Veterans of the independence war defeat jihadists

The Mozambican defence and security forces claim to have killed 270 islamist terrorists in the region of Awasse, in Mocimboa da Praia district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, according to the website “Noticias de Defesa de Mocambique”, which acts as an unofficial mouthpiece for the Defence Ministry. The Awasse fighting lasted from Friday through to Sunday, and the Mozambican forces did not lose a single soldier. On Sunday the force that drove the terrorists out of Awasse returned to Mueda, where the headquarters of the Northern Operational Command is located. The troops took with them seven trucks loaded with equipment captured from the jihadists.

According to a report in the independent newssheet “Mediafax”, the force that took Awasse consisted not only of members of the defence forces, but also of veterans of Mozambique’s national independence war who have a deep knowledge of the area.

The fighting extended to Chinda village, at the Mbau crossroads, on the road to Macomia district.

One fighter, in a taped interview circulating on Mozambican social media, said “We’ve come back clean. The material we seized is coming with the soldiers who accompanied us. The insurgents are nothing, we’ve killed them”.

Clearing the jihadists out of Awasse looks like the prelude to an offensive to regain control of Mocimboa da Praia town and port, which have been in terrorist hands since mid-August. The capture of Awasse follows the terrorists’ failure to capture Macomia town last Wednesday. A numerically superior Mozambican force, estimated at 200 troops, drove back the 80 or so jihadists. There are no figures on how many islamists or members of the government forces died in this attack. Unable to take the town, the jihadists have continued to raid villages in Macomia district. According to the newsheet “Carta de Mocambique”, the terrorists on Sunday beheaded two people in Ntapaula village, six kilometres from the town.

African Energy Chamber

Mozambique and Germany have a special relationship, that was formalised when the German Democratic Republic established diplomatic relationships with the then newly independent Republic of Mozambique in 1975. Since then, a great many Mozambicans have been educated in Germany. Another 20,000 were employed in Germany as contract workers. Since the 1980’s, Germany has spent more than USD 1 billion in development aid to Mozambique. Whilst this is laudable, this relationship must evolve to change focus away from aid and towards investment, in response to the numerous opportunities in gas development and other sectors.

German companies need to invest in the development of new gas prospects, in the servicing of the existing developments and in the building of a petrochemical sector in Mozambique. Germany has a strong petrochemical industry that can take advantage of the opportunities in Mozambique with Africa’s USD 1.2 Billion population providing a ready market for such an industry. This will ultimately lead to a win-win situation for both countries. It will not only help to generate economic growth, but will also ensure the creation of good paying jobs, skills developing apprenticeships and the transfer of technology to Mozambique.

Gas is fast establishing itself as a key player in the global energy transition dynamics as nations seek to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other air pollutants. The realisation, that developed economies like Germany and fast-growing economies like China can only realistically meet their emission targets without forgoing economic prosperity by adopting gas as a major source of energy has put countries with large gas resources, like Mozambique in the focus of investors. The share of gas as a primary source of energy has been steadily growing since the 90’s, and this trend is expected to continue. In China, gas now accounts for over 7% of primary energy use from about 1% in 1990. In Germany, gas accounts for 27% of primary energy use from about 15% in 1990.

German demand for gas is projected to continue its rapid growth as the country steadfastly continues to implement its in 2010 adopted energy transition strategy known as the Energiewende. According to the plan, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to reduce by at least 80% in 2050 when compared to 1990. Gas is currently Germany’s second most important energy source after oil. It imports nearly all of the gas it consumes, from Russia (40%), Norway and the Netherlands with only 5% sourced domestically. Domestic production is expected to run out within the next decade, setting Germany up for even more imports from outside. There is therefore, a general consensus in Germany that even more gas resources must be secured from abroad to ensure Germany’s economic growth prospects. Plans to source more gas from Russia have however earned the government heavy criticism, including from Germany’s American allies who see this as leading to an over-dependence on Russia and creating potential National security threat to Germany. Diversifying Germany’s sourcing of gas, from new producers like Mozambique therefore presents an attractive proposition for Germany as a nation and German companies in particular.

Mozambique holds 100 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proved natural gas reserves. It ranks 15th globally, however the country is still largely underexplored. As the government continues to encourage exploration, it is likely, that the proven reserves will increase in the coming years to rival that of more established gas frontiers. Oil Majors Total, ENI and Exxon are leading development efforts expected to initially cost a combined USD 30 Billion. Committed off-takers, include EDF of France, Tokyo gas of Japan and Centrica from the UK who have all committed to be off takers for the next two decade. Notable however, is the absence of German companies either as operators or major off-takers, despite Germany being one of the world’s largest gas importers.

“It is time for German companies to play a greater role in the development of Mozambican gas industry. Germanys needs gas and in exchange, our companies can provide investment capital, technical Know-how, technology and education” said Sebastian Wagner, Executive Chairman of the German African Business Forum.

In November 2019, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the creation of a USD 1.1 Billion investment fund during the ‘Compact with Africa’ summit in Berlin. This fund, and other institutions in Germany like the KFW development bank offer various instruments to ease German investments in Mozambique. However, there is an increasing realisation, that such government initiatives to invest in Africa in general and in Mozambique in particular are best implemented by channeling the funds through private sector German and Mozambican companies. In a recent online conference organised by the German African Business Forum, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s personal representative to Africa, H.E Günter Nooke called German companies to take advantage of these opportunities.

Now more than ever, both countries must take the opportunities presented by the development of gas to strengthen their special bond. Mozambican exports to Germany currently stand at USD 270 Million USD yearly and are dominated by aluminium. This amounts to just 3% of total exports. According to Verner Ayukegba, SVP of the African Energy Chamber, there is room for growth and a significant demand for German technology and investments in Mozambique. “Mozambique is one of the most prized investment destinations in Africa at the moment. Mozambican companies are prepared to partner with their German counterparts to service the nascent gas industry.” “We have a golden opportunity here to strengthen both Country’s economies, whilst at the same time making significant strides towards the reduction of greenhouse gasses with the promotion of gas consumption to the detriment of heavier polluters like coal”, Verner concluded.

Airlink to restore three more routes to Mozambique

South African private-sector airline Airlink announced that it was adding three more destinations in Mozambique to its regional network, which is being reactivated following the phasing out of national lockdowns instituted in Southern Africa to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The new destinations are Beira, Pemba and Vilanculos. The new services will all be operated from Johannesburg and, the airline affirmed, link seamlessly with its Johannesburg/Cape Town and Johannesburg/Durban operations. Connections will also be possible with Airlink’s other destinations in South and Southern Africa.

The Pemba route will be restarted on October 28 and the Beira and Vilanculos routes will both recommence on November 10. Each of these routes will be operated twice weekly. The Beira route will be flown on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Pemba on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Vilanculos on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Airlink highlights that people wishing to travel to Mozambique must complete a health questionnaire before they arrive in the country (this is available on the airline’s website). Mozambique is currently not issuing visas on arrival (except for people with written authorisation from the required authorities). Leisure travellers must show proof of their confirmed hotel bookings when they check in for their flight. Business travellers need to have business visas.

The health and safety of its passengers and personnel is the airline’s number one priority. The cabins of its airliners are fitted with high efficiency particulate air (Hepa) filters, which block 99.97% of particulate matter, including the coronavirus which causes Covid-19. The Hepa filters continually sterilise the air in the cabins, which is also completely changed every three minutes. Airlink describes itself as “Southern Africa’s largest (measured by flight movements) independent airline”. It operates more than 50 commercial jet airliners and last year it operated 55 routes to 39 destinations in nine African countries plus St Helena island, in the process carrying two-million passengers (spread across 63 000 flights).

Meets tourism operators in Cabo Delgado

The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Eldevina Materula, has met tour operators in the city of Pemba, in Cabo Delgado, to address the current tourism scenario. At the meeting, tourism operators spoke of the need to cooperate in leveraging local tourism through the combination of offers from various segments, such as water sports, sport fishing, boat tours and water sports, entertainment and gastronomy. The tourism operators at the meeting also spoke of the pertinence of creating a tourist itinerary for the city of Pemba and other destinations in the province They also expressed concern resulting from the terrorist attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic, which have been a major constraint for the development of tourism recently. Problems related to access routes to tourist resorts, the issue of airport tariffs and the introduction of the tourist tax were also discussed.

The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Eldevina Materula, said that actions were underway to leverage tourism and congratulated operators for their resilience in the face of all the negative factors plaguing the area, encouraging them to maintain hope of improvement in the near future.

“We are pleased to see the resilience of tourism operators, the ability to look to tomorrow and foresee improvements. The sector’s concerns are the government’s concerns. That is why, very soon, we will hold a Tourism Forum, to be attended by the varied sectors which most contribute to tourism actually happening – transport and communication, infrastructure, energy – and we will discuss and resolve the sector’s concerns,” she said.Faced with the adversity brought on by the pandemic, Materula said: “We, as a government, are taking concrete measures to better recover the economy.” The minister acknowledged that instability in the province has had negative effects on tourist activity, and that this worried the sector, but was optimistic that the situation would be overcome. The meeting with tourism operators follows the minister’s visit to Cabo Delgado, framed in the celebrations of the Artist’s Day and SADC creation , whose official ceremony was held on 14 October.

“The choice of Cabo Delgado for the celebrations is justified by the fact that we are aware that, even in the midst of great adversities, artists in this part of the country remain themselves, delighting people’s hearts and feed the spirit,” the minister said. “We came here from Cabo Delgado to say that the Mozambican people love their artists, because they know that a world without the arts is a world without life. Therefore, we have come to pay tribute to our creators, here in the cradle of freedom.”