Yolande Makolo, the Rwanda Government Spokesperson
KIGALI — Rwanda has spent far more on its military deployment in northern Mozambique than it has received from European support funds, the government spokesperson said Friday evening.
Government is highlighting the growing financial burden of a mission that has helped stabilize the insurgency-hit province of Cabo Delgado.
The operation, launched in 2021 at the request of Mozambique’s government, has been partly financed through the European Peace Facility, a European Union mechanism used to support security operations abroad.
But according to Yolande Makolo, the Rwanda Government Spokesperson, the roughly €20 million disbursed so far represents only a fraction of the true cost.
“The full cost to the government of Rwanda is at least ten times more,” Ms. Makolo said, noting that the deployment has also come with what she described as the ultimate sacrifice — the loss of soldiers’ lives in the campaign against insurgents.
Rwanda sent its forces to Cabo Delgado in July 2021 after militants linked to the Islamic State seized several towns and threatened major natural gas projects along Mozambique’s northern coast.
Rwandan troops, operating under the command of the Rwanda Defence Force alongside police units, moved quickly to retake key areas and push insurgents out of strategic zones.
The intervention has since been credited with helping restore a measure of stability to parts of the province.
Displaced civilians have begun returning to their homes, businesses have reopened, and schools have resumed operations in areas previously affected by the violence.
Local Mozambicans women greet an RDF patrol in Cabo Delgado
The improved security environment has also helped revive confidence among international energy companies investing in the region’s vast liquefied natural gas projects, which are considered among the largest foreign investments in Africa.
Makolo said Rwanda’s decision to intervene was driven primarily by solidarity with another African country facing a severe security crisis, rather than financial considerations.
“Rwandan forces went to Cabo Delgado at the request of the Mozambican government to support a brotherly African nation,” she said, adding that money was not the primary motivation for the deployment.
Still, she suggested that the long-term sustainability of the mission would depend on reliable and predictable international support.
The work carried out by Rwandan security forces in Cabo Delgado, she said, has benefited not only the Mozambican population but also the companies investing in the region’s energy sector, particularly large-scale liquefied natural gas projects.
Should military commanders conclude that Rwanda’s contribution is not sufficiently supported or appreciated, she added, they would be justified in advising the government to reconsider the bilateral arrangement and potentially withdraw the forces.
Such a decision could reshape the security landscape in Cabo Delgado, where Rwandan troops have played a central role in containing an insurgency that once threatened to destabilize one of southern Africa’s most important energy regions.
