The offer, announced in the South African capital Pretoria on Monday, follows a request by the South African government last month.

Mozambique's Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Carlos Zacarias said the commercial agreement defining the price and how and when the energy would be channelled to South Africa "should be closed very soon".

South Africa’s electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgoba, said he was “happy” with the swift response by the Mozambican government, adding that technicians were working to make operations viable.

Mr Zacarias announced that Mozambique would make available, within six months, another 600MW of additional energy.