EU boosts military support for gas-rich Mozambique amid energy crunch

Africa, Europe, News September 9, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Amid the looming threat of a severe energy crisis in the coming winter, the European Union has decided to provide military support to the gas-rich African country of Mozambique in order to stabilize the security situation and reduce its reliance on Russian energy products.

The European Union announced on September 8 to provide additional support of $15 million to the military mission of the South African Development Community (SADC) mission in Mozambique (SAMIM). The funds would be used to protect the mission against the Islamist attacks that threaten the gas projects in the country’s northern side.

The EU’s announcement for military support for Mozambique comes only one day after six people were beheaded by ISIS insurgents in Mozambique’s Nampula province. An Italian nun was also among those who were killed.

The current funds by the EU are in addition to the previously announced $1.9 million for the SAMIM and $89 million military support package for the Mozambique armed forces.

Gas pipelines — ^{Valves and pipelines are pictured at the Gaz-System gas distribution station in Gustorzyn, central Poland, on September 12, 2014. (Image Credit: Reuters)}

The southern African nation of Mozambique has been grappling with militants linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) since 2017. A range of armed conflicts has now expanded to the gas-rich province of Cabo Delagado where the country’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production projects are located. These projects owned by Western companies, like France’s Total and Italy’s ENI, are worth billions of dollars and provide LNG products to the European market.

For a large part of its energy products, the EU bloc is dependent upon Russia which serves more than 40% of the gas needs in Europe. However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started earlier this year, the EU has been looking for alternative sources to satisfy its energy needs. Russia has been hinting at using its gas supplies to Europe as a weapon in its campaign against Ukraine.

According to a statement released by the EU, the funds would be used to build secure military storage facilities and acquire fortification equipment. The funds would also be used to provide medical equipment, vehicles, boats as well as other technological devices for the SAMIM mission in Mozambique.

An internal report from the EU suggests that financial support to SAMIM would be limited to acquiring only non-lethal equipment despite the fact that the mission is under a constant threat of deadly attacks by ISIS Insurgents.

Mozambique has the third largest gas reserves in Africa after Nigeria and Algeria. EU fears that Mozambique would lose control of its gas reserves due to the increasing insurgency in the country. Despite the difficulties in conducting operations due to the regional security situation, European companies estimate to extract trillions of cubic feet of gas from Mozambique until 2024. The funding from the EU is also meant to discourage Mozambique from accepting any help from Russia or China.