40 Middle East & Africa The EconomistApril 4th 2020
2 province’s Swahili- or Mwani-speaking
Muslims from opportunities in both the le-
gal and illegal industries that flourish in
Cabo Delgado. Smuggling ivory, rubies,
timber and heroin is rampant. These trades
reportedly involve close links between or-
ganised crime and politicians.
The arrival of international companies
is viewed with suspicion, too. Luiz Fernan-
do Lisboa, the bishop of Pemba, questions
whether investments by large companies
have benefited ordinary people. Farmers
and fishermen have been uprooted to make
way for mining and energy infrastructure.
There is a deep mistrust of local elites in
Cabo Delgado, adds Joseph Hanlon of the
London School of Economics. It is be-
lieved, for instance, that they cause cholera
outbreaks and get lions to eat people.
In its trajectory from sect to insurgency,
the region’s guerrilla group resembles
Boko Haram, argues Eric Morier-Genoud of
Queen’s University Belfast. From around
2013 it began calling itself al-Shabab
(“youth”), like the Somali outfit (with
which it has no known direct links). Two
years later it began military training. In
2017 it attacked for the first time, in Mocim-
boa da Praia. Today there are believed to be
many units in the province, with members
from northern Mozambique, Tanzania and
Congo, among other places.
More attacks were carried out in the
first quarter of 2020 than in any three-
month period since the war began (see
map). Raids are occurring farther south. At-
tacks were once carried out with machetes;
now fighters have automatic weapons.
Unlike the publicity-hungry jihadists of
Boko Haram, the insurgents of Cabo Delga-
do have recorded just two videos contain-
ing bog-standard demands—the imposi-
tion of sharia and the closing of secular
schools. “We are not fighting for wealth, we
only want Islamic law,” said one fighter.
That is probably not entirely true.
Though the insurgents are not holding
towns, they appear to retain control over
the illegal trade routes that go through
them. Some of their funding may come
from businessmen involved in smuggling.
Young, poor recruits are given money to
join. If they do not fight, they risk having
their heads chopped off.
The attack of March 23rd also suggested
that the group is drawing closer to Islamic
State (is). In July 2019 isclaimed the insur-
gents as part of its central African fran-
chise. Those who took Mocimboa da Praia
carried the black flag of is. The nature of
the most recent attacks—taking but not
holding towns—fits with the isplaybook,
says Jasmine Opperman, a security analyst.
It is less clear whether attacks are being
directed by is. The video of March 23rd ap-
peared to be aimed at recruiting Mozambi-
cans, points out Mr Morier-Genoud. He
adds that while the islink is strengthening,the insurgency remains locally oriented.
The authorities’ response has been
counter-productive. Police have arrested
hundreds of “suspects”, holding some
without trial. Conscripts dispatched to the
north do not speak local languages, lack
equipment and have rock-bottom morale.
To bolster his forces President Filipe
Nyusi last year enlisted the Wagner Group,
Russian mercenaries linked to the Krem-
lin. Yet they have found it hard going, re-
portedly losing at least 11 men last year. The
role of the Wagner Group, like much else in
this conflict, remains murky. Local jour-
nalists have been jailed for reporting on the
violence. “They don’t want this conflict to
be known by the world,” says one.
The energy companies developing the
Rovuma basin, such as Total and Exxon-Mobil, have tried to isolate themselves
from the chaos. Security companies are
paid more than $1m per month to keep
workers safe. These guards get armed es-
corts from some of the government’s better
troops. An airstrip has been built in Palma,
the town serving offshore installations.
Since the end of the civil war frelimo
has shown no sign of caring about the peo-
ple of Cabo Delgado. But it does care about
spoils. And the risk of losing billions of dol-
lars in gas revenues may be reason to re-
think its strategy. While it dithers, though,
the rebels may be gaining support. A video
of the attack of March 23rd seems to show
local residents applauding the insurgents.
When a government is losing the battle for
hearts and minds to murderous jihadists, it
really is in trouble. 7D
ominique persoone, the bad boy of
Belgian chocolate, has served pow-
dered chocolate that has been snorted
like cocaine at a party for the Rolling
Stones and had the sticky stuff drizzled
on naked women for a photo shoot. His
latest escapade is making chocolate in
the jungles of eastern Congo.
The scheme is less madcap than it
may sound. The factory is just outside
the Virunga National Park, a vast reserve
that is home to endangered mountain
gorillas and other wildlife. The park is
threatened by hundreds of militiamen
who poach its animals, and by farmers
who sneak in to plant crops. One way of
protecting it is to create jobs by making
posh chocolate from local cocoa.The new factory sandwiched between
dense rainforests and the Rwenzori
mountains will churn out up to 5,000
bars a week. Many will be sold in Mr
Persoone’s shops in Antwerp and Bruges.
The factory runs on hydroelectric
power generated in the park, as do near-
by soap and chia-seed factories. Emman-
uel de Merode, the park director, hopes
reliable power will attract more invest-
ment. “People have perceptions of east-
ern Congo as a disaster area,” he says.
“We can create excellent chocolate and
show them it is not.” But the region still
faces huge problems. Just after seeing off
an outbreak of Ebola, cases of covid-19
are cropping up. Mountain gorillas are
susceptible to it, so Virunga has closed
its gates to tourists.
At the chocolate factory, Jacqueline
Zawadi gossips with two fellow workers
as they shell cocoa beans. Her husband
was one of the more than 200 rangers
who have been killed by poachers or
militiamen since 1996. The park has
employed her since his death. Three
other factory workers peer into a whir-
ring machine. Dark chocolate swirls
around as it mixes with sugar and butter.
Fresh chilli and ginger are sprinkled into
some batches to give the chocolate an
extra kick. “It is not quite perfect,” admits
Roger Marora, a worker. “But it is very
nearly perfect.”
Mr Persoone, who has received test
bars in the post, does not yet agree. He
will give the signal to export only when
the chocolate meets his standards. “I am
putting my name on the bars,” he says.
“They have to be good.”Sweet dreams are Congolese
Chocolate in AfricaMUTWANGA
A Belgian chocolatier opens a factory in the jungleHeart of dark chocolate