Mozambique’s ambitious northern gas plans head south

Natural gas was supposed to help industrialise the northern provinces, but after a string of project cancellations it will be transported to the more prosperous south

What is the best way to remove the Rovuma Basin’s gas from the far—some would say forgotten—north of Mozambique to the capital and economic centre of the country in the far south? That was the only big question considered on Tuesday by Mozambique’s Council of Ministers, which decides whether it should be sent by road, sea or pipeline. Once upon a time, Mozambique had a Gas Master Plan. It was to use gas to industrialise, in particular, the gas-rich north via the allocations that Mozambique secured in various agreements. But now—with Cabo Delgado, the gas-rich province, aflame with an Islamist-inspired insurgency—those plans are in ruins. But continuing to neglect the north is liable to furth