Maputo, July 25, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambican business leaders on Friday called for peace in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, which has been the target of rebel attacks since 2017, so that TotalEnergies' mega gas project can resume, recognising that, with attacks, “it is not possible for multinationals to operate”.
“Total would have been producing for a long time, but the problem is that these impasses [attacks] create constraints, (...) it is not possible for multinationals to operate without peace and this was one of the points we made in our speech, that peace is essential for business to flow," said the president of the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), Álvaro Massingue.
The leader of the Mozambican private sector was responding to questions from journalists on the sidelines of the 11th Business Environment Monitoring Council on the resumption of the US$20 billion (€17.3 billion) megaproject by multinational TotalEnergies in the Rovuma basin, suspended four years ago in a context where attacks by rebel groups are still taking place in Cabo Delgado province.
“Without peace, it is impossible for investors to feel comfortable continuing in our country. I think that as soon as peace flows, the country will see an avalanche of investors, because it is an attractive country and is full of resources that attract investment, but peace is needed,” said the leader of the Mozambican ‘bosses’.
On 11 July, Lusa reported on the meeting between TotalEnergies president Patrick Pouyanné and the Mozambican president, with the resumption of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) megaproject imminent, after Daniel Chapo recently called on the oil company to return to the project.
A source from the French multinational told Lusa that the meeting (held on 10 July) took place in Maputo, but did not reveal any further details of the agenda. Patrick Pouyanné had previously admitted the possibility of resuming the project by August, and several subcontractors are receiving instructions to prepare to return to work on the Afungi peninsula, in Cabo Delgado, in the far north of Mozambique, suspended four years ago due to terrorist attacks.
TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is currently developing the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, for the production and export of LNG.
On 22 June, the Mozambican president argued that TotalEnergies should lift the ‘force majeure’ clause, triggered in 2021 due to terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, so that the natural gas megaproject can finally move forward.
“The most important thing right now with TotalEnergies is the lifting of the ‘force majeure’. No matter how many development plans [for the gas project] are signed, without the lifting of the ‘force majeure’, we will not be doing anything,” said the Mozambican head of state on that date.
“If the ‘force majeure’ is lifted,” he said, “the project will go ahead,” with an anticipated annual production capacity of 13.12 million tonnes of LNG.
He added that, according to information from TotalEnergies, of the US$15 billion (€13 billion) still needed to finance the project, US$13 billion (€11.3 billion) is guaranteed, recalling the previous announcement by US Exim Bank, the United States' export bank, which in March confirmed its support of US$4.7 billion (€4 billion), with a decision from European banks on the remainder still pending.
Mozambique has three approved development projects for the exploration of natural gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, classified among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.
Since October 2017, the gas-rich province has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State, which have displaced more than one million people, including 349 killed in 2024 alone, according to data from the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the US Department of Defense that analyses conflicts in Africa.
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