‘Urgent action needed to avoid catastrophe’

Mozambique is one of several countries in Africa where “urgent action is required to avoid catastrophe” arising from active conflicts on the continent, according to a report from the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC).

Northern Mozambique, Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon “are six African trouble spots to watch in 2022,” the institution said in a report released on Monday. In the case of northern Mozambique, “a more holistic approach is needed to address the socio-economic challenges of communities in Cabo Delgado province and more recently Niassa, where the Islamic extremist insurgency has expanded in recent weeks.

“Also of concern are the regional ramifications of the Cabo Delgado insurgency, including links to countries such as Tanzania, and the possible spread to create a larger-scale extremist axis along the continent’s eastern flank,” the PSC said.

The extremist insurgency in Cabo Delgado has been ongoing since late 2017. “The slow response led, early on, to the deterioration of the situation,” the report considers. Since last July, a deployment of Rwandan troops based on a bilateral agreement and then a multilateral deployment from the Southern African Development Community have helped to quell the insurgency and restore humanitarian access to affected populations, however, “while the military response seems to have pushed back the insurgents [who in recent weeks have been particularly active in neighbouring Niassa province, but also Cabo Delgado], a more holistic approach is needed to address the socio-economic challenges of the communities,” the text stated.