Mozambique Elections: Minister calls foreign ambassadors to meeting on local elections
File photo: AFP
The French Minister of European and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is paying an official visit to Mozambique today and Saturday, at a time when the French oil major Total is spearheading one of the natural gas megaprojects natural in the country.
“At a time when large French groups have recently confirmed major investments in Mozambique, this visit will allow us to strengthen the ties that unite us,” the French embassy announces in a statement.
On the agenda, among other issues, is “the fight against trafficking and security”, given a scenario of armed groups attacking rural areas in Cabo Delgado province, where Total is building one of the largest ongoing investments in Africa, scheduled to start extracting natural gas from 2024.
In addition, the Mozambique Channel is the locus of both inhabited and uninhabited islands constituting part of French overseas territories, resulting in the frequent presence of the French navy.
Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit comes four months before the 2020 Africa-France summit in Bordeaux, on the theme of Sustainable Cities and Regions.
During his visit, the French minister will meet with the Mozambican president, Filipe Nyusi, and his Mozambican counterpart, Verónica Macamo.
Also on Le Drian’s agenda is a visit to the French Navy vessel “Champlain”, which is making a stopover in Maputo today and tomorrow, and where he will hold talks with Mozambique’s Minister of Defence, Jaime Bessa Neto.
The last bilateral visit to Mozambique by a French foreign minister was in 2002.
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