TotalEnergies and France seem to be inching toward resuming work on the gas inside a protection zone run by Rwanda, while the war continues elsewhere in Cabo Delgado. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne has said repeatedly he would not return until there is peace, but that seems increasingly unlikely, and he is under pressure to generate more gas to replace purchases from Russia.
The EU on 1 December for the first time agreed €20 mn “to support the continued deployment of Rwanda Defence Force in Cabo Delgado province”. Meanwhile on 1 December Rwandan President Paul Kagame said more troops had been sent to Mozambique the previous week and the total has reached 2500 – up from the original 1000. The main goal now is to chase the insurgents in other places where they have gone when they were pushed out of Palma and Mocimboa da Praia by the Rwandan army said Kagame. He also said “There is no single country or organisation that has given us even a single coin to use in those operations. It is the money of our country that we use.” (New Times Kigali 30 Nov, 2 Dec; European Council 1 Dec)
Webinar: How is Cabo Delgado? is organised by the two most important research organisations studying the Cabo Delgado war, OMR and ACLED. It is Wednesday 7 December at 15.00 Maputo-Johannesburg time (UCT/GMT +2). Thus 13.00 London, Lisbon, Accra and 14.00 Paris, Lagos. Must pre-register: bit.ly/3gw0Jtz. Speakers Peter Bofin of ACLED and Joao Feijó of OMR. ACLED publishes Cabo Ligado. Both thoughtful and very well informed.
Special Report on Five Years of Conflict in Northern Mozambique, Cabo Ligado Monthly: October 2022 (23 November 2022) A very useful summary of five years of insurgency, with a discussion of ideology and collective local leadership. Useful background for the webinar. https://bit.ly/Ligado-5yrs