In an exclusive interview with Jeune Afrique, Rwandan President Paul Kagame shed light on the ongoing contentious issue of Rwandan troops deployment to Mozambique and the imminent stop of funding her counter-terrorism operations in the terror-hit regions in the country.
“We intervened in Mozambique nearly five years ago at the request of the Mozambican leadership, in order to help stabilize the situation in Cabo Delgado,” Rwandan President Paul Kagame said in an interview with Jeune Afrique’s François Soudan, published on April 3. “We did our best, and the situation has improved greatly,” Kagame added.
Rwanda deployed troops to Mozambique in July 2021 to help fight an Islamic State-linked insurgency in Cabo Delgado province. Following a formal request from Maputo, Rwanda initially sent a 1,000-strong contingent, a force that has since grown to more than 6,300 personnel. The mission was aimed at restoring state authority, protecting civilians, and stabilizing a region that had been ravaged by violent attacks, kidnappings, and mass displacement.
What followed was one of the insurgency’s most significant battlefield setbacks since it erupted in 2017. Joint Mozambican-Rwandan forces recaptured Mocímboa da Praia, the strategic port town that had served as a key insurgent stronghold, and pushed militants out of critical areas in Palma and Mocímboa da Praia districts.
The deployment helped stabilize zones that had previously fallen under insurgent control. In areas where Rwandan forces were operating, about 25,000 displaced people had already returned home by September 2021.
Since then, more than 300,000 internally displaced people have returned to their villages in northern Mozambique following successful joint operations by Rwandan security forces and the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces. Those operations pushed Islamic State-linked insurgents out of key strongholds in Cabo Delgado.
Today, businesses have reopened, children are back in school, and farmers are cultivating fields that had long been abandoned in Palma and Mocímboa da Praia districts, areas once synonymous with terror.
However, the future of the mission is now under renewed scrutiny. The European Union funding for Rwandan troops deployed in Mozambique is set to expire in May, and the bloc is threatening not to extend its support.
Rwanda’s Government Spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, said Kigali has consistently maintained that the long-term deployment of its security forces in joint counter-terrorism operations in Mozambique requires a sustainable financing framework.
She added that Rwanda has so far carried the bulk of the financial burden, and that a transition to more equitable funding is now a strategic necessity.
Makolo said that if the Rwanda Defence Force command concludes that the contribution of Rwandan security forces in Cabo Delgado is not appreciated, it would be justified in advising the government to end the bilateral counterterrorism arrangement and withdraw.
Pressed on whether it was logical for Rwanda to continue paying for a service it is providing, Kagame asked: “Is it normal that we make sacrifices and also have to pay for those sacrifices?”
He argued that the 20 million euros in European support is not a favor to Rwanda, but rather a contribution to Mozambique’s stability.
“We spend four or five times that amount to maintain a contingent of more than 5,000 men, in addition to police forces, even though our limited resources are those of the economy of a small country whose size is only one-third that of Cabo Delgado province,” Kagame said.
Beyond helping secure Cabo Delgado since July 2021, Rwandan troops have also played a direct role in protecting major energy investments, including the $20 billion TotalEnergies liquefied natural gas project and operations linked to ExxonMobil.
Their intervention enabled a significant rollback of insurgent activity and helped create conditions for the resumption of operations at the Mozambique LNG project, which had been halted in 2021 following a major attack in Palma.
Kagame said that if the European Union decides to end its support, then the major energy companies operating in the region including TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, and ENI should find a way to finance the security they depend on.
“Security has a cost, one that is in fact insignificant compared to the investments involved,” he said. “Either those companies and the government of Mozambique assume that cost, or they consider they do not need security, and I do not see why we should remain there one day longer.”
Kagame concluded that if no one is willing to cover the costs needed to sustain the mission, “we are ready to bring our troops back to Rwanda, where they will have more than enough to do, at any moment and whatever the consequences may be.”
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