Mozambique 22 January 2016: Frelimo-Renamo cold war hots up, while gas excitement cools
Good afternoon. This week saw the cold war between the governing Frelimo and opposition Renamo heat up and almost claim the life of one of Renamo’s most senior figures. In the event, however, the old saying that “When the elephants fight, the grass gets trampled” rang true. It was Bissopo’s bodyguard, who so far has not been named in the Mozambican media, who was killed while his boss survived. Frelimo deny Renamo’s accusations of having been behind the killing. The police, as ever, say they have no clue who did it.
SEE: Senior Renamo politician shot in Beira
The shooting was bumped off the front page of Noticias on Thursday, however, by the really big news of the week - the launch of former President Armando Guebuza’s personal website. The launch was attended by Mr & Mrs Filipe Nyusi, and Guebuza’s predecessor Joaquim Chissano, among others. If you want to learn more about Guebuza’s life of dedication to the betterment of Mozambique, check out www.armandoemilioguebuza.mz. (For information on his business empire, however, you will need to look elsewhere.)
The list of subscribers to this newsletter is growing rapidly. To those of you who received last Friday’s edition, we owe an apology: technical issues meant you may have had trouble opening three of the articles we highlighted. Try again here:
IMF ups Mozambique’s LNG export potential to 89 mtpa
Drought-hit Gaza could need food aid through 2017, warns UN
One article disappeared entirely - about the severing of the Sena rail line between Moatize and the port of Beira, after floods caused one of Vale’s coal transport trains to derail. Happily, by the time our internet connection had been properly reestablished, so had the Sena line - with a train-full of passengers arriving in Beira on Thursday morning, according to Noticias today.
The week ended with two gas industry conferences at the Rovuma Hotel, where delegates struggled to sound cheerful about the sector in the face of $30-per-barrel oil which will inevitably spell further delays for Anadarko and Eni’s projects in the Rovuma Basin.
The government is worried enough about the situation to be considering lowering the tax rate it was planning to levy on the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), in order to make the projects viable.
SEE: Mozambique could cut LNG tax to help projects survive low oil price – Interfax
Nevertheless, auxiliary industries are positioning themselves for when final investment decisions on the gas are eventually taken. Today, UAE-based Olive Group announced at the conference that it has formed a joint venture with Mozambican security firms Arkhe and Executive Logistics, to bid for oil and gas security contracts against the likes of G4S and Aegis.
SEE: Major new oil and gas security JV launches in Maputo
Have a good weekend.