Maputo — Terrorism remains a major challenge which should not be underestimated, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi warned on Friday.

Speaking in his capacity as President of the ruling Frelimo Party, at the opening of a two day meeting of the Party's Central Committee, Nyusi said the country is fighting to put an end to jihadist terrorism but "without underestimating the enemy, and without any spirit of triumphalism".

Gains had been made in the fight against terrorism, and Nyusi pledged that his government "will continue to make efforts to expand the national defence capacity, as well as investments for economic and social development".

Nyusi added that, despite the terrorist attacks, investors remain interested in exploiting the natural gas deposits in the Rovuma Basin, off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado. He was confident that the first liquefied natural gas project, the floating LNG platform operated by the Italian energy company ENI, will be producing gas by the second half of this year.

Nyusi was also optimistic about the Demobilisation, Disarming and Reintegration (DDR) of former members of the Renamo militia. He said that, to date, 12 of the 16 Renamo military bases have been completely closed. The latest base to be closed was in Cuamba district, in the northern province of Niassa, where 281 former Renamo fighters were demobilized.

The bases still to be closed are in Montepuez district in Cabo Delgado, and Mocuba and Sabe in Zambezia province. The existence of a Renamo base in Montepuez comes as something of a surprise, since there has been no Renamo armed activity in Cabo Delgado for many years.

Nyusi added that the DDR teams will return to the Renamo central base in Gorongosa, in Sofala province, to complete its demilitarization. He said that teams have also been visiting the closed bases to ensure that activity there really has ceased.