Rwandan and SADC troops in Cabo Delgado may receive financial support from EU

By Antonio Tiua, BRUSSELS Belgium

Presenting a balance of his participation in the 6th Europe-Africa Summit, after talks with Emmanuel Macron, current President of the European Union (EU) and President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, said that Rwandan and SADC troops may receive financial support from the European Union and the African Union in terms of military equipment.

Last Friday, the President Nyusi held talks with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who now holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. 

President Nyusi said, at the end of the EU-Africa Summit, that troops fighting terrorism in Cabo Delgado province would be able to receive financial support.

“We mobilised support – that, at any time, can be felt – regarding our brothers from Rwanda, who are having high operating costs, our brothers in SADC (Southern African Development Community), through SAMMIM, and [regarding] ourselves as well. to see if we can make this battle more sustainable and can more swiftly clarify what is behind this problem,” Filipe Nyusi told reporters in Brussels, evaluating his participation in the 6th African Union and European Union Summit.

The guarantee came about ten days after the Head of State made a working visit to the European Union, where he met leaders of the regional bloc and, in the end, assumed that one of the objectives of the visit was to mobilise funding for the fight against terrorism. SADC and Rwandan troops have already appeared to appeal for international funding to maintain their operations in Cabo Delgado.Cabo Delgado

In fact, in his opening speech at the Europe-Africa Summit, Emmanuel Macron, as the President of the EU, appealed to the 27 members of the organization to help finance Rwanda, “an African solution found to the problem (terrorism) that has been progressing on the continent, with particular emphasis on southern Africa”, he said.

The French President also appealed to the United Nations to support Mozambique’s efforts. Filipe Nyusi added, in the balance sheet, that Mozambique would undertake the same diplomatic journey that it had in the European Union to other organisations, because “the costs are high”.

“We believe that it is not just one organisation that will assume this, given the various programs that the European Union has. We have also mentioned that, even at European level, support can be achieved through bilateral cooperation,” Nyusi explained.

And with regard to bilateral cooperation, the Head of State announced that the signing of a cooperation agreement with France, negotiations for which have lasted for three years, is imminent.

According to Filipe Nyusi, “it is an agreement similar to the one we have with other countries, such as South Africa, Tanzania and other European countries. In this particular case for maritime security. This agreement is almost finalised; at any moment it will be signed in Mozambique”.

The country’s interest is to take advantage of the military base that France has in the island of La Réunion

Filipe Nyusi and Emmanuel Macron also discussed the investment situation of French oil major TotalEnergies in Cabo Delgado, but the President did not provide details.

On the sidelines of the Europe-Africa Summit, the President of the Republic also met with Macky Sall, Head of State of Senegal and current President of the African Union.

According to Filipe Nyusi, “We expect support from the African Union and we are working in this direction. You know that there is also the African Standby Force that can be deployed if needed,” he noted. However, he warned that “the important thing [of the conversation] was some equipment that we have, like the African Union, in Cameroon and other equipment to be acquired. So we were discussing the possibility of us quickly deploying this equipment in the battle against terrorism.”

Nyusi took the opportunity to invite Macky Sall to visit Mozambique.

Mozambique participated in the 6th Europe-Africa Summit with four areas of interest, highlighting issues of peace and security, vaccine distribution, energy transition and agriculture and sustainable development.

Summing up the event, Mozambique’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Verónica Macamo, said that the talks allowed the breaking of the idea that the exploitation in Africa of natural resources such as coal and natural gas should be abandoned.

“We are talking about a green transition that does not harm the interests of the continent. As we know, we have a very large capacity for fossil energies. It is necessary, when thinking about the transition, that the interests of African countries are taken into account,” Minister Macamo said.

The issue of vaccine distribution was also prominent. According to the head of Mozambican diplomacy, the current manufacturers are already opening space for negotiations on intellectual property rights in relation to pharmaceuticals.

“The understanding is that intellectual property must be protected, as long as it does not serve as an impediment to Africa being able to produce vaccines. The understanding is that, on the part of our partners, there will be flexibility that will allow Africa to produce Covid-19 vaccines,” she said, announcing that the parties would meet again to discuss access to vaccination soon.

In Brussels, Mozambique also participated in a roundtable on agriculture and rural development. Minister of Industry and Commerce Carlos Mesquita said that Europe had opened opportunities that could be explored by the national business community.

“In Europe, there is a lot of demand for vegetable protein that can work very well in food and replace other products that can bring us diseases. With this approach, it became very clear that the ball was in our court. It is up to the Mozambicans to take advantage of all these opportunities and this opening,” Minister Mesquita said.

The two continental blocks also decided at the summit to create a mechanism that will become responsible for the implementation of the Brussels consensus.