In early August 2020, fighters from the Islamist group Al Sunnah wa Jama’ah (ASWJ) captured the port of Mocímboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. The port is about 40 miles south of a natural gas project run by French energy giant Total, which will exploit the third-largest gas reserves in Africa. This is one of several projects being developed by major energy corporations, such as BP, US-based ExxonMobil, and China National Petroleum Corporation. Bjork Lind reports.
After the capture of Mocímboa da Praia, Total and Mozambique’s government swiftly made a deal to increase armed security to protect their gas facilities while relying on private security companies to do most of their fighting. It has since been revealed that the mercenaries – provided by private companies in France, South Africa and Canada among others – and the Mozambican military and police are torturing and killing people whom they falsely claim are involved with ASWJ. Journalists reporting on the gas industry have gone missing and an estimated 500,000 people are seeking refuge in neighbouring provinces as a result of this war. The claim that Islamist terrorism is the greatest threat to business and peace in Cabo Delgado diverts attention away from the social roots of the conflict, that is, poverty and imperialist plunder. It also provides an opportunity for the fossil fuel industry to intimidate and repress the people of Cabo Delgado and deepen its exploitation.
Corporate plunder
Energy corporations have committed to invest up to $128bn into gas projects in Mozambique over a decade. Total has already secured about $16bn in debt financing, which, according to the Financial Times, will be the biggest foreign direct investment in Africa. Mozambique’s state-owned oil and gas company, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, holds a 15% stake in the Total-led project. However, Mozambique will not see a penny of profit until long after gas production has started, placing the country in a serious debt crisis. Any benefits from the investment will be grabbed by a small corrupt elite which has been in the making through decades of shock therapy and bribery by the World Bank and the IMF. The people of Mozambique will pay for the country’s growing indebtedness and are already bearing the massive human costs of the extraction of gas.
Soon after the discovery of gas in 2010 it became clear that even though exploration and extraction will take place offshore, a large number of communities would have to be evicted to make way for the support facilities onshore. The casual attitude of Mozambique’s government towards forced human resettlement has made it easy for corporations to strip families from their livelihoods and force them from their homes. Consequently, thousands of people in Cabo Delgado have either lost their land or have been cut off from their fishing grounds. According to Friends of the Earth, corporations have offered local communities land a mere tenth of the size of their original plots and many families have not been resettled at all. Just 4,700 Mozambican workers have officially been employed on the construction site. In comparison, over 2,000 jobs in Britain will be supported by the Total-led gas project.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, 46.1% of the Mozambican population live below the national poverty line and only 24.2% have access to electricity. The rates of poverty and malnutrition in Cabo Delgado are higher than the national average. The majority Muslim population is among the poorest in the province and the most negatively affected by the extractive industries. These conditions have fuelled resentment towards the Mozambican state and the private companies, with more people speaking out against the impact of the gas projects and, in so doing, risking their lives. Local journalist Ibrahimo Abu Mbaruco has been missing since 7 April; his last message was one informing his mother that the military was arresting him. Selemane, a vocal community member of a town near the gas projects, disappeared on 20 May, 24 hours after speaking out against the mistreatment by the military and private security forces. Others have joined the ASWJ, which is said to provide members and supporters with financial support.
Preparing the grounds for interventions
The governments of the US and South Africa, which are among the backers of the Total project, are using Islamist terrorism as an excuse to create a military foothold in the country. At a briefing on drug trafficking in Africa, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Heather Merritt said ‘we are very concerned about Mozambique’ and the ‘recent positions on the ground by criminal organisations’. Merritt made it clear that the US was willing to assist the government in Mozambique and has already offered to help ‘train civilians and security forces’ on the ground. South Africa’s intelligence chief, Ayanda Diodlo, has stated that her government is ‘taking very, very seriously’ the terrorist threat, and Africa Intelligence reports that the South African government has already formed a rapid intervention unit to fight the Islamic insurgency. Just off the coast of Mozambique is the island of Mayotte, which is a French possession with a French military base. The governments of France and Mozambique are discussing a maritime cooperation agreement, which could eventually allow direct French intervention to protect Total’s investments.
