Page 8 - DMEA Week 40 2022

DMEA SECURITY & POLICY DMEA

UN says almost 1mn civilians have

fled violence in northern Mozambique

AFRICA THE UN estimates that the number of displaced healthcare has been hampered. Many people
civilians in northern Mozambique, where an have been re-traumatised after being forced to
Islamist insurgency is reaching its fifth year, move multiple times to save their lives.”
increased by 20% in the first half of 2022. In a bid to secure the area, Mozambique
In a statement dated October 4, UN Refugee sought military support from the Southern
Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Matthew Salt- African Development Community (SADC) and
marsh called for an end to the violence that has Rwanda. However, after initial success soon after
killed more than 4,000 peoples. the regional force was deployed in July 2021,
“Five years on, the humanitarian situation the rebels seem to have been fighting back and
across Cabo Delgado has continued to deteri- spreading their attacks beyond Cabo Delgado to
orate and displacement figures have increased Nampula and Niassa provinces to the west and
by 20% to 946,508 in the first half of this year,” south.
he said. “The conflict has now spilled into the The displaced need shelter, food and health
neighbouring province of Nampula, which services, Saltmarsh said, noting that the
witnessed four attacks by armed groups in Sep- agency, government and other stakeholders are
tember affecting at least 47,000 people and dis- assisting.
placing 12,000.” However, there was a funding gap in Sep-
The rebels in the mineral and natural gas- tember 2022, when 60% of the $36.7mn the
rich area have said they want greater autonomy UNHCR needed to deliver assistance to civil-
from the Maputo government and more benefits ians was funded. Some people have returned to
from the local resources. their homes in recent months, but the UN body
Three oil majors — TotalEnergies (France), considers security conditions to be too volatile
Eni (Italy) and ExxonMobil (US) — discovered for sustainable returns. ™
the bulk of the southeastern African country’s
estimated 180 trillion cubic feet (5.1 trillion
cubic metres) of recoverable natural gas in off-
shore fields.
Eni is expected to begin exporting gas in the
form of LNG shortly, but TotalEnergies and
ExxonMobil have had to redraw their develop-
ment plans and not taken final investment deci-
sion (FID) respectively due to the insurgency.
Saltmarsh blamed rebels for the killings,
beheadings and rape and resulting displacement
of civilians. “Men and boys have also been for-
cibly enrolled in armed groups,” he said. “Live-
lihoods have been lost, and education stalled
while access to necessities such as food and TotalEnergies put its project on hold in March 2021 (Image: TotalEnergies)

PIPELINES
Sonatrach, Naturgy revise price for gas

shipments to Spain via Medgaz pipeline

AFRICA ALGERIA’S national oil company (NOC) group natural gas deliveries through the subsea Med-
Sonatrach said in a statement on October 6 that it gaz pipeline due to market developments.
had struck a deal with the Spanish firm Naturgy The NOC did not elaborate the mechanism
to revise the price of long-term contracts for of the change in gas prices.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 06•October•2022