Financial value regime alignment and Mozambique's heterogeneous energy landscape

Meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 7 of universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 will require an unprecedented amount of private sector finance and development assistance. To this end, African utilities and governments are asked to put substantive efforts into aligning themselves with the demands of the dominant financial value regime of 'the Wall Street Consensus' (Gabor in Dev Change 52:429-459, 2021). Using the case of Mozambique, this article examines the strategies deployed by state actors to align themselves with this regime and the implications this has for the country's energy landscape, particularly in terms of environmental sustainability and social justice. It examines how two of the regime's principles-creditworthiness and bankability-permeate new legislative efforts in the on-grid and off-grid sectors, organizational structures, accounting and project management practices, attempts at disciplining workers and consumers, and the broader political economy of Mozambique. It also discusses how such efforts have perpetuated a fragmented energy landscape that does not always satisfy the needs of energy poor populations or facilitate decarbonization. The article concludes with a discussion of the relevance of our findings to crafting environmentally sustainable and socially just pathways for Africa's electrification. The article draws on the authors' ongoing field research in Mozambique, including the qualitative analysis of existing policies and of eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews with key informants (energy operators, donors and implementing partners) undertaken in late 2022.