Portuguese Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho warned yesterday that in order to consolidate the pacification of Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, it is necessary to invest in development, otherwise terrorism will return.

"I believe that the situation in Cabo Delgado is well underway," he said in an interview with Lusa on the sidelines of the 36th African Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital, noting that he had spoken about the issue with his counterparts from Mozambique, Botswana, Malawi and Rwanda.

"The consensus is that the solution to the situation in Cabo Delgado is a threefold solution: a solution that involves security, which is well underway, but also involves humanitarian support for the displaced populations and support for their return, and also a component to promote development," explained the minister.

The various security crises in Africa (Sahel, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Mali or Nigeria) risk taking the spotlight off Mozambique's situation.

The instability in the province of Cabo Delgado "may be less visible, but it is present in the minds of the main representatives of the various African countries here," said Gomes Cravinho

"Our expectations are also that international companies will soon be able to return to Cabo Delgado precisely to create a dynamic of development that is lacking and which is difficult in a context of insecurity," said the Portuguese minister, in a reference to the return of oil company Total to the region.

Yesterday, in Addis Ababa, the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, considered the fight against "terrorism" in the province as an example of the success of "African solutions to African problems".

In "the fight against terrorism in Mozambique, in the province of Cabo Delgado, we can see this principle of African solutions to African problems," said Nyusi.

The Mozambican head of state was speaking at the conference "Silencing the Guns in Africa in 2030", held in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, by the UK's Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).

The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for five years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near the gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in neighboring Nampula province.

The conflict has already displaced a million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and caused around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.