The U.S. Export-Import Bank is set to vote Thursday on reapproving billions of dollars for a natural gas project in Mozambique that was delayed amid an Islamist insurgency during which government troops guarding the construction site reportedly killed almost 100 civilians.
The bank approved a $5 billion loan for the project in 2019, saying at the time that the facility would lead to new exports of U.S. equipment and services for the project’s development and construction. The bank later revised the loan down to $4.7 billion.
The $20 billion project, which is operated by TotalEnergies, aims to tap Mozambique’s vast gas reserves and process them for export. But operations and funding were put on hold in 2021 as an Islamist insurgency raged nearby on the remote Afungi peninsula.
An investigation published last year by POLITICO found that nearly 100 civilians were massacred by Mozambique government forces operating out of the TotalEnergies facility to guard against unrest. At least one inquiry has been launched into the atrocity. The company has denied wrongdoing.
