TotalEnergies has hired a company backed by the Rwandan state to protect its liquefied natural gas project in the Rovuma basin in Cabo Delgado province.

This is Isco Segurança, a joint venture between Rwanda's Isco Global Limited and a local Mozambican company.

Isco Segurança is already providing security services "without the use of weapons" to TotalEnergies, according to the Financial Times citing the French multinational.

Total said that the company had been selected following a "rigorous tender process", having submitted "the most competitive bid". Isco Global owns 70 percent of Isco Security, according to corporate records dated June 24, 2022, the source said.

Rwanda has been supporting Mozambique in the fight against terrorism since 2021, and although there is no official information, it is estimated that the Rwandan military deployment cost thousands of dollars.

In recent years, Rwanda has developed a prominent role in the region, partly by sending soldiers to other African countries, either as part of UN peacekeeping missions or through bilateral agreements, such as in Mozambique and the Central African Republic.

However, it is suspected that the military deployments are being used to promote Rwanda's economic interests by taking companies in tow to these countries.

"There are many unanswered questions about the agreements between Maputo and Kigali relating to the Rwandan security deployment in Cabo Delgado," said Piers Pigou, director of the Southern Africa program at the Institute for Security Studies in Johannesburg. "The total lack of transparency fuels ongoing speculation about the types of concessions, contracts and forward mortgages on the LNG revenue stream that are being secured by Rwandan interests."

Isco Global is one of several Rwandan companies that have established subsidiaries in Mozambique since 2021, in sectors including security, construction and mining.

Intersec Security Company, the parent company of Isco Global, was created in 1995, a year after Kagame's Rwandan Republican Party (RPF) took power from the Hutu-led government. Intersec is a subsidiary of Crystal Ventures, an investment group founded by the party, which dominates many parts of the Rwandan economy.

The Total-led LNG project is also working with a company called Radarscape, which Mozambican corporate records show is an indirect subsidiary of Crystal Ventures' international arm, Macefield Ventures.

Radarscape's contracts include a 2024 agreement to build a solar power plant for the LNG project in partnership with a French group, Total confirmed. Radarscape has undergone the same due diligence checks as Isco Security.

Radarscape is 99 percent owned by Macefield Ventures' local subsidiary, Macefield Ventures Mozambique, and 1 percent by an individual named Jean-Paul Rutagarama, according to corporate records dated April 28, 2022.