The business sector in Cabo Delgado suggested this Tuesday that French investment in natural gas projects in the Rovuma basin should be withdrawn, claiming that the discovery of natural gas has created instability in the north of the country.

According to the president of the Cabo Delgado Business Council, Mamudo Irache, French investments in Area 1 of the Rovuma basin have only brought "more misfortune" and insecurity to the province of Cabo Delgado, stressing that "the population of Cabo Delgado has never lived on the basis of oil, let alone natural gas".

"Because even without France, without this oil, Cabo Delgado has always lived, and even lived better than now with this Rovuma basin. Even for me it would be enough to cancel this situation [....] and continue working with agriculture, because we're not seeing advantages, we're only seeing disadvantages. We businesspeople are seeing the disadvantage of the population of Cabo Delgado province, since this situation was discovered[....]", said Mamudo Irachi, quoted by the newspaper Zumbo FM News.

French oil company TotalEnergies is leading the Mozambique LNG project, located on the Afungi peninsula, in the Palma district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

However, natural gas exploration in the Rovuma basin, specifically in Area 1, was halted in December 2020 for safety reasons, and the project was officially declared under 'force majeure' in April of the same year.

The Mozambique LNG project is one of the largest in Africa, with an estimated cost of 20 billion dollars and a production capacity of 12.9 million tons per year.