Good afternoon. The complaints raised against a Chinese cement company, which has been fined for illegally trying to build a factory in Sofala province (see below), look quite routine on the face of it. It is not unusual for Chinese investors in Mozambique to attract complaints about violating environmental regulations. But such complaints are on the increase, and there is more to them than meets the eye. There have also been complaints recently about Chinese firms mining gold in Manica province and heavy mineral sands in Chibuto district, Gaza province.
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But Chinese firms are not acting alone. No foreign investor could hope to march into Mozambique and start mining or building a factory without local help and support. As usual, political elites within the ruling Frelimo party provide access to land and licences in exchange for a share of the profits. In Manica, for example, the company Flomining, controlled by former president Filipe Nyusi’s son Florindo, holds three mining concessions, operated by Chinese contractors.
But now that Daniel Chapo is president, new groups are rising up to challenge the dominance of the families of Nyusi and of his predecessor as president, Armando Guebuza. Hence the increase in complaints about Chinese firms: not all those complaints are motivated by concern about the environment, but about dislodging one local fat cat in favour of another.
