Surviving the transition: the legacy of the old colonial companies in Mozambique

Abstract

This article looks at the private companies in the fields of agriculture, industry, finance and trade which survived the transition from colonialism to independence in Mozambique. It argues that the presence of a residual private sector both saved and undermined the socialist plan which the FRELIMO government tried to implement. The private sector occupied economic niche areas in which state control was inappropriate or ineffective, but the continuity of its business activities also helped to speed the erosion of socialism. Currently many of these private social forces have benefited from the process of privatisation carried out by FRELIMO. They used their experience and power to shape the type of capitalism which currently prevails in Mozambique, as well as the language used to describe it. The article shows the continuities and breaks which occurred in the transition to socialism and which attended Mozambique 's move towards a market economy.