Mozambique’s latest turn towards economic nationalism has reached one of the most politically sensitive products in the country: bread.
The government is preparing restrictions on bread imports, arguing that domestic bakeries can already produce bread of comparable quality and should not be undercut by better-financed foreign suppliers. Vitor Miguel, head of the bakers’ association Amopão and himself a bakery owner, supports the measure. Mozambican bread, he says, is of good quality and competitively priced; the problem is partly habit, with some consumers preferring South African-style sliced bread.
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In that sense, the policy fits a broader pattern. Similar protective measures have already been used in ceramics, rice, and wheat, and there is a defensible argument that Mozambique should not spend scarce foreign exchange importing products that can be made locally.
