U.S. Commits to Help Rebuild Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province

By ADF Last updated Mar 27, 2023

ADF STAFF

The U.S. will provide $14 million per year over the next decade to help rebuild areas of Mozambique affected by terrorism.

U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland announced the funding at a Maputo news conference in June 2022.

“This sum will allow the United States government to work on the reconstruction of Cabo Delgado and the rest of the country, and in training young people for employment, and thus discouraging them from being recruited by the terrorists,” Nuland said.

Nuland said the U.S. will also send $40 million for food security, particularly in Cabo Delgado.

The 10-year program is part of the Global Fragility Act (GFA) approved by the U.S. Congress in 2019 to support some of the most conflict-affected areas of the world. The program will provide 10 years of support for Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea and coastal West Africa (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Togo).

The GFA aims to promote stability by working with local groups and strengthening institutions.

The goal is to bring a “whole-of-government” approach from the U.S. to support Mozambique.

“The planning aims to ensure a coordinated blending of the strengths and expertise of the U.S. government with the Mozambican government, international development organizations, international donors, multilateral organizations and the private sector,” wrote Edward Burrier, senior advisor for private sector engagement in the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Africa Center. “Indeed, these actors all have a role in forging Mozambique’s success.”

Since 2017, insurgents allied to the Islamic State group have ravaged Cabo Delgado. The constant attacks have left thousands dead and displaced an estimated 850,000 people. In 2021, about 2,000 troops from eight nations in the Southern African Development Commission and 1,000 troops from Rwanda deployed to Mozambique and have restored a fragile peace. However, observers believe it will take years for the country to recover.

“The violence in Mozambique has been some time in the making, and its resolution will require years of sustained peacemaking efforts led by Mozambicans, backed by international partners,” Burrier wrote. “For now, the worst of the violence in Cabo Delgado has subsided, but security progress must be backed by broader efforts in the short, medium and long term.”