Britain's Centrica signs $27 billion deal for gas from Norway's Equinor
LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - British Energy owner Centrica (CNA.L), opens new tab has signed a 10-year deal worth more than 20 billion pounds ($27.07 billion) to receive gas from Norwegian producer Equinor (EQNR.OL), opens new tab, the companies said on Thursday.
Britain is seeking to cut its reliance on gas to help meet climate targets but around 70% of its homes are heated using the fossil fuel while gas-fired power plants account for around a quarter of the country's electricity supply.
"This landmark agreement underscores the vital role that natural gas plays as a transition fuel as we navigate towards a low carbon energy future," Centrica CEO Chris O'Shea said in a press release.
Equinor will supply five billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year until 2035, equivalent to around 8% of Britain's gas demand.
The contract also allows for natural gas sales to be replaced with hydrogen in the future.
Britain's North Sea fossil fuel production has declined sharply since its peak in the late 1990s and the Labour government has said it will not issue any new oil and gas licences as part of its efforts to meet climate goals.
Britain imported almost two-thirds of its gas demand last year, with half of the imports coming from Norway.
Centrica last signed a deal with Equinor in June 2022 for the firm to deliver additional gas for the following three winters as countries across Europe grappled with supply concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a huge reduction in Russian gas flows to Europe.
Centrica also has liquefied natural gas deals with U.S. firms Coterra Energy and Delfin Midstream, and Brazil's Petrobras.
($1 = 0.7389 pounds)
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The Sun
41 minutes ago
- The Sun
Terrifying message sent by ‘Chinese hackers' to M&S boss after crippling cyber attack on British retailer is revealed
'CHINESE hackers' allegedly sent a terrifying message to the boss of Marks & Spencer following a crippling cyber-attack on the British retailer. Fraudsters, believed to be from the hacking group DragonForce, are said to have emailed the company's chief executive Stuart Machin and seven other key executives. 2 2 The message, written in broken English, was sent on April 23, indicated that M&S was hacked by the ransomware group, although the retailer has not acknowledged this. 'We have marched the ways from China all the way to the UK and have mercilessly raped your company and encrypted all the servers,' the hackers wrote, according to the BBC. 'The dragon wants to speak to you so please head over to [our darknet website].' The link to the darknet shared in the email led to a portal for victims of DragonForce to negotiate a ransom fee. The hackers added: 'Let's get the party started. Message us, we will make this fast and easy for us.' DragonForce's attack during the Easter holiday has been hugely damaging for one of Britain's best-known retailer and is thought to have cost the firm an estimated £300million. After six weeks on from the attack, the retailer is still unable to process online orders. The email was sent to Mr Machin along with seven other top executives, according to the corporation. A racist term is also said to have been included in the blackmail message and also ended with an image of a fire-breathing dragon. Along with installing ransomware in order to cripple M&S's IT system the hackers are also believed to have stolen private data from millions of customers. Three weeks on from the attack, M&S informed customers that contact details and dates of birth from some shoppers had been obtained by a suspected cyber cartel. M&S also admitted other personal details, including customers' order histories, had also been pilfered by online criminals. Bosses though have stressed that no data relating to shoppers' payment, card details or account passwords had been obtained. It is unclear how many customers have been affected by the data breach. According to the company's full-year results, it had 9.4million active online customers in the year up to March 30. The email apparently sent by DragonForce is thought to have bene sent using the account of an employee from IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which has provided IT services to the retailer for more than a decade. The Indian IT worker, who is based in London, had an M&S email address but is paid employee of TCS. Timeline of the attack Saturday, April 19: Initial reports emerge on social media of problems with contactless payments and click-and-collect services at M&S stores across the UK. Customers experience difficulties collecting online purchases and returning items due to system issues. Monday, April 21: Problems with contactless payments and click-and-collect persist. M&S officially acknowledges the "cyber incident" in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. CEO Stuart Machin apologises for the disruption and confirms "minor, temporary changes" to store operations. M&S notifies the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and engages external cybersecurity experts. Tuesday, April 22: Disruptions continue. M&S takes further systems offline as part of "proactive management". Wednesday, April 23: Despite earlier claims of customer-facing systems returning to normal, M&S continues to adjust operations to maintain security. Contactless payments are initially restored, but other services, including click-and-collect, remain affected. Thursday, April 24: Contactless payments and click-and-collect services are still unavailable. Reports surface suggesting the attackers possibly gained access to data in February. Friday, April 25: M&S suspends all online and app orders in the UK and Ireland for clothing and food, although customers can still browse products. This decision leads to a 5% drop in M&S's share price. Monday, April 28: M&S is still unable to process online orders. Around 200 agency workers at the main distribution centre are told to stay home. Tuesday, April 29: Information suggests that the hacker group Scattered Spider is likely behind the attack. Shoppers spot empty shelves in selected stores. Tuesday, May 13: M&S revealed that some customer information has been stolen. Wednesday, May 21: The retailer said disruption from the attack is expected to continue through to July. It's thought the worker was among the victims hacked. The company had previously said it is investigating if it was a gateway for the cyber attack. It has since informed the BBC the email was not sent from its system and had nothing to do with the security breach. M&S has declined to comment on the latest revelations.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Capital gains tax UK: What is it and how does it work?
Capital gains tax (CGT) in the UK is payable when an individual sells a valuable asset they own – most commonly, this will be a property that's not their main residence, or shares. It's important to understand how this tax works to make sure you're clear when it's due, when you need to inform HMRC of the profit income, and how much you'll need to pay. Here, Telegraph Money explains how to navigate the UK's CGT rules and ensure you don't pay more tax than you need to. In this article, we will cover: What is capital gains tax? How does CGT work on property? How does it work on shares? Capital gains tax FAQs What is capital gains tax? Capital gains tax in the UK is a tax levied on the profit you make when you sell an asset that has increased in value. CGT is triggered when an asset is sold for a profit, provided you have exceeded the annual exempt amount of £3,000. The tax is paid at different rates, depending on your income tax band. There used to be one rate for selling property (except for your main home, which remains exempt) and another for other assets, but these rates were brought in line in last year's Autumn Budget. For the 2025-2026 tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026), for gains exceeding the annual exempt allowance, the following rates apply to most assets: Basic-rate taxpayers: 18pc on capital gains from assets Higher-rate taxpayers: 24pc on capital gains from assets For disposals made between April 6 2024 and October 29 2024: Basic-rate taxpayers: 10pc on gains from assets other than residential property; 18pc on gains from residential property. Higher-rate taxpayers: 20pc on gains from assets other than residential property; 28pc on gains from residential property. Assets held in an Isa are free from capital gains tax. How does CGT work on property? You don't typically pay capital gains tax on the property you live in, only on properties like a second home or buy-to-let. The rate of tax charged depends on your level of income – if you're a basic-rate taxpayer (with income of less than £50,270), you'll pay 18pc on gains from property, whereas those who pay higher-rate tax will pay 24pc for disposals in the 2024-25 tax year. How does it work on your primary residential property? If you own one home and have lived there since you bought it, then it should be a straightforward case that no CGT is due on any profit made when you sell up. This is thanks to a relief known as private residence relief. However, should you own other properties it may not be so clear cut. For example, if you have ever rented out the property you now live in – perhaps while you worked abroad, or moved in with a partner for a spell – then you might be liable to pay a proportion of CGT when you sell, based on how long the property was rented for. Zoe Davies, of accountancy firm Forvis Mazars, added that second homeowners can declare which property is their main residence, to make it clear where tax is due. She said: 'If you have a second home you can nominate which is your primary home – that is, where you actually live – to help make sure you benefit from private residence relief if you sell.' To nominate which property is your home, you'll need to write to HMRC. To do this (which you can do within two years every time your combination of homes changes), write to HMRC at: Capital Gains Tax Queries, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS. You'll need to provide the address of the home you want to nominate, and all the owners of the property must sign the letter. Private residence relief cannot be claimed on parts of property used exclusively for business use, although having a 'temporary or occasional' home office is allowed. Therefore, as long as your home office is not solely dedicated to business use, it should be exempt from CGT. How does it work for second homes? Tax is due on the gains you make from the sale of a second home, which exceed your annual capital gains tax allowance. For property, CGT is set at: 24pc for higher-rate taxpayers 18pc for basic rate taxpayers. Prior to April 6, 2024 the higher rate was charged at 28pc. You will be taxed at the relevant rate on the sale profits of your second home, and you must report the sale to HMRC via a 'residential property return', and pay the estimated liability within 60 days of completing your sale. You'll also declare this on a self-assessment tax return as capital gains count as a source of income. Ms Davies added: 'If you spend significant time [living in] a second home, however, it may be that you are eligible for a reduced tax bill through private residence relief.' How does capital gains tax work on rental property? For capital gains tax purposes, selling buy-to-let properties works in the same way as selling a second home. Therefore, you need to report a sale of a buy-to-let property to HMRC and pay any tax due within 60 days of the sale completing. The rates are also the same – 24pc for higher-rate taxpayers (in 2024-25) and 18pc for basic-rate taxpayers. Capital gains example for landlords If a landlord bought a property 10 years ago for £200,000 and they are now selling it for £300,000, that would be a gain of £100,000. Minus the £3,000 allowance, the taxable gain is therefore £97,000. Basic-rate taxpayer Rather than pocket the £97,000 profit, a basic-rate taxpayer (paying 18pc) would have to pay £17,460 in CGT This would leave them with a taxable gain of £79,540 Total profit would be £79,540 + £3,000 (tax-free allowance) = £82,540 Higher-rate taxpayer For a higher-rate taxpayer (paying 24pc), the tax bill would be £23,280 This would leave a taxable gain of £73,720 Total profit would be £73,720 + £3,000 (tax-free allowance) = £76,720 When selling a second home or buy-to-let property, you can lower the CGT bill by ensuring you take into account the cost of refurbishments you've made in the years you've owned the property. The cost of any improvements made to the property while you owned it, such as a new bathroom or conservatory, should be added to your initial outgoings, as should stamp duty and legal fees. You can also deduct expenses like solicitor's fees from the selling price – instead, use the amount of money which you actually end up receiving. It's also possible to offset losses from previous tax years, or from the sale of other properties, from your overall gain. How does capital gains tax work on shares? If you sell some investments and they are held outside an Isa, then you must pay CGT on profits over the annual allowance of £3,000. The rates are now equal to those you pay for property – so, basic-rate taxpayers pay 18pc, while those on a higher-rate pay 24pc. This changed on October 30, following Labour's Autumn Budget. For assets disposed of before this date, basic-rate taxpayers pay a CGT rate of 10pc, and for higher- and top-rate taxpayers, it's 20pc. You'll include the gains on your self-assessment tax return – there's no rush to declare or pay within a more immediate time frame, as is the case of selling property. However, be aware that tax may still be due even if you don't sell the shares in a traditional way. Ms Davies said: 'Some investors fall foul of the rules when they give shares to, say, their son or daughter, thinking there's no capital gains tax due because they're not selling them. However, the HMRC definition is that capital gains tax is triggered on the 'disposal of assets', so even though no money is changing hands, they could still trigger a tax bill. Any shares gifted should be declared on a self- assessment tax return.' Others might get caught out thinking they owe capital gains tax when it's actually income tax that's applicable in some cases. Ms Davies said: 'For example, if you own a company and sell some of your shares back to the company, the money received may actually be classed as income by HMRC, and so income tax is due rather than capital gains tax.' How does capital gains tax work on cryptocurrency? Profits from selling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are assets and subject to capital gains tax. Cryptocurrency is treated as a form of investment, and regulated in a similar way to stocks and shares. As such, profits on selling some or all of your crypto holdings will be taxable. Giving away crypto won't solve the tax issue (unless it's to your spouse or civil partner) because, as with shares, you're still 'disposing' of the tokens and so will trigger capital gains tax if you've made a profit on your investment. It's not just when you sell crypto that CGT might be payable. It can also be due if you use it to pay for goods or services. In December 2023, HMRC launched a voluntary disclosure campaign, encouraging investors who had not declared any gains from crypto assets to come forward and pay up. Make sure you have a record of transactions, including dates, amounts, and values in pounds at the time of each transaction. Capital gains tax FAQs How is capital gains tax calculated? The rate of capital gains tax you pay is determined by a combination of your overall earnings, and the type of asset you're selling. However, other factors can also come into play. For example, if you've made any losses on some assets you're selling, you'll be able to offset those against your gains in order to reduce your bill. You can also carry losses forward from past tax years, but only up to four years after the end of the tax year in which you sold the asset. What percentage of capital gains tax do I pay? This depends on your income tax rate. For the 2025-26 tax year, capital gains tax is charged at the rate of either 18pc for basic-rate taxpayers, or 24pc for higher- or additional-rate taxpayers. As your gains are added to your annual income, it's possible for gains to push you into a higher tax band. If that happens, then you'll have to pay the higher rate of CGT on your gains. How does HMRC know about capital gains? The onus is on you to report any capital gain that gives rise to a tax liability. If you're selling a property, you should declare it and pay the bill within 60 days of the sale completion date. You need to declare it on a self-assessment tax return, too. For selling shares, you just need to include the figures on your self-assessment tax return. If you don't already do one each year, you will need to complete one for the tax year in which you had a capital gain. There are various ways HMRC can tell if assets have been sold – be it Land Registry records for property sales, stamp duty returns, trading records – and there can be drastic consequences if it finds out about disposals you have failed to declare. Receiving taxable income and failing to report it to HMRC counts as tax evasion, and can result in fines, penalties and even criminal proceedings. How do I report and pay CGT? To report and pay capital gains tax, you need to: For property, use the capital gains tax on UK property service for property sales within 60 days of completion. You must also report again via self-assessment by January 31 of the following tax year. For other assets, report and pay the tax owed via self-assessment by January 31 of the following tax year. What is the three-year rule for selling property? You may have heard of the 'three-year rule' for property sales and capital gains tax, which is also known as the 36-month rule. However, for most situations in the UK, this no longer applies. This is due to the rules changing around final period of ownership and Private Residence Relief. This is the current situation for the 2025-26 tax year: The standard final period exemption is nine months. If a property has been your only or primary home at any point when you have owned it, the last nine months of your ownership period are exempt from CGT as part of Private Residence Relief. The three-year or 36 month exemption period now only applies in special circumstances, such as for disabled individuals or for those moving into a long-term care home. How long do you have to keep a property to avoid capital gains tax in the UK? In Britain, you don't avoid capital gains tax by keeping a property for a certain amount of time. The tax will apply when you sell a property that's not your main residence, regardless of how long you've owned it for. How are long-term capital gains taxed? Assets you've held for a long time are taxed in the same way as any other asset. Ms Davies added: 'There were previous tax laws which incentivised holding assets for longer, but these no longer apply.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Death, violence and endless delay: Inside Africa's most troubled energy project
Campaigners have demanded the UK government pull its funding for a natural gas mega project in Mozambique – alleging that it breaches Britain's human rights and environmental obligations. The project in question is a $20 billion (£15bn) liquified natural gas (LNG) development located in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique. The project, called Mozambique LNG, has been halted since 2021 after violence from an Isis-backed group led to 183 contractors being trapped in a hotel for two days, with 10 people killed when apparently trying to escape, including British national Philip Mawer. In all, the ongoing insurgency in the area has resulted in an estimated 6,000 deaths since the conflict began in 2017, with some 600,000 people displaced. In a letter seen by The Independent, campaign group Oil Change International (OCI) argues that the violence and other issues over the protection of the project makes a potential $1.15bn investment by UK Export Finance, a department of the UK government untenable. Continuing to finance the project is also not compatible with environmental commitments made in 2021 to no longer finance fossil fuels abroad, OCI argues. A tale of violence, delay and legal action was never meant to be the story of Mozambique's foray into natural gas, after some 180 trillion cubic feet of gas was discovered off the country's coast in 2010. In 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected 34 per cent GDP growth for Mozambique by 2021. However, actual economic growth was around 2.5 per cent. TotalEnergies, the French energy firm, is currently in the process of trying to re-start the project by the middle of this year. 'The security situation has improved," CEO Patrick Pouyanne told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Gas conference earlier this month. Pouyanne's ambitions received a big boost in March when the US Export-Import Bank re-approved financial support worth $4.7bn for the project, boosting TotalEnergies' hopes of restarting the project. But the future of Mozambique LNG remains up in the air, with the British export credit agency still considering whether to recommit to its $1.15bn pledge – having joining with 33 countries, including the US, to sign a pledge to end public finance for fossil fuel projects abroad while hosting the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021. According to OCI campaigner Adam McGibbon, if the UK pulls out of the deal then the entire financial arrangement is expected to collapse. 'We know of at least one major bank involved in the deal that has said they will also pull out if the UK does,' he says. The legal letter sent by OCI argues that the funding of the LNG project in Mozambique goes against the UK's obligations under international law to promote human rights in business both domestically and abroad. The letter highlights the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which state that companies and nations must ensure that human rights are respected in relation to business operations. A UK Export Finance spokesperson said: 'UK Export Finance is currently in talks with project sponsors and other lenders regarding the latest status of the LNG production project in Mozambique. 'We take reports of alleged human rights infringement extremely seriously and are looking further into the matters.' 'The Qatar of Africa' Observers at the time the gas was discovered off the coast of Mozambique suggested that the country – one of the world's poorest – could transform into the 'Qatar of Africa'. A number of massive projects aiming to ship the gas around the world in the form of LNG were soon proposed. TotalEnergies' Mozambique LNG project stands out for its sheer size, with the $20bn in financing a figure roughly the same size as Mozambique's entire GDP. The 65 trillion cubic feet of gas it was expected to deliver is the equivalent of six years of current EU gas demand. But in March 2021, the 'force majeure' declaration was made, which enables parties to renege on an agreement due to unforeseen external circumstances. It came after Islamist insurgents captured swathes of territory in the Cabo Delgado region, and at least 1,400 people were left killed or missing presumed dead. Earlier this year French authorities began investigating TotalEnergies over potential corporate manslaughter, after survivors and relatives of victims of the event accused the energy giant of failing to protect its workers. In a statement shared with The Independent, a spokesperson for TotalEnergies said that they will ' cooperate with this investigation', but that 'the company categorically rejects' the accusations. 'Mozambique LNG's teams provided emergency assistance and mobilised their resources to evacuate more than 2,500 people (civilians, employees, contractors, and subcontractors) from the site where the Mozambique LNG project is located at the time of the attacks,' the spokesperson said. But some say the need to resettle people so that the land can used for the project has aided recruitment for the insurgents. 'The local population is being deprived of jobs, in a scenario where pressure on land is increasing, where people are losing access to land, losing access to natural resources,' wrote local analyst Joao Feijo earlier this year. 'The discontent that is created here is very great and this kind of discontent is capitalised on by these violent groups. Many individuals joined this group because they had no other alternative,' he added. Signs of discontent can be found in villagers claiming that they have not been sufficiently compensated for giving up land that most rely on for subsistence farming, according to evidence collected by local NGO Justica Ambiental, after Mozambique LNG was given rights to 6,625 hectares of land to build its liquefaction terminal. 'We agreed that the company would take our areas, but when they took our areas – the forests and fields – and they didn't want to pay us, they denied it,' said Neto Agostino Paulo resident of Macala Village, in footage captured by Justica Ambiental in summer 2024. Fellow Macala villager Adija Momade Sumail Nkabwi said: 'The company came here to lie to us that they were going to compensate us for our property that they had occupied, leaving us with false expectations'. The spokesperson for TotalEnergies told The Independent that prior to the force majeure announcement, 89 per cent of compensation payments had been paid within six months of the signing of compensation agreements, and 66 per cent were paid within 90 days. 'The Force Majeure situation has prevented the full implementation of the relocation and compensation process and has slowed down the exercise,' they said. 'Drill baby, drill' For OCI's Adam McGibbon, the violence and displacement witnessed in Cabo Delgado is a 'classic example of the resource curse': The phenomenon where resource-rich countries with abundant natural resources ironically end up with a multitude of problems. Nigeria and Angola – both oil-rich countries plagued by corruption and inequality – are oft-cited examples of countries to have suffered this fate in Africa. At the same time, it has also been said that given the low living standards of countries like Mozambique, any opportunity to bring in billions of dollars of foreign investment is a good thing. Some, like former Irish President Mary Robinson, have argued that African nations should be allowed to extract natural gas to develop. But there are growing concerns that the economic benefits originally conceived in Mozambique LNG might not ever materialise, even if the project goes ahead as planned. For all the talk of ' Drill baby, drill ' coming from Donald Trump in the White House right now, the prospects of a major new LNG production terminal are much weaker than in 2020. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and subsequently shut off pipeline gas flows to Europe, planned new LNG facilities in the US and Qatar have driven up projections of global LNG capacity. An increase of nearly 50 per cent is currently on the horizon, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). This ' LNG glut ', as the IEA describes it, is exacerbated by renewables continually beating targets in Europe and Asia, as well as a global push for 'energy security' that did not exist in 2020, and which is making governments less inclined to rely on expensive liquefied gas imports for energy. 'If and when TotalEnergies' Mozambique LNG project gets off the ground, it will be adding further supply into a market characterised by oversupply and lacklustre demand,' says Simon Nicholas, from IEEFA, a think tank. 'This can hardly be a surprise: There is a long history in Sub-Saharan Africa of fossil fuel projects doing nothing to boost development in the host country.' If global gas markets are oversupplied, there is a risk that Mozambique LNG will become a 'stranded asset', which will plummet in value – or even become a liability for Mozambique. Even a 'moderate-paced transition' away from fossil fuels globally would lead to Mozambique seeing gas revenues of just 20 per cent of what they would be in a slow-paced transition, a report from the think tank Carbon Tracker has found. The authors described countries looking to exploit oil and gas assets for the first time as making a 'significant gamble'. 'Huge economic costs' TotalEnergies has also structured its LNG deals in a way that activists have warned is disadvantageous to Mozambique, with revenues Mozambique set to come in the mid-2030s and 2040s, think tank IISD has said. This means that if the project does not see out its lifespan, TotalEnergies and other partners will have seen an outsize share of profits so far, with Mozambique losing out. Mozambique also faces 'substantial economic risks' related to investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS), a separate report from Columbia University found last year. ISDS are lawsuits where foreign investors sue countries where they have invested if they believe the government has violated the terms of the agreement. Mozambique's international investment agreements allow foreign investors to bypass the national judicial system in such disputes, the report found, while 'stabilisation clauses' protect investments from unexpected regulatory changes or new fiscal rules, potentially preventing Mozambique enacting new legislation to transition away from fossil fuels. 'What they have basically done is said Mozambique cannot invest in climate action without paying huge economic costs,' says Daniel Ribeiro, a Mozambican activist with Justica Ambiental. Such an arrangement is likely to 'only amplify social tensions in Cabo Delgado,' if little money is seen to reach local people while a Western company makes large profits, warns Ribeiro. Given the insurgency, delays, and economic concerns, it might seem the simplest thing for Mozambique to do would be to try and pull out of the deal. However, the country has racked up government debts since gas was discovered, using expected future gas revenues as collateral for borrowing. But expectations have not matched reality. The year 2016 also saw a corruption scandal rock the country after it was found that members of the Mozambican Government had secretly taken out loans for themselves from London-based banks, using assurances of future LNG gas revenues to do so. A 2023 report from Debt Justice found that the Mozambican government has been paying back some of those loans. Mozambique's external national debt more than doubled between 2010 and 2018, according to CEICC data, while Friends of the Earth has warned that potential corruption arising from the 'mere promises of LNG development' may have already cost the country more than any actual profit the project could generate for the country over its lifetime. For Ribeiro, who lives in the Mozambican capital of Maputo, the priority for the country should be investing in renewables and climate change adaptation. 'My main message is that the cost of climate change is going to be far greater than any profits from Mozambique LNG, and that should be the priority,' he says. The country is considered one of the most climate-vulnerable on the continent, exposed to extreme weather concerns including cyclones, droughts and floods. Cyclone Kenneth, which hit Cabo Delgado in 2019, caused damage estimated at $300m. But the Trump administration has a different idea about what is good for the country. Weeks before confirming its $4.7bn loan for Mozambique LNG, the US government shut down the USAID-backed Power Africa programme's operations in the country – with an emphasis on renewable energy – which has been leading efforts to boost energy access, in a country where only 40 per cent of the country's population has access to electricity. 'Cycle of death' The push to resume the Mozambique LNG project also comes despite the fact that the Islamist insurgency very much remains a threat. While insurgents no longer control full towns and villages, they have become more agile, and have stepped up the number of road blocks in recent weeks, according to local media. 'There are still believed to be several insurgency units of hundred or so people, and they still have the ability to make attacks and destabilise the area,' says Ribeiro. 'And every time they suffer losses, they continue to be able to recruit. Why? Because we are still not dealing with the economic and social drivers of the problem,' he adds. The EU is currently funding Rwandan troops to help protect the region - but this arrangement is also under threat due to accusations Rwanda has been supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as allegations that the Mozambican government is using units trained by the EU for protest suppression. For Marisa Lourenço, an independent risk analyst in Southern Africa, the threat of violence is 'definitely still there' in Cabo Delgado. She believes that while TotalEnergies will be able to securely lock down its site on the coast, it remains unclear if doing so is worth the money. 'TotalEnergies can secure the site. But is the infrastructure cost worth it? Will it recoup its sunken costs? Probably not. TotalEnergies rushed into taking on this project, and I think it regrets it,' she believe. For Mozambique, meanwhile, it remains clear for Ribeiro that the best option is for the country to pull out of the project. 'Pulling out will cause a whole host of problems in the short term, but it will help us emerge from this cycle of death,' he says. So long as the project continues, the Western world can turn a blind eye to what is happening in Mozambique, by imagining that it is financially supporting the country, believes Ribeiro. But if the project fails, then the country can focus on other development pathways that actually benefit the people. 'It's like a chronic condition that keeps flaring up, for which there is no cure' he says. 'Sometimes you just need to take the bullet.'
