de 11 de Julho), which exempts self-production for a person's own use from the concession requirement but still requires an establishment licence and an operating licence for any electrical installation, and subjects grid-scale production, transport, distribution, and commercialisation to a concession granted by the Minister responsible for energy.

Mozambique also operates an environmental impact assessment and licensing regime, currently under Decreto n.º 54/2015 (Regulamento sobre o Processo de Avaliação do Impacto Ambiental) as later amended by Diploma Ministerial n.º 118/2022, which sorts projects into categories A+, A, and B and requires environmental licensing before construction; the located copies of that regulation are corrupted scans that cannot support a quoted provision, so its category thresholds and licensing steps are not described here.

Private investment, including in a data centre, is governed by the Private Investment Law (Lei n.º 8/2023, de 9 de Junho), which repealed the prior Investment Law (Lei n.º 3/93, de 24 de Junho) and offers fiscal and customs incentives to national and foreign investors under either a mere-registration or an authorisation regime, without naming an information-technology or data-infrastructure sector specifically.

Instruments on record

2 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Energy and grid

What authorizations govern grid connection and onsite generation?

Electricity Law, Licensing and Concession Regime

In force

Lei n.º 12/2022, de 11 de Julho (Lei da Electricidade)

Applies to both

Article 9 requires the production, storage, transport, distribution, and commercialisation of electricity, including its import and export, and the construction, operation, and management of electrical installations, by public or private persons, to be authorised, and directs a concession request to the Minister responsible for energy, processed through ARENE (the energy regulator), which must grant or refuse the request within 180 days.

Article 15(1) exempts from the concession requirement electricity production for a person's own use and consumption that is not intended for supply to third parties. Article 15(2) nonetheless requires any electrical installation to hold an establishment licence and an operating licence under the applicable legislation, regardless of that exemption.

Article 52 makes it an infraction to supply electricity without the necessary concession, to establish or operate an electrical installation without the corresponding licence, or to fail to comply with the obligations imposed on a licence or concession holder, and provides that these infractions may, without prejudice to other proceedings, give rise to criminal procedure. The Law replaced the prior Electricity Law, Lei n.º 21/97, de 1 de Outubro.

Source: Full text of law

Public agreements

What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?

Private Investment Law, Fiscal and Non-Fiscal Incentive Regimes

In force

Lei n.º 8/2023, de 9 de Junho (Investimentos Privados)

Applies to both

Article 1 states the Law's object as the legal regime, bases, and general principles applicable to private investments in Mozambique that are eligible for fiscal and non-fiscal guarantees and incentives. Article 2 applies the Law to any economic undertaking realised in Mozambican territory seeking such guarantees or incentives, including national and foreign investment and public-private partnerships, large-scale projects, and business concessions.

Article 19 guarantees fiscal and customs incentives defined in the Tax Benefits Code for investments made under the Law and its regulations, where the legal requirements are met.

Article 22 subjects an investment project to one of two regimes to obtain the Law's guarantees and incentives: a mere-registration regime, consisting of simply presenting an investment proposal for registration and the attribution of applicable incentives, or an authorisation regime, which applies to large-scale investment projects, projects with foreseeable economic, environmental, security, or public-health implications, and public-private partnerships and business concessions.

Article 28 provides for sanctions on infractions under the Law: a written warning setting a deadline to remedy the infraction, loss of the right to granted fiscal incentives and other facilities, or revocation of the authorisation or cancellation of the investment registration, graduated by the infraction's severity, the investor's fault, its economic situation, and the economic benefit obtained. The Law repeals the prior Investment Law, Lei n.º 3/93, de 24 de Junho.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.