The United States has agreed to deepen cooperation on security and economic development with Mozambique and Madagascar, as Washington intensifies maritime-security engagement across the southwest Indian Ocean.
During a meeting in Maputo on November 5, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo and US Africa Command (Africom) Deputy Commander Lt Gen John W. Brennan Jr. discussed opportunities to strengthen bilateral cooperation in security and economic development, with both sides framing the issues as closely linked to national stability and prosperity, according to O Pais.
Brennan described Mozambique as a strategic AFRICOM partner and said the US wanted to explore joint opportunities in the two sectors.
The meeting follows President Chapo’s October meeting with US President Donald Trump in New York, where the two governments identified critical minerals, agriculture, infrastructure and counterterrorism as areas for closer partnership.
Africom coordinates US military operations and security cooperation across Africa, including counterterrorism, support for African forces and joint exercises. Africom’s outreach also extended to Madagascar, where Brennan and civil-military engagement deputy Peter Vrooman met President Michaël Randrianirina, Armed Forces Minister Gen Ely Maminirina Razafitombo and senior commanders on November 3-4.
Talks focused on maritime domain awareness, trafficking, piracy, regional training and the links between critical minerals, economic security and defense.
The delegation toured the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre and national maritime center, which support information-sharing across Madagascar and the western Indian Ocean. It later visited Antsiranana’s naval base and Andrakaka airfield, where a planned US-funded runway resurfacing project is intended to support Madagascar’s expanded role in the multinational Cutlass Express 2027 exercise.
The parallel engagements reflect a broader US effort to strengthen Indian Ocean maritime security at a time when trafficking, piracy and illegal fishing threaten shipping lanes and coastal economies. The US Embassy said cooperation should help Madagascar police its territorial waters, defend sovereignty and protect its “blue economy”.
