Contested sovereignty in Mozambique: The dilemmas of aid dependence (original) (raw)

2005

Abstract Mozambique has only recently emerged from a long civil war, the national political process remains uncertain and the government apparatus is weak. Since its origin as an independent state, the country has been heavily aid-dependent, but the donor community has come to regard Mozambique as a positive case with a government that is receptive of new policies.

The Changing Dynamics of Foreign Aid and Democracy in Mozambique

2012

This study explores the effects of foreign aid on democracy in Mozambique during the last decade. Aid for democracy built on historic relationships forged between donors and the government during the wartime humanitarian emergency. Foreign aid played an important role in Mozambique's transition from war to peace and from single-party rule to multiparty politics in the early 1990s. Since 2000, aid has shifted markedly toward general budget support and away from project support. Emphasis has moved from building central government institutions to bolstering local governance, and from a focus on democracy to good governance.

Donor relations and sovereignty

WIDER Working Paper

As a sovereign country, Mozambique initially relied on international solidarity and managed its donor relations well. Donor dependency entailed some loss of agency for the government as it allowed donors to challenge its capacity but never its authority. However, in the last decade, donor countries have expressed disappointment with reforms and challenged the government’s legitimacy. This is not only because of developments in Mozambique. Donor countries have become less enthusiastic about long-term, harmonized development cooperation and less concerned with aid effectiveness for poverty alleviation and inclusive growth. Aid budgets are under pressure and development finance is linked more to other donor countries’ foreign policy concerns, especially security and commerce. Mozambique should expect increasing instrumentalization of aid budgets by donors. It must be able to address its partners’ concerns other than those of poverty alleviation, human rights, and democracy and carefull...

Foreign aid, resource rents and institution-building in Mozambique and Angola

Sharing similar colonial and post-independence civil war experiences, Mozambique and Angola's development paths are often contrasted, with foreign aid-dependent Mozambique hailed a success compared to oil rentier Angola. This paper questions the so-called Mozambican miracle and contrasts it with Angola's trajectory over the past two decades. Paying attention to the political trajectory of the ruling parties as well as the different timing and conditions linked to the post-war political economy transition, we discuss differences and similarities in the post-conflict reconstruction trajectory, policy space, and relative institutional fragility. We suggest that large aid flows to Mozambique have contributed to a relaxation of its government's urgency in creating the financial structure capable of capturing rents from natural resources in contrast to Angola, while the relative absence of official development aid has led Angolan elites to seek tenure prolongation partly through high rent capture and incipient socialization of massive oil rents. We conclude by discussing the likely consequences of these factors in terms of the relative 'fragility' and 'robustness' of both states, and discuss implications for foreign assistance.

Chapter 14 Aid and Development: The Mozambican Case

Frontiers of Economics and Globalization, 2007

Studiestraede 6, DK-1455 Copenhagen K., Denmark Tel. +45 35 32 30 82 -Fax +45 35 32 30 00 http://www.econ.ku.dk Abstract d This paper considers the relationship between external aid and development in Mozambique from 1980 to 2004. The main objective is to identify the specific mechanisms through which aid has influenced the developmental trajectory of the country and whether one can plausibly link outcomes to aid inputs. We take as our point of departure a growth accounting analysis and review both intended and unintended effects of aid. Mozambique has benefited from sustained aid inflows in conflict, post-conflict and reconstruction periods. In each of these phases aid has made an unambiguous, positive contribution both enabling and supporting rapid growth since 1992. At the same time, the proliferation of donors and aid-supported interventions has burdened local administration and there is a distinct need to develop government accountability to its own citizens rather than donor agencies. In ensuring sustained future growth, Mozambique will have to develop its capacity to maximise the benefits from its natural resources while ensuring at the same time the necessary framework is put in place to promote constructive integration in international markets. JEL Classification: F35, O10, O55

Aid and Development: The Mozambican Case

2007

Contested sovereignty in Mozambique: The dilemmas of aid dependence (original) (raw)

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