Country profilesMozambique

Humanitarian profile

War has been Mozambique's main humanitarian concern since independence from Portugal in 1975. A peace deal in 1992 ended 16 years of civil war, which killed an estimated 900,000 people and made 5 million more people homeless. Mozambiquans have also had to face famine and economic mismanagement. Half of the population live on less than $1 a day, and the southern African country is in the top five aid recipients in Africa.

Country snapshot

Mozambique has been making a steady recovery from a civil war that raged for 16 years until 1992 and killed an estimated 1 million people. The country remains one of the world’s poorest and comes near the bottom of the U.N.’s human development index. Most people live off subsistence agriculture, the government is heavily dependent on foreign aid and HIV/AIDS is widespread. However, peace and a revival in tourism along its Indian Ocean coast have helped improve daily life for many.

Government

The president is directly elected for a five-year term. The prime minister is appointed by the president.

The one-chamber Assembly of the Republic has 250 members directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. In the last election in 2009 Frelimo won 191 seats, Renamo 51 and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) eight.

Frelimo, which stands for the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, has been in power since leading the country to independence from Portugal in 1975. Renamo is the Mozambique National Resistance, the other side in the long civil war.

Economy

Mozambique was already one of the world's poorest countries at independence in 1975, and things got steadily worse during the 1977-92 civil war, which saw the economy crippled by the fighting and mismanaged by the Socialist government.

Since the end of the war its recovery has been dramatic, with economic and fiscal reforms, peace and stability boosting growth to an average 9 percent a year for most of the past decade, one of Africa's best performances.

But having started from such a low base, the economy is still far from healthy.

The infant mortality rate is one of the world’s worst, as is life expectancy at birth which is 41 years. About one in eight people has HIV/AIDS. Most people live on under a dollar a day.

Foreign aid pays for more than half the annual budget, and most people are below the poverty line, living off the food they can grow.

The country has a large trade imbalance but its once substantial foreign debt has been cut through forgiveness and rescheduling under IMF initiatives.

Mozambique has much potential from mineral reserves. Aluminium is important, accounting for a third of export earnings, which makes the country vulnerable to price fluctuations.

The Mozal aluminium smelter, the largest foreign investment project to date, has boosted export earnings.

Most arable land is still uncultivated, leaving room for growth, and the country has a lot of tourism potential.

The economy was hit in 2000 and 2001 by floods that affected about a quarter of the population and destroyed much infrastructure.

History

Portugal’s authoritarian rulers held on to their African colonies for several years after Britain and France gave independence to theirs, but then dropped them overnight after a coup in Lisbon toppled the old regime in 1974. The sudden departure has left a deep legacy.

The area had a long history of African settlement, and Arab coastal trading posts, before Portugal began to colonise it in the early 16th century. It was home to a large Shona empire in the 11th century.

It was a major centre for the slave trade, and the colony was run largely by trading companies until Portugal imposed direct rule in 1932. The economy thrived, attracting thousands of new Portuguese settlers in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Mozambique Liberation Front, Frelimo, took up arms in 1964 and fought for 10 years until Portugal’s sudden U-turn prompted the rapid flight of 250,000 Portuguese inhabitants.

A transitional government was established in 1974, with independence the next year under Frelimo leader Samora Machel and the start of a one-party system. The capital Lourenco Marques was renamed Maputo.

But peace was not to last. In 1976 white Rhodesian officers set up Renamo - an anti-Frelimo resistance group. Mozambique imposed economic sanctions on Rhodesia, which needed Mozambique for access to the sea.

The civil war pitched the Soviet-backed Marxist government of Frelimo against Renamo anti-Communists who were supported first by white-ruled Rhodesia and then by apartheid South Africa.

In 1986 Machel died in an air crash whose cause has been the subject of much speculation, and Joaquim Chissano became president.

Frelimo gave up Marxism in 1989. Multi-party politics were allowed in 1990, and two years later a peace deal ended the war.

Frelimo has won all subsequent elections, some of which have been disputed by Renamo and smaller opposition groups. Chissano stepped down after 18 years in power and was succeeded by Armando Guebuza, a millionaire businessman who had played a leading role in the struggle for independence.

Legal snapshot

The legal system is based on Portuguese civil law and customary law. The country has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction and does not recognise the authority of the International Criminal Court.

The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal. Some of its judges are appointed by the president and some elected by parliament.

Mozambique gets an overall ‘very weak’ rating from U.S.-based non-governmental organisation Global Integrity in its most recent report measuring anti-corruption measures and government accountability.