In the coming days, Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies, could make another visit to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Four years after halting a major liquefied natural gas project in the country for security reasons, he is preparing to relaunch the controversial venture. Although jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State group (IS) remain active in Cabo Delgado province in the North of the country, the Afungi site is now expected to operate by adopting the appearance of a fortress guarded by Rwandan forces.

Mozambique, one of the world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries, holds vast fossil gas reserves that were discovered about 15 years ago. The Mozambique LNG project plans to exploit two deepwater fields and build a liquefaction plant with a total capacity of 13.1 million metric tons per year.

Since 2019, TotalEnergies has served as operator and principal shareholder of this project (26.5%, alongside Mozambican and Asian shareholders), into which $20 billion has been invested, making it the largest private investment in Africa. In April 2021, the company suspended the project after IS seized the town of Palma, just a few kilometers from Afungi, declaring a state of "force majeure."

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