French energy giantTotalEnergiesofficially relaunched on Thursday a massiveMozambique gas projectafter afive-year pausefollowing adeadly jihadist attack.
TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne announced the restart of the Mozambique LNG project at a ceremony attended by PresidentDaniel Chapo.
"I am delighted to announce the full restart of the Mozambique LNG project ... The force majeure is over," Pouyanne told the event.
The $20 billion project in the northern Cabo Delgado province on the border with Tanzania was suspended following a bloody jihadist attack in 2021 that killed an estimated 800 people.
TotalEnergies had already lifted in October the force majeure it declared after theattack, and has sought compensation of $4.5 billion in cost overruns linked to the delay from the Mozambique government.
Chapo's office said in a statement the restart of the project "presents a significant milestone for the national economy and reaffirms the confidence of international partners in Mozambique's energy, institutional and human potential".
Reportedly the largest private investment in Africa'senergyinfrastructure, the project is expected to generate thousands of jobs and help make the country one of the world's biggest LNG exporters.
Read moreTotalEnergies accused of 'complicity in war crimes' at Mozambique gas site
But environmental groups have called it a "climatebomb" that would bring little benefit to Mozambicans, more than 80 percent of whom lived below thepovertyline of three dollars per day in 2022, according to theWorld Bank.
While northern Mozambique has not experienced an attack on the scale of the one in 2021, there are regular attacks on civilians and troops blamed on jihadist insurgents.
Theinsurgencyin northern Mozambique has left more than 6,200 people dead since 2017, according to the NGO Acled, which collects data on conflict zones.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
