Over the last year, Mozambique has seen a marked improvement in security conditions in its troubled Cabo Delgado region. The military intervention of Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states and Rwanda has disrupted an Islamist insurgency that emerged in 2017 and has since inflicted an enormous toll on the region. Security in key areas of Cabo Delgado and neighboring provinces has stabilized, giving the Mozambican government and its international backers an opportunity to foster reconciliation leading to an enduring peace. The Mozambican government should immediately take advantage of this exceptional regional commitment, which won’t last forever.
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Five years after violent extremists began attacking Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province, the country is developing its first counter-terrorism strategy. This Resilience and Development Strategy for the North is expected to be funded by donors to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Written by the government with input from donors, it is scheduled to be approved by the cabinet in the first half of 2022. The strategy is the first official document to recognise the role of internal factors in creating the conflict. It cites socio-economic inequalities, frustration related to the exploitation of natural resources, especially among youth in the north, political and economic exclusion, and perceived marginalisation by the local population.