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The report analyzes South African foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mozambique, noting that while South Africa was the primary investor (49% of FDI from 1997-2002), businesses face significant hurdles. Key obstacles include systemic corruption, inefficient bureaucracy, a weak judiciary, and high import taxes. While large-scale projects like Mozal and Sasol succeeded through high-level government support, smaller firms are more exposed to 'small corruption' and bureaucratic delays. The document highlights a stark geographic imbalance in investment, with the majority concentrated in Maputo, and calls for structural reforms in land rights, infrastructure, and the financial sector to foster sustainable growth.

The CHAPOSA project investigated charcoal production systems around Lusaka, Dar es Salaam, and Maputo between 1989 and 1998. Findings indicate a significant reduction in closed forest cover in all three areas, with the most severe depletion around Maputo. Charcoal serves as a critical income source for rural poor and a stable, affordable energy source for urban poor, creating a socio-economic dependency that complicates regulation. The report argues that current fiscal and licensing systems are inadequately enforced, treating forests as open-access resources. To mitigate deforestation, the authors recommend a coordinated approach: enforcing licensing to increase prices and fund forest management, while simultaneously providing rural income alternatives (e.g., improved agriculture) and urban energy substitutes (e.g., expanded electricity access).

The document evaluates biofuel production in southern Africa, finding that sugarcane generally improves food security and reduces poverty, while jatropha's benefits are unproven or precarious. It highlights a trade-off where sugarcane can increase carbon stocks but displace food crops, whereas jatropha plantations in Mozambique caused substantial carbon stock losses. The brief also notes that high costs hinder the adoption of ethanol cooking stoves in urban Mozambique despite their potential to reduce charcoal-driven deforestation.