French energy giant Total SA announced on Thursday the restart of its $20 billion natural gas project in northern Mozambique. The project had been forcibly suspended following an insurgency that erupted in the region in 2021, an uprising that resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced over one million people.
This liquefied natural gas (LNG) initiative is regarded as one of the largest energy investment projects in Africa, with external expectations that it will spur economic growth for Mozambique, a financially struggling southeastern African coastal nation of 34 million people.
Total SA's Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Pouyanné, declared the project "fully restarted" and stated the company anticipates the first gas delivery by 2029, concurrently pledging a "significant acceleration of project activities in the coming months."
At the Afungi project site in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province, Pouyanné, during an event attended by Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, declared, "The force majeure has been officially lifted."
In April 2021, as local insurgent forces grew stronger and attacks spread across various parts of Cabo Delgado province, creating instability in communities surrounding the project site, Total SA froze all operational work on the venture.
To quell the insurgency, Mozambique at the time invited military forces from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Rwanda to assist. In 2024, the SADC troops withdrew as their mandate expired, while Rwandan forces continued their presence. Since then, armed clashes have decreased, although sporadic firefights still occur.
Daniel Chapo, who won the 2024 presidential election with a campaign centered on economic recovery and improving national security, stated that the project's restart would help change the prevailing perception that "Cabo Delgado is only associated with terrorism."
He said, "Currently, when people talk about Cabo Delgado, the first thing that comes to mind is terrorism. We must demonstrate to the world, to our country, to the region, and to all of Africa that in Afungi, Cabo Delgado, project work has genuinely resumed."
Chapo described the project restart as "a crucial step in Mozambique's strategy for resource development, economic growth, and job creation," and also as "a significant milestone for the nation's economic recovery and renewed confidence in the future."
He revealed that the project would generate billions of dollars in fiscal revenue for the Mozambican government. Currently, the government holds a minority stake in the project alongside investors from India, Japan, and Thailand.
Pouyanné stated that the project would bring "employment opportunities and developmental prosperity" to the local area and contribute to achieving long-term peace. He added that the project would create over 4,000 jobs, 80% of which would be for Mozambican nationals, including a group of youths trained in skills such as carpentry and electrical work.
Furthermore, Pouyanné also pledged assistance for Mozambique. According to United Nations agencies, severe flooding earlier this month caused approximately 300 fatalities in Mozambique and its neighboring countries, South Africa and Zimbabwe, resulting in devastating damage.
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