For centuries the vast southeastern African nation of Mozambique has magnetised traders, invaders, and soldiers jostling for control of its lucrative resources. Beginning the tail end of the first Millenium profit hungry merchants from across the Indian Ocean region settled in bustling port towns along the country’s long coastline. At the dawn of the 16th century, Portugal invaded and established a colonial regime that remained until 1975.
Today after nearly five decades of revolution and civil war, the country is home to new insurrection in its resource rich northern provinces. In this murky new conflict, radical terrorists and multi-billion dollar investments collide against the gunfire of the Kalashnikov, which happens to also adorn Mozambique’s national flag.
The violence is centred on the Cabo Calgado region, the country’s northernmost province with a population of about two million people. In 2010 prospectors found enormous deposits of minerals and today hosts Africa’s three largest liquid gas projects collectively worth $55 billion according to Global Risk Insight. This is ten billion dollars over the entire nation’s GDP, and among the powerful foreign investors are US giant ExxonMobil as well as companies from Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Australia.
Since 2017 over 700 civilians have lost their lives at the hands of radical Islamic groups. Among these are the internationally infamous Islamic State (ISIS), Mozambique’s domestic Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama group, as well as smaller organisations from neighbouring Tanzania and Kenya. Carrying out brazen attacks on local communities and the army, it is unclear in whether these groups are working together due or individually. What is certain is that they have posed a formidable threat to the Mozambican Army to the point where private defense contractors from Russia and South Africa have been hired to join the fight.
However, it is not fair to completely align the region’s conflict with its rich minerals and the perhaps unscrupulous interests of foreign investors. According to the Daily Maverick, Cabo Calgado has received almost no attention from the central Maputo government since Mozambique attained independence in 1975. Endemic poverty goes hand in hand with the reported marginalization of the region’s Muslim community which led to it becoming a hotbed of radicalism.
Like much of Africa, Mozambique is caught between the crossfires of foreign influences and domestic interests. With fortunes set to be made in gas, minerals, and precious stones across the northern regions it is essential that analysts and prospective investors give attention to the violent terror groups and ask questions about their higher motives…
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