Dozens of people die after attack near Total project in Mozambique

Bloomberg

Dozens of people were said to have been killed in a raid by suspected militants in Mozambique, as an upsurge of violence threatens billions of dollars-worth of energy projects in one of Africa’s poorest nations.
The violence began March 24 when armed attackers described by the government as terrorists assaulted the northern coastal town of Palma, close to a $20 billion liquefied natural gas project being developed by France’s Total SE. The Paris-based company at the weekend suspended plans to resume construction. Fighting in the town was continuing on Monday morning.
The attack is the latest in a series of incidents that are undermining the southern African country’s hopes of developing some of the continent’s biggest private investment projects. As much as $120 billion of investments by Total, Exxon Mobil Corp. and other companies may be approved by 2026, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd.
Mozambique’s Eurobonds retreated on Monday. The extra yield investors demand to hold the country’s dollar debt rather than US Treasuries widened by 14 basis points, compared with an average three basis-point
increase for African sovereigns.
Mozambique has been battling an IS-linked insurgency since October 2017. Over the past year, attacks have grown increasingly sophisticated, while also drawing closer to the coastal site where Total leads a consortium building a project to extract, liquefy and export gas from offshore wells.
The latest attack came soon after Total announced a resumption of work that had been halted at the start of the year because of the deteriorating security situation. Palma is about 8 kilometers from Total’s site and serves as a base for several companies involved in the LNG projects. Many workers stay in the hotels there.
Total said at the weekend it’s reducing the number of workers at the site to a minimum and suspended the plans to
resume work.
Defense Ministry spokesman Omar Saranga said on Sunday that the attackers’ aim is to harm the energy projects. The government has resisted outside help to fight the insurgency, relying instead on a private military company that uses the helicopters mounted with guns.
While hundreds of people, including some foreign workers, were evacuated by boats to the provincial capital of Pemba, almost 250 kilometers to the south of Palma, many people remain unaccounted for.
The armed group known as al-Shabaab, which is unaffiliated with the Somali group of the same name, had attacked villages increasingly close to Total’s site in December, prompting the company to halt work and evacuate staff.
The energy company, which bought a 26.5% stake in the development for $3.9 billion in 2019, hasn’t said when operations might resume.
“Total trusts the government of Mozambique, whose public security forces are currently working to take back the control of the area,” the company said in a statement Saturday.