Mozambique: Arrival of Rwandan forces was very positive – S&P | Lusa

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Mozambique: Arrival of Rwandan forces was very positive – S&P | Lusa

11:44 CAT | 21 Feb 2022

FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only. The S&P Global logo is displayed on its offices in the financial district in New York City, US, December 13, 2018.. [File photo: Reuters]

The director of the sovereign rating department at Standard & Poor’s (S&P) told Lusa today that the arrival of Rwandan troops in northern Mozambique was one of the main positive developments for the country.

“The biggest change in the outlook was the arrival of troops from Rwanda, as the Mozambican military forces were not containing the insurgency in the north, which affected TotalEnergies’ investment, which was suspended for a few months,” said Ravi Bathia, commenting on S&P’s view on the evolution of the Mozambican economy.

“The Rwandan troops have supported the forces of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in stabilising the region, and that helped a lot,” the analyst told Lusa.

“Our expectation is that this will help to stabilise the region and TotalEnergies will resume operations after the insurgency is under control, and the question that many ask is what Rwanda wants in return for its support, and how long its military forces will remain in the region, but overall the trend is positive and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects should start moving forward again,” Bathia explained.

“The most positive thing for the CCC+ rating is the stabilisation of the north of the country by foreign forces. Mozambique could not solve the problem alone and asked for help. This gives stability, but the cleavages between the north and south of the country are still there, even due to the physical distance itself between Maputo and these northern provinces,” the analyst concluded.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas, but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

The conflict has already caused more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to the Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with the support of Rwanda, later joined by SADC, has made it possible to increase security, recovering several areas where there was a presence of rebels.

Source: Lusa