Cabo Delgado attacks threaten gas developments

Oil firms have slowed work on new Mozambican export projects due to security concerns

Just as the Mozambique government and the consortia developing the huge gas reserves in the Rovuma Basin seem to be nearing final investment decisions, a spate of violent attacks has threatened to throw the projects into doubt, unless the security forces can get a handle on the situation. There has been no repeat of the stunning attack which announced the insurgency on 3 October 2017, when an armed group effectively took the town of Mocímboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado province for more than 24 hours. The province, which is adjacent to the Tanzanian border in the north of the country, is at the centre of the new offshore gas sector. Security forces managed to regain control of the town, but ins