‘Megaprojects (especially in extractive sectors) have limited linkages to the rest of the economy and have failed to create a significant number of jobs or benefits to local communities,’ admits the World Bank it is new Mozambique Country Partnership Framework (CPF), approved last Thursday and published Sunday (22 and 25 January). ‘Employment outcomes remain weak, as growth continues to be driven by extractive sectors with limited job spillovers.’https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/country/mozambique/cpf ‘Mozambique’s growth model has delivered limited improvements in living standards, largely due to the insufficient creation of good-quality jobs. Real GDP growth averaged 8.2% per year during 1996-2015, among the fastest growth rates in the world, supported by foreign investment in extractive activities.
However, strong economic growth delivered limited and uneven benefits in terms of job creation and poverty reduction.’ ‘Poverty levels have increased, owing to the lack of good jobs’ reports the World Bank. ‘The share of population in poverty declined from 60% to 48% between 2002-2014 (using the national poverty line), but it subsequently increased to 63%in 2022, reversing earlier progress’. The CPF ‘reflects recent World Bank Group corporate changes: new vision, mission, and approach to country engagement.’ The Group includes the International Financing Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
The last time the Group worked together in Mozambique was 2000-2010 when it forced Mozambique to accept the extractive megaprojects: Mozal aluminium, gas to South Africa, coal, and heavy sands. The World Bank admits its spread of projects has not been effective and for 2026-31 will concentrate on agribusiness and tourism, which is says have the most job creation potential, with strong linkages to local economy. ‘By providing more and better local jobs (some of them low-skilled), these sectors can help address youth disenfranchisement.’ Within these priorities, it will focus on the Nacala corridor for agribusiness, and ‘targeting the Inhambane tourist hot-spots cluster … focusing on one flagship destination in the Inhambane area.’ The Nacala corridor has been a favourite for donor projects, and the Bank is set to repeat the roots of prior failure.
Read Full Article on Club of Mozambique
[paywall]
‘In the populated Nacala corridor, agriculture production is fragmented and insufficiently connected to market and logistics infrastructure: railways and ports are mostly used for mineral exports, and roads are in poor conditions.’ Which shows the lack of knowledge of history. The Nacala railway once served many local stations and was key for agricultural marketing by small commercial farmers, until it was upgraded for coal exports and local stations were closed. And again, the Bank calls for land privatisation: ‘Existing land rights hamper the ability to transfer and use land as collateral, limiting access to finance.’ And the Bank finally admits the overuse of ineffective consultants.
‘Institutional capacity to implement projects is weak and prone to substantive delays. This has led to overreliance on consultants’ staffingisolated Project Implementation Units to manage Bank-financed projects. Again the Bank ignores its own agriculture recommendations The World Bank’s Mozambique ‘Poverty & Equity Brief’, published last October, said that ‘Poverty is more widespread in rural areas, 70.9% of the rural population is poor, compared to 47.6% in urban areas.
‘The highest poverty rates are concentrated in the North and Central regions, particularly in Nampula, Cabo Delgado, and Zambezia, while the Southern region – especially Maputo Province and Maputo City – records the lowest rates. Poverty is disproportionately higher among youth, individuals with lower levels of education, residents of large rural households, and agricultural workers.’https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099723104212527558/pdf/IDU-64f9c003-a465-439a-840e-bddcf59ca5a3.pdf
[/paywall]
