Mozambique synthesis analysis: Between pockets of efficiency and elite capture

This paper will synthesise the main findings from case studies of productive sectors in Mozambique.6 The research questions that guided the work focused on the following questions. Which productive sector initiatives did the Mozambican government support? Why were they supported? How were they supported (or challenged and ignored)? Finally the project also considered what the outcomes were. In short we argue that productive initiatives are supported when they tap into the ruling party coalition’s priorities concerning political survival, whether this means electoral victory, coalition maintenance, state expansion or reforms of the economy and political domain in such a way that regime survival is ensured. We also suggest that ideological projects concerning state unity and the transformation of society are important, just as a certain historical determination is at stake as sectors with a track record for the delivery of political goals are supported. In other words, we are concerned with a particular sector’s relationship to the ruling coalition. But ruling coalition and government support alone cannot explain why some sectors are supported and not others.