High-living elite far from citizens’ struggle
Mozambique’s economy is dangerously fragile but politicians keep borrowing for their vanity projects, writes Alexander Matthews
Take a stroll around Maputo and you’ll see that the priorities of Mozambique’s government are firmly embedded in the capital’s architectural fabric. The pavements used by ordinary Mozambicans are crumbling, litter-strewn, stinking of urine, punctured by gaping manholes. Look up, however, and on Avenida Julius Nyerere you’ll see the two-storey presidential complex commissioned by Armando Guebuza. It was built in a breakneck 18 months, but the former president had only a few weeks to enjoy its chandeliers, marble interiors and vast banqueting hall before leaving office in 2015 – a departure he apparently had not been anticipating. Then head downtown to the Baixa and crane your neck upwards to admire the new Banco de Moçambique headquarters, a glass and metal monstrosity featuring essentials such as a rooftop helipad. Behind it, you may spot the towers of what will be Africa’s longest suspension bridge soaring over the Tembe River. Due to be completed by the end of 2017, the four-lane ...
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