The Government stated this Tuesday (2) that it has not yet received any formal notification regarding the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw financing from the Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) megaproject, led by TotalEnergies in Cabo Delgado province, according to Lusa.
“The Government has not yet been notified on the matter. In fact, even today, the Government was informed about the steps that need to be taken regarding the implementation of the last decision made to advance the Area 4 project,” said Inocêncio Impissa, spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, during a press conference held after the usual weekly Executive session in Maputo.
The British decision, communicated to Parliament in London last Monday, concerns the withdrawal of $1.1 billion (72.6 billion meticais) in financial support, initially guaranteed by the UK Export Finance (UKEF) in 2020.
The measure was justified by the increased risks associated with the project since its approval, particularly the armed violence incidents in Palma, which led TotalEnergies to declare “force majeure” in 2021 — later lifted in October.
In response, the Government assured that despite the UK’s withdrawal, the project’s resumption continues as planned and is not conditional on the completion of the audit of costs incurred during the suspension period. The French oil company now has a 30-day deadline to submit the corresponding schedule for restarting operations. Meanwhile, President Daniel Chapo recently denied the allegations of human rights violations associated with the project, considering the claims made by international organizations to be false. “The National Human Rights Commission visited Cabo Delgado and found no evidence of the allegations,” he stated.
Among the main critics is the European organization ECCHR, which filed a criminal complaint in France in November, accusing TotalEnergies of complicity in alleged war crimes, torture, and forced disappearances during security operations in Cabo Delgado.
In parallel, the environmental organization Friends of the Earth called this week on other financing countries — such as Italy, Japan, the United States, and South Africa — to follow the UK’s example and reconsider their support for the Mozambique LNG project.
According to the NGO, the project represents a “carbon time bomb” and could generate up to 4.5 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime.
Source: Diário Económico
