Mozambique’s natural gas reserves discovered in 2010 could contribute to making the country one of Africa’s largest economies by 2028, when its gas production is to reach its peak, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reported Star Africa.

Mozambique discovered 180tcm of natural gas deposits in the Rovuma river basin in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. The volume is the equivalence of Nigeria’s entire national gas reserves. The two operators, US company Anadarko and Italy’s ENI are presently developing plans to build Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plants to market the gas with a total investments amounting to more than $100b, according to Footprint to Africa.

The production from the gas field is scheduled to begin in 2021 and Mozambique could supply half of its energy needs from natural gas by the mid-2020s, the African Business Review added citing the IMF.

The IMF also projected that Mozambique could become the world’s third largest gas exporter after Qatar and Australia. In additional estimates by IMF, Mozambican economy is expected to grow 24% between 2012 and 2025, before falling back to the 3%-4% growth as late as 2028.