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This policy briefing analyzes the 'interwovenness' of the Frelimo party, the state, and the business sector in Mozambique. It argues that Frelimo has captured state power, creating a structural system of patronage and cronyism where public officials use their positions for private gain. Despite the existence of anti-corruption laws and institutions like the GCCC, the document highlights a lack of political will, limited transparency in the extractive industries and foreign investment, and a civil society that is geographically concentrated and diverted by donor priorities toward socio-economic issues rather than governance monitoring.

The CHAPOSA project investigated charcoal production and forest depletion in the supply areas of Lusaka (Zambia), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and Maputo (Mozambique) between 1989 and 1998. The report finds that woodland cover is reducing in all three regions due to charcoal production and agricultural expansion, with the most severe depletion occurring around Maputo. While charcoal provides a critical income source for the rural poor and an affordable energy source for the urban poor, the current system is largely unregulated, with state licensing and fee collection being highly ineffective. The report recommends a coordinated policy approach: enforcing fiscal systems to fund forest management, while simultaneously providing rural agricultural support and expanding urban electricity access to reduce dependence on charcoal.

This policy brief examines the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of sugarcane and jatropha biofuel production in Malawi, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Using an ecosystem services framework, the study analyzes trade-offs between biofuel feedstock production and other services like food security, carbon sequestration, and poverty alleviation, while also exploring the feasibility of ethanol for household cooking in urban Mozambique.