A Regional Approach to National Development Priorities in Mozambique

Mozambique faces significant development hurdles despite high economic growth, primarily due to a severe domestic skills shortage and uncompetitive business environment. The report suggests that the government should leverage regional resources and liberalise foreign labour regulations to facilitate skills transfer and economic growth.

• Despite maintaining an average economic growth rate of 7% since 2008, Mozambique continues to struggle with high absolute poverty, which the United Nations places at 45%, and remains one of the world's least developed countries with a per capita income of $535 per annum.
• Mozambique is ranked as one of the top ten most uncompetitive economies globally, placing 138 out of 144 in the World Economic Forum’s 2012-2013 Global Competitive Index. Key constraints include weak institutional capacity, opaque regulatory processes, deficient infrastructure, and a lack of economic diversification.
• The country suffers from a critical shortage of professional skills, with only 40 in every 100,000 people enrolled in higher education, compared to 596 per 100,000 in Botswana. Furthermore, 45% of university-educated Mozambicans live abroad, primarily in South Africa and Portugal.
• Current labour regulations restrict foreign labour to between 5% for large firms and 10% for small firms across all industries. The report argues these caps, and the bureaucratic processes to exceed them, hinder growth by limiting the transfer of technology and information and denying local professionals learning opportunities.
• To overcome its skills deficit, Mozambique should better utilise regional frameworks such as the 2007 SADC Protocol on Education and Training to pool educational resources and create regional centres of specialisation.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2013). A Regional Approach to National Development Priorities in Mozambique. https://saiia.org.za/research/a-regional-approach-to-national-development-priorities-in-mozambique/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. A Regional Approach to National Development Priorities in Mozambique. 2013. https://saiia.org.za/research/a-regional-approach-to-national-development-priorities-in-mozambique/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=A Regional Approach to National Development Priorities in Mozambique |date=20 March 2013 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/a-regional-approach-to-national-development-priorities-in-mozambique/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2013regional, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{A Regional Approach to National Development Priorities in Mozambique}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2013}, month = mar, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/a-regional-approach-to-national-development-priorities-in-mozambique/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }