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Mozambique eyes commodities boom

Geoff Riley

31st May 2014

Mozambique has discovered large amounts of natural gas - can the extraction of this act as a catalyst for economic growth and development or will Mozambique be added to the long list of countries who have experienced a natural resource curse?Manuel Chang, Mozambique's minister of finance, says economic growth is only part of the story of a country's development. He tells Javier Blas of the Financial Times how his nation plans to make the most of its vast natural resources.Manufacturing output in the African continent accounts for less than 2% of global manufacturing production.

According to a recent report on natural resource wealth in Mozambique

"Experience shows that the quality of governance and institutional capability are a key for countries to be able to translate natural capital into other forms of capital in an effective way. A variety of governance indicators show that Mozambique's institutions are relatively weak, raising concern about the country's ability to manage natural resources well."

Manufacturing output (% of global total)

  1. Europe: 24.7%
  2. North America: 22.4%
  3. Asia & Pacific: 21.7%
  4. East Asia: 17.2%
  5. Others: 6.7%
  6. Latin America: 5.8%
  7. Africa: 1.5%

Source: Unido

Basic data:

  • Population: 25.20million (2012)
  • GDP: $14.24billion (2012)
  • GDP growth: 7.4% (2012)
  • Inflation: 4.2% (2013)

Update: Financial Times, June 2014

Geoff Riley

Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.

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