Pemba, Mozambique, Aug. 4, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambican researcher João Feijó warned on Tuesday that the decision to hold the initial phase of the Mozambique LNG Academy in the south highlights the central government's «disregard» for the people of the north, threatening to deepen social discontent in Cabo Delgado.
«This is just a small indication of the central government's disregard for the peoples of the north of the country,» said João Feijó, a researcher at the Rural Environment Observatory (OMR) – a Mozambican non-governmental organisation and author of several studies on the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado since 2017 – which has already claimed more than 6,600 lives – in a province that is also rich in gas.
This stance comes after the Cabo Delgado Forum of Civil Society Organisations (Focade) and the Provincial Business Council (CEP) had also criticised the holding, last week in the city of Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo, of an initial training course for 260 young people selected for the natural gas industry in Cabo Delgado province, arguing that the initiative should take place in the province hosting the project led by the French multinational TotalEnergies.
Lusa attempted to obtain a response from TotalEnergies to this local criticism, given that the training took place some 2,300 kilometres from the gas production site, but has so far been unsuccessful.
For João Feijó, the controversy must be understood in the context of the expectations surrounding the Mozambique LNG project – led by TotalEnergies, located in Afungi, in the region of Palma, Cabo Delgado – and the limited economic benefits felt by the local population.
«Local businesspeople were already very frustrated that their expectations had not been met, and when they heard the news about the opening of the training centre in Maputo, they were naturally very unhappy,» he said.
According to the researcher, the way the project is currently structured significantly limits the movement of people and income within the local economy: «What we are seeing here is that in Afungi, the decision was taken to supply the project solely by sea and to bring in personnel by air. This greatly limits the economic impact of the project here on the ground.» «They arrive in Afungi, stay at the project site and do not leave it. Consequently, they do not come here to the district capital for anything,» he added.
The situation, he continued, contrasts with the expectations of economic growth that led many residents to invest in accommodation and other businesses.
«What is noticeable is that there are many houses which had built outbuildings that are now completely empty. There is very little activity here in the district headquarters town. It doesn't even seem as though there is a $24 billion [€20.8 billion] project being carried out 10 or 15 kilometres from here,» he said.
Although he believes that training a few dozen or a few hundred young people would not bring about a structural change to the province's socio-economic reality, Feijó feels that the decision has strong symbolic value.
«It is true that we are talking about just a few dozen or a few hundred jobs. That is not going to bring about any structural change here; the extractive industry creates few jobs,» he said, adding, however, that the situation «is nonetheless yet another reason to fuel discontent in the north of the country».
He warned that this discontent is not limited to the armed insurgency linked to groups associated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State, which has been affecting the province since 2017 and has already caused thousands of deaths and displaced people.
«The risk does not come solely from the men in the forest,» said Feijó, pointing out that there are currently several sources of discontent linked to youth unemployment, small-scale mining and community groups that could develop into protest movements.
In his view, these movements could pose a more far-reaching security challenge than the insurgency itself, as they have the potential to spread to different areas of the province.
«These other movements could affect all the provincial capitals, areas where the extractive industry operates, and major cities,» he said.
Despite the criticism, João Feijó believes that the project's promoters prioritise the protection of operations and investors.
«Their social pact is not with the population, but with investors. Their aim is to produce, export and generate profits.» He therefore argued that the responsibility for ensuring a more balanced distribution of the benefits of gas lies primarily with the Mozambican state.
«There is one partner in this project, and that is the Mozambican state. And it is the responsibility of the Mozambican state to create mechanisms to ensure that the benefits of this project are distributed a little more widely,» he concluded.
On Saturday, the Cabo Delgado Civil Society Organisations Forum expressed «concern and condemnation» at the decision to hold the first phase of the Mozambique LNG Academy in Matola, arguing that the training should take place in Cabo Delgado, where the project is located.
Similarly, the president of the Cabo Delgado Provincial Business Council, Mamudo Irache, described the situation as «absolute economic exclusion» of the province.
«We have a province with so many natural resources, yet all the vocational training courses related to oil and gas are centralised in Maputo. This is absolute economic exclusion of our province,» said Irache, arguing that local institutions, such as the Pemba Industrial School, or new infrastructure in Palma, should benefit from this type of investment.
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