EU provides additional support to African military mission in Mozambique

KIGALI, Rwanda

The EU on Thursday announced it would provide additional support worth €15 million ($14.94 million) to an African military mission in Mozambique.

The announcement came amid an energy squeeze owing to the Russia-Ukrainian war which has compelled the EU to look for alternative energy sources.

The southern African nation of Mozambique has the third largest proven gas reserves in Africa after Nigeria and Algeria, but attacks by insurgents threaten gas projects that could help reduce the EU’s reliance on Russian energy.

The country has been battling an armed insurgency in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province since 2017, which analysts attribute to the wider socio-economic and political disparity.

Last year, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sent a military mission known as SAMIM to help the country deal with the armed insurgency in the province –which has claimed thousands of lives since 2017.

“The Political and Security Committee today (Thursday) approved the provision of EUR 15 million in support of the Southern African Development Community mission to Mozambique (SAMIM),” the EU said in a statement.

“The agreed support will provide the military component of SAMIM with collective equipment at company level: camp fortifications and storage containers, medical equipment, vehicles and boats, as well as technological devices,” it said.

The EU has already supported Mozambican armed forces with equipment and supplies worth €89 million provided under the European Peace Facility.

The EU also helps SAMIM's peace building activities with financial support worth €1.9 million for the period March-September 2022.

“By providing this support, the EU joins Mozambican and international efforts to restore peace, safety and security in the North of Mozambique, protect the civilian population, and allow for the return of internally displaced persons, accountable law enforcement, state structures and services to the area,” the EU statement added.

The SADC mission comprises mostly troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana with a mandate of combating acts of terrorism and violent extremism.

In June, President Filipe Nyusi said the rebels that were terrorizing residents in northern region had been “weakened and were on the run” since the deployment of more than 3,100 foreign troops last year.

However, authorities announced on Wednesday that at least six people, including an Italian nun, were killed by insurgents in northern Nampula province.