ADfB

The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has financed more than 100 projects worth more than US$2 billion in Mozambique over the last 40 years and plans to invest more in the country, mainly in the areas of energy, agriculture and infrastructure.

In a summary of its activities in Mozambique that was released on Tuesday night, AfDB said it has, among other projects, funded the construction of more than 800 kilometres of roads in Mozambique over the past 10 years, secured safe drinking water for nearly two million people, and helped more than 8,000 peasant families improve their incomes.

It said it has also helped create about 1,500 jobs through the Nacala rail project, in addition to financing the construction of 1,350 kilometres of electricity transmission lines, which allowed access to more than 822,000 people.According to this financial institution up to December 2017 its total portfolio in Mozambique consisted of 20 loan operations, worth US$623 million.

The bank also says it will implement a new strategy that will be based fundamentally on investment in infrastructure and agriculture.AfDB representative Pietro Toigo said the new strategy is expected to help catapult Mozambique, and the rest of Africa, in the area of agriculture and infrastructure development.“It will be a strategy to boost rural development in Mozambique, to create jobs and diversify the economy,” he said.

Anardarko

Anadarko Mozambique Area 1, LTDA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, on behalf of the co-venturers in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 1, today announced the selection of a consortium consisting of TechnipFMC and VanOord as the preferred tenderer for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of the offshore subsea system for its Mozambique LNG project.

“Selecting the preferred tenderer for the EPCI contract for the offshore subsea system is another major step for the Anadarko-led Mozambique LNG project in moving toward an expected FID (Final Investment Decision) in the first half of 2019,” said Mitch Ingram, Anadarko Executive Vice President, International, Deepwater and Exploration.

“TechnipFMC and VanOord bring additional proven experience to the project and further demonstrate our continued commitment to advancing this important project toward first cargoes. We congratulate them and look forward to working together toward a safe and successful outcome for the people of Mozambique and our partnership.”

Learn more about Mozambique LNG at www.mzlng.com.

“Ahlu Sunna Wa-Jama” = "People of your age and the collective"

A guard who works at the palace of the governor of the northern province of Niassa, Francisca Tomas, died on Friday night in an ambush by armed men against a truck near the Ruassa river, on the border between Niassa and the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado, according to a report in Tuesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”.The paper’s sources link the attack to the islamist insurgency under way in parts of Cabo Delgado since October 2017. If this connection is true, then this is the furthest west the terrorists have struck.The truck was carrying merchandise from Niassa to the port of Pemba, on the Cabo Delgado coast. The vehicle was hit after it had crossed the river and was heading towards the town of Balama.

This is the nearest attack so far to Niassa. The administrator of the Niassa district of Marrupa, Angelina Nguirazi, said she is concerned by the situation because her district borders on Cabo Delgado. “Carta de Mocambique” says the Niassa authorities are worried at the possibility that the Cabo Delgado insurgency will spill over the provincial boundary.Certainly Francisca Tomas herself believes that the islamists are recruiting youths in Niassa. The paper’s sources say that in recent rallies in Majune and Mavago districts, Tomas has warned that “young people from Niassa are dying in Cabo Delgado”.

To discourage Niassa youth from embarking on such potentially lethal adventures, campaigns of civil education to dissuade people from joining the terrorist group are under way in Mecula and Marrupa districts.The insurgents are known in Cabo Delgado as “Al Shabaab”, although there seems to be no direct connection with the Somali terrorist group of that name. The group calls itself “Ahlu Sunna Wa-Jama”. It makes standard jihadist demands for the imposition of Sharia and for banning the sale of alcohol. Orthodox moslem groups in Cabo Delgado, and elsewhere in the country, have denounced the group, denying that they are truly moslems at all. (AIM)