Terrorists said to be affiliated to the Islamic State have resumed their violent attacks in Northern Mozambique where TotalEnergies’ ambitious $20 billion liquified natural gas (LNG) project is located.
Already, the violence has forced some companies to shut down; including a solar power plant operated by Neoen SA as well as Australian company Syrah Resources Ltd which has been mining graphite for Tesla in the region since December.
For TotalEnergies, the violence is threatening to further delay the completion of its gas project, Bloomberg reported last week. The publication quoted Ryan Cummings, a director at South Africa-based Signal Risk, to have stated that “this is going to have quite a significant implication on when, or if, we see a resumption of the LNG project. It’s definitely going to create jitters.”
Back in April, TotalEnergies’ CEO Patrick Pouyanne also disclosed that the company does not plan to resume work on the facility when it is still “surrounded by refugee camps. I will not send any of my people or contractors to face a difficult situation.”
The ambitious gas project, which is one of the largest in Africa, has been on hold since January last year due to the activities of IS-backed terrorists.
Do note that the new wave of violent attacks is coming after earlier attempts by regional forces to retake territories captured by the terrorists. Business Insider Africa understands that the security situation in Northern Mozambique has persisted since 2017. It has also led to over 4,000 people loosing their lives in execution-styled killings that often involve beheadings.
More than 700,000 people are reported to have been displaced internally by the conflict. This month alone, over 10, 000 Mozambicans have fled their homes.
An earlier report by Business Insider Africa listed the East African country as one of the top five conflict hotspots on the continent.
The United Nations (UN) also recently declared that Mozambique facing a humanitarian catastrophe “beyond epic proportions.”