Yearbook 2011
Mozambique. In 2010, the government had first abolished the subsidies on food and fuel but was forced to reintroduce them after rallies that demanded more human lives and cost the Minister of Agriculture the job. In March 2011, the Government found that the subsidies could not be reconciled with the budget adopted by Parliament before the turn of the year. The Ministry of Finance proposed a 45% increase in the budget, which it was hoped could cover with increased aid and improved tax collection. After negotiations, the budget surcharge stopped at around 7% and the government made new attempts to phase out the subsidies. The savings that were made then would be used for special food aid for families living below the poverty line and transport support for workers and students. Visit ABBREVIATIONFINDER for the acronym of MOZ that stands for the country of Mozambique.
The state gets a new source of income in the coal mine that Brazilian mining company Vale opened in May in northwestern Mozambique. The project has cost US $ 1.7 billion and is the largest single investment to date in the country.
According to Countryaah official site, Mozambique also hopes to be a major exporter of natural gas. The Italian company Eni, which since 2006 has been looking for gas in the sea north of Maputo, reported in the autumn that a field could be found that could contain up to 425 billion cubic meters of gas. Prior to this, an American company had already estimated that Mozambique’s gas assets are significantly larger than previously thought.
The latest in a series of major infrastructure projects aimed at stimulating local business and tourism, is an airport that began to be built in the city of Nacala in the northeast for over US $ 100 million. Other existing airports have been refurbished in recent years to accommodate more passengers.
Country data
Area: 799,380 km2 (world rank: 34)
Population: 29,669,000
Population density: 37 per km2 (as of 2017, world rank: 47)
Capital: Maputo
Official languages: Portuguese
Gross domestic product: 12.3 billion US $; Real growth: 3.7%
Gross national product (GNP, per resident and year): 420 US$
Currency: 1 Metical (MT) = 100 Centavos
Embassy
Stromstr. 47, 10551 Berlin
Telephone 030 39876500,
Fax 030 39876503
E-Mail: [email protected]
Government
Head of State: Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, Head of Government: Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, Exterior: José Pacheco
National holiday: 25.6.
Administrative structure
10 provinces and capital
State and form of government
Constitution of 2004
Presidential republic since 1990 (in the Commonwealth since 1995)
Parliament: Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República) with 250 members, election every 5 years
Direct election of the head of state every 5 years (one-off Re-election) Right to
vote from 18 years.
Population: Mozambicans, last census 2017 (preliminary): 28,861,863 residents,
especially Bantu: 47% Makua, 23% Tsonga, 12% Malawi, 11% Schona, 4% Yao; 1.7% Chinese including
Cities (with population): (As of 2017) Matola 1,616,267 pop., Maputo 1,101,170 (A 2.7 million), Nampula 743,125, Beira 533,825, Chimoio 372,821, Quelimane 349,842, Tete 305,722, Mocuba 240,000, Nacala 225,034, Lichinga 213,361, Gurué 210,000
Religions: 28% Catholics, 28% Protestants and Evangelicals, 18% Muslims (especially Sunnis), 18% without religion; indigenous religions; Baha’i, Jews and Hindu minorities (as of 2006)
Languages: Portuguese; Swahili, Makua, Chinyanja and others
Employed by economic sector: agriculture. 73%, industry 4%, business 23% (2017)
Unemployment (in% of all labor force): 2017: 25.0%
Inflation rate (in%): 2017: 15.3%
Foreign trade: Import: US $ 5.7 billion (2017); Export: 4.7 billion US $ (2017)
The extensive forest mantle, which also contains useful essences such as Rhodesian mahogany, red ebony and Mlanje cedar, is only partially exploited. In recent years it has supplied, on average, 7-8 million m 3 of timber.
Recent mineral exploration has revealed unsuspected riches of iron in Muanda and Namapa and of many other minerals in various areas. But the mining activity is hampered by the scarcity of capital and infrastructures and, after the achievement of independence, it has contracted strongly: only the exploitation of coal (Moatize: 426,000 t in 1974), of montmorillonite (979 t) is started., bauxite (2000 t) and asbestos (566), while the production of other minerals (fluorite, colombite-tantalite, tourmaline, beryl, rock salt) is only a few tons. However, the completion of a grandiose hydroelectric plant on the Zambezi in Cabora-Bassa, intended to significantly increase the current availability of electricity (installed power 485,000 kW, 747 million kWh produced in 1974), offers new perspectives to the mining and manufacturing industries. The latter is represented by a few plants for processing soil products (2,100,000 q of sugar, 808,000 hl of beer, 4200 t of cotton yarn, 5,800 t of jute yarn, 2,680,000 cigarettes in 1975), almost all in coastal cities, from two cement factories (421,000 t) and from a recent oil refinery in Matola.
The communication routes, while remaining structured according to the needs of the landlocked countries of central-southern Africa, have increased with new sections, bringing the railways to 3793 km and the rolling roads to 39,173 km. A few years ago, an oil pipeline (311 km) between Beira and Umtali (Rhodesia) has also been in operation.
The trade balance in the five-year period 1971-75 closed with a strong deficit: the value of exports (cotton, sugar, tea, copra, cashew nuts, vegetable oils) equals half the value of imports (equipment and various manufactured goods). In addition to Portugal, the main customers and suppliers were the Republic of South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy. On the other hand, the balance of payments is active, given the influx of money from tourism, emigrant remittances and mineral rights.