Pemba, Mozambique, Aug. 4, 2025 (Lusa) - Business leaders in Cabo Delgado fear that security restrictions against attacks will hamper the provision of local services to TotalEnergies' natural gas megaproject, but the governor of the north Mozambican province says there is no cause for concern.
“Supplies will be delivered by air and sea. Is the local private sector, particularly in Cabo Delgado province, in a position to transport its goods by air or sea?” asked Mamudo Irache, chairman of the business council in that northern province, in statements to Lusa.
“We are afraid of being left out of the project,” he said, pointing out that activities involving TotalEnergies personnel outside the complex would not leave money in the hands of local businesspeople.
At issue is the forecast, put forward by TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, of a resumption in August of the US$20 billion megaproject for the production and export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in Afungi, suspended since 2021 due to attacks by Islamic extremists.
However, local businesspeople say they have been informed that goods and services will only be supplied to the complex by air and sea, and not by land, for security reasons.
"There is a businessman in Moeda, there is a businessman in Macomia, there is a businessman in Chiúri [regions in the interior of Cabo Delgado], who have no access to the sea. How are they going to do it?" asks Irache.
The governor of Cabo Delgado province, Valige Tauabo, told Lusa that he was looking forward to the imminent return of TotalEnergies, but also that he did not believe that local businessmen would be left out.
“We are sure that Total will not close itself off,” he said, adding: “We believe that there may have been something in terms of communication, of a misunderstanding in communication, but we have faith that Total does not want to close itself off, as may have been understood.”
He also guarantees that the oil company's concerns in adopting some more restrictive measures are related to the safety of the complex and its workers. “This is what Total is pushing for, first in terms of safety (...), so that when it resumes, it does so with all the necessary precautions, and the government is also doing its part,” he assured.
For business owners, however, concerns remain about the possibility of workers being isolated inside the complex, without contact with the outside world to drive business.
“They should live in the community. They work there, return to the community, take advantage of renting the guesthouses that are there, the houses that were built for that purpose, and enjoy cooking the community’s typical food,” says the representative of Cabo Delgado’s business leaders.
Thus, he says, “the 15 or 20 days they spend there working” come to an end.
“And what will the local businessman get out of it?” he asks.
From vehicles, logistical support and food to construction materials, Cabo Delgado’s business leaders say they are ready to be suppliers.
For the governor of Cabo Delgado, after the project was halted, “expectations are high” surrounding TotalEnergies’ return to the project.
“Cabo Delgado was evolving, the environment was different, there was hope. And then, when the “force majeure” declaration [suspending the project] was made due to the incursions by extremists, it is obvious that all the hope that had been built up came crashing down (...). And when the possibility of resumption arises, expectations are even higher," Tauabo added.
"It will once again catapult psychological hope and also the hope that through work, through this resumption, there will be a value chain, which is where everyone's well-being lies, because there will be subcontracted companies, there will be companies that will offer services to each other, our hotels will be busy, the rooms we have here and also tourism, as well as all services, everything that is in the business area, there will be space to offer services," he argues.
Mozambique has three development projects approved 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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