Police were deployed in full force during protests on November 7, 2024. [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]
Western corporate interests have targeted Mozambique to exploit its natural resources, using tactics of destabilization and neoliberal austerity measures to weaken the nation. While these imperialist tactics remain the same, so does the solution.
As Mozambique faces a new wave of repression following disputed elections, it’s clear that the FRELIMO-led government’s response is less an aberration and more a continuation of its entrenched hold on power. The revolutionary origins of FRELIMO, once a proud symbol of liberation from Portuguese colonialism, have long been diluted by neoliberal policies, corruption, and alignment with international finance capital. FRELIMO’s current predicament is emblematic of a once revolutionary party that has sold out from its revolutionary origins and is now contending with an emerging and formidable political force.
The 2024 elections underscore FRELIMO’s tenuous hold. The party’s candidate, Daniel Chapo, was declared the winner with 70% of the vote, extending FRELIMO’s five decades in power. However, allegations of electoral fraud and the violent repression of protests reveal a serious challenge. Chapo’s primary opponent, Venancio Mondlane, representing the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS), secured a significant 20% of the vote, a surprising achievement given the deep-rooted influence of FRELIMO. PODEMOS was founded by disillusioned former FRELIMO members and appeals to Mozambique’s large youth population. While not anti-imperialist or radical, PODEMOS promotes a platform of “social justice and good governance,” resonating with voters who seek an end to FRELIMO’s leadership of the country.
Without breaking free from Western economic domination and a commitment to a revolutionary socialist program that unites the continent in solidarity, PODEMOS will almost inevitably follow in FRELIMO's footsteps, replicating the same structures of exploitation and dependence. The U.S. and other imperialist powers are not merely standing by; they are already actively maneuvering to shape Mozambique’s political landscape. The State Department’s statement makes it clear that they are positioning themselves to influence any potential transition of power, especially with the rise of a youth-driven movement challenging FRELIMO’s authority. While we have no direct evidence that PODEMOS is currently aligned with imperialist interests, it’s undeniable that imperialism has already embedded operatives within Mozambique’s political sphere, preparing to influence and co-opt emerging forces. This calculated approach is a well-honed strategy, a science perfected by imperialist powers to secure their interests under the guise of promoting democracy and stability.
The recent post-election violence has already claimed at least 20 lives, with around 400 injured and more than 800 Mozambican demonstrators arrested. Security forces, deployed in armored vehicles and wielding war-grade weapons, have indiscriminately targeted civilians exercising their right to peaceful protest. This clampdown has been amplified by digital repression, with the government blocking internet access across the country to cut off communications between citizens and the outside world. Meanwhile, Mozambican authorities have turned a blind eye to corruption, systemic poverty, and the gross exploitation of natural resources, all of which continue to undermine the rights and dignity of Mozambique’s population. This is no accident; it is a deliberate strategy by a neo-colonial state whose allegiance lies not with its people, but with international finance capital.
In recent years, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s resource-rich northern province, has become a target for corporate giants like France’s Total and the U.S.-based ExxonMobil. Beneath the surface narrative of a “fight against extremism” lies a darker truth: Mozambique’s military, weakened by IMF-mandated budget cuts and saddled with outdated equipment, now relies on private security companies funded by multinational corporations to protect foreign interests, not Mozambicans. This outsourced defense model, endorsed by the International Monetary Fund and Mozambique’s wealthy creditors, has seen South African and Russian mercenaries, including Dyck Advisory Group, Wagner, and Erik Prince’s Frontier Services Group, acting as enforcers for corporate agendas.
This private security apparatus serves one purpose: to help secure the extraction of Mozambique’s abundant natural gas reserves. The gas fields in Cabo Delgado’s Rovuma Basin are among the largest in Africa, attracting foreign investment but offering little in return to the people of Cabo Delgado. Cabo Delgado has long been neglected and underdeveloped by Mozambique’s ruling elite, with locals facing high rates of illiteracy, unemployment, and poverty. However, this region is anything but forgotten by corporate interests that, with government permission, have dispossessed thousands of their land and livelihoods to make way for lucrative gas extraction projects.
The arrival of transnational fossil fuel corporations in Cabo Delgado has transformed a once-peaceful province into a zone of environmental devastation and social upheaval. Once a lush region of thriving rural communities of farmers and fishers, Cabo Delgado’s coast was dotted with small businesses and sustainable livelihoods. But since gas was “discovered” there, thousands of people have been forcibly displaced to make way for extraction infrastructure. Today, Cabo Delgado is completely militarized. The gas industry has left a trail of environmental degradation, destroyed livelihoods, and ongoing conflict that has turned nearly a million Mozambicans into refugees in their own country. Communities once connected to their land and resources are now subjected to relentless corporate greed, which has driven Mozambique deeper into debt without delivering any tangible benefits to the local population.
Despite the rhetoric of development touted by foreign companies and Mozambique’s government, this gas extraction benefits only the corporations and foreign powers that sponsor them. Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France have poured billions into Mozambique’s LNG projects, using public funds under the pretense of economic “development.” In reality, this investment model is neo-colonialism in a new guise, a relentless extraction of Africa’s wealth that perpetuates poverty, pollutes the environment, and contributes to global climate devastation. ECAs fail to adhere to due diligence or transparency regarding the social, environmental, and human rights impacts of these projects, leaving Mozambican communities to bear the brunt of imperialist recklessness at the hand of multinational corporations.
The corporate narrative insists that foreign energy interests are threatened by extremist insurgents, yet the root causes of the crisis in northern Mozambique have little to do with religious ideology. Scholars and local leaders argue that extremism has only gained traction because of deep-seated poverty and social exclusion, which multinational corporations have only exacerbated. A 2020 report by Les Amis de la Terre France highlights how the presence of foreign corporations has fueled local grievances, as communities become collateral damage in the ruthless pursuit of profit. Human rights violations are rampant, with private security forces and Mozambican soldiers alike committing abuses in the name of securing foreign assets. Meanwhile, Mozambique’s government and corporate backers promote a narrative that demonizes local opposition as terrorism, justifying their repression and creating a pretext for further military interventions.
For the moment, imperialist powers such as the U.S. and France would rather not get directly involved in the fighting, but instead prefer to train Mozambican forces. For AFRICOM, since 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense conducted five Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) programs between U.S. Special Operations Forces and Mozambican Commandos and Fuzileiros. The U.S. Department of Defense also conducted numerous courses for the Mozambican armed forces. Mozambican forces recently participated in a second multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express and continue their long-standing participation in the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program. in April 2022, the U.S. government selected Mozambique as a priority country for the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability. The United States is coordinating development, diplomatic, and security-sector assistance through the ten-year plan in Cabo Delgado and neighboring provinces.
There is also no doubt that the U.S., UK, and France are pushing neighboring armies, like those of the SADC, Rwanda, and Tanzania, to act in their place, and likely are financing their operations. The fact remains, even if the armies of SADC and Rwanda, and perhaps even those of other states, could overcome the current insurgency, as long as the structural social, economic, and political causes that provoked it remain, other insurgencies will emerge.
International finance institutions, foreign militaries, and multinational corporations are the true architects of terror in Mozambique. As local communities face violent displacement and corporate exploitation, they are further marginalized by a government that serves only foreign interests. Reports from the Institute for Security Studies and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation reinforce this conclusion: foreign interventions and militarization have only deepened the region’s inequality and discontent, as local resources flow outward and community grievances remain unaddressed.
In Mozambique, the “counter-terrorism” narrative has become a tool for systematic exploitation rather than a genuine attempt to address security concerns. The rhetoric of regional security masks a well-orchestrated neo-colonial plundering of resources, facilitated by multinational corporations, private military contractors, and foreign armed forces. Instead of addressing the socio-economic issues plaguing regions like Cabo Delgado, where violent insurgencies have proliferated, the government and its allies use counter-terrorism as a pretext to deploy militarized forces, exacerbating instability and fueling public resentment.
The systematic exploitation of Mozambique's resources by multinational corporations, with the complicity of international finance and local elites, exemplifies the deep-seated issues that stem from fractured, neo-colonial states across the continent. By adopting a revolutionary socialist framework that unifies across borders, African states and people can collectively resist imperialist forces, reclaim their sovereignty, and build a future based on equality, justice, and self-determination. Only through continental solidarity and a shared commitment to revolutionary principles can Africa hope to safeguard its resources, uplift its people, and chart a path toward genuine independence.
Tunde Osazua is a member of the Black Alliance for Peace’s Africa Team and the Steering Committee of the International Campaign to Free Kamau Sadiki.
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