Mozambique: Chapo calls for cooperation to protect Africa’s strategic minerals

Speaking at the 12th Tana Forum in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, on Saturday, Chapo argued that geopolitical rivalries and the global energy transition require African countries to coordinate their efforts to ensure that natural resources contribute to the development of the countries that possess them.

The Head of State drew attention to the timing of the discovery of major natural gas reserves in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado in 2016 and the emergence of terrorism in the region in 2017, suggesting that the proximity of the two events was too striking to ignore.

“We discovered gas reserves in 2016 in Cabo Delgado, and around the same time, terrorism appeared in 2017. It is too much of a coincidence that wherever resources are discovered, terrorism also appears,” Chapo said, calling for African countries to unite to protect their resources.