Will Mozambique’s recent economic growth translate into country taking better care of its people?

In todays economic slowdown Mozambique is one of the few countries in the world witnessing economic growth. To be sure, the country has recorded growth rates of seven per cent in the last decade largely as a result of the abundant coal and natural gas reserves within the country. In recent years the country has found nearly 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which should be reason for more foreign investment, which is the countries ultimate goal. Having said all this Mozambique still faces several struggles that could cause their economic growth to stall rather than continue to progress. First and foremost the country is currently lacking the efficient means for transporting goods such as roads and railways making foreign investors hesitant to invest. Further Mozambique’s government like many in Africa, carries out many corrupt practices. For example 55% of the population remains in poverty including 40% of all children, which is simply inexcusable given the countries economic growth over the last decade. Mozambique currently relies heavily on foreign aid however this will certainly dwindle as the country continues to fight a civil war while the government fails to redistribute it’s money to the majority of the population.

Mozambique’s current state of affairs highlights several of the issues we’ve discussed in class regarding Neopatrimoinialism. Most obvious is the government’s reluctance to share the wealth from the countries natural resources disempowering its citizens and therefore weakening the state. Additionally the lack of investment in basic infrastructure is no different than we’ve seen in many African countries. Less than 13% of the countries workforce has completed secondary education. Moreover, Mozambique is rated as “partly free” according to the Freedom House Index and relating this to class material I think we would have a similar analysis about the country. On the one hand the country is witnessing economic growth and at the very least has future plans to reduce poverty. The issue remains whether or not the country will actually meet their future goals to reduce poverty, which has remained stagnant in the last six years. As is the case with most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa Mozambique is far from perfect and would need a serious overhaul of the government in order to truly move in the right direction

I chose to blog about Mozambique because it is a unique Sub-Saharan African country in the sense that it has seen substantial economic growth at a time when the global economy has slowed. At the same time however the country has failed to redistribute its economic wealth to the majority of its people like we see in other countries with neopatrimonial regimes. If Mozambique is unable or unwilling to solve these problems in the near future it will end up like many of it neighbor’s as weak states usually lead to failed states.

“Coking coal and gas should hugely boost Mozambique’s economy.” Economist. September 29, 2012. http://www.economist.com/node/21563753

“The economic rise of Mozambique.” Aljazeera. August 18, 2012. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/countingthecost/2012/08/201281714514039254.html

“Mozambique 2012.” African Economic Outlook. http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/southern-africa/mozambique/