The European Union’s financial support for Rwandan troops helping to fight an Islamic State-linked insurgency in Mozambique expires in May and there are no plans to extend it, according to people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reports
The bloc in 2024 approved €20 million ($23 million) of assistance for the Rwanda Defence Force operating in Mozambique’s gas-rich Cabo Delgado province, matching the amount it agreed to provide almost two years earlier.
The funding, under the European Peace Facility, was allocated to cover the cost of personal equipment and logistics, the European Council said.
Last week, the US Treasury sanctioned the RDF, accusing it of supporting, training and fighting alongside the rebel M23 group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
It’s unclear what impact that will have on the thousands of troops Rwanda has deployed in Mozambique, where they’re helping to secure an area in which TotalEnergies SE is leading the development of a $20 billion natural-gas export project.
“The current assistance measures, adopted in 2022 and 2024, expire in May 2026,” an EU spokesperson said in response to emailed questions.
“The EU takes note of the US’s newly announced sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force and four top commanders. We are assessing the implications of the US measures.”
There are currently no plans to extend the EU funding for the RDF beyond the expiry date, according to people with knowledge of the funding arrangements who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public.
The Rwandan defense ministry didn’t answer calls or respond to questions sent by email. A government spokeswoman didn’t answer a call or respond to a text message when Bloomberg sought comment.
The US probably won’t want the RDF sanctions to significantly disrupt its deployment in Mozambique, according to Daniel Swift, senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. The US Export-Import Bank is financing $4.7 billion of Total’s project.
The Strait of Hormuz’s effective closure has hit LNG exports from Qatar, the second-biggest shipper of the fuel, ratcheting up Mozambique’s strategic importance as an emerging supplier.
“Ultimately, nobody wants their operations in Cabo Delgado negatively impacted,” Swift said by phone of the RDF troops helping to secure the gas-rich region that’s home to some of the biggest US investments in Africa. “LNG has a lot of people’s attention right now.”
Total’s project — and an even larger adjacent one Exxon Mobil Corp. is leading — had been on hold since March 2021, when Islamic State-backed fighters carried out a large-scale attack on the nearby town of Palma. Mozambique asked Rwanda for assistance and it sent in troops.
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