The city of Pemba will host a Benfica soccer training academy for displaced youngsters, announced the mayor of the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.

"It's going to be a social academy," said Florete Simba, quoted yesterday by Televisão de Moçambique (TVM).

The memorandum, signed in Lisbon with Benfica's management, provides for the Portuguese club to support the training of players and coaches, including Physical Education teachers who are interested.

"The idea is to help young people living in various neighborhoods in the city of Pemba, including those displaced by the armed conflict," said Florete Simba.

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 one 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.