The French need a fighting machine. General Paul Kagame is delivering

By David Himbara

Kagame’s Bosses in the Mozambican Fighting Are Delighted with Results – French Energy Giant TotalEnergies’ Ready to Kickstart its US$20 Billion Liquefied Natural Gas Venture in Cabo Delgado

French and the Rwandan elites are doing an awful lot of hugging lately. Love is in the air. What is this about? The French need a fighting machine. General Paul Kagame is delivering. His soldiers have reclaimed the Mozambican territory hosting French Energy Giant TotalEnergies’ US$20 Billion gas venture. The African Development Bank which financed the project to the tune of US$400 million says TotalEnergies will resume full production in one year to 18 months.

 

The French energy giant, TotalEnergies, abandoned its US$20 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Venture project in Mozambique in April 2021. This was after Islamist fighters overran the town of Palma, on the doorstep of its facilities in the northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado province. The services of General Paul Kagame to sort out the problem were duly secured in July 2021 when he sent to Mozambique 1,000 fighters. By August 9, 2021, mission was accomplished – Kagame’s fighting machine had retaken Mocímboa da Praia, the key port city hosting TotalEnergies’ US$20 billion LNG venture.

Fast forward to August 27, 2021. The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced that TotalEnergies’ LNG venture in Mozambique should be off and running in due course. AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina estimatesthat it will take between one year and 18 months to resume full production. AfDB is a major stakeholder in the LNG project – the Bank joined the global syndicate of commercial banks, development finance institutions, and export credit agencies that financed the project in 2020. AfDB pumped no less than US$400 million into the venture that is ranked Africa’s single largest foreign direct investment to date. Kagame has saved the day for France. Stay tuned.