Financialisation, narrow specialisation of production and capital accumulation in Mozambique

ABSTRACT

The article argues that the historical conditions under which national capitalism developed in post-independence Mozambique pushed the economy towards growing financialisation and narrower specialisation of production around increasingly basic and simple activities. In post-independence Mozambique, national capitalism rose from the ashes of state-centred accumulation built around the dominant social structures of production inherited from colonialism, under the impulse of neoliberal economic reforms and heavy dependency on inflows of private international finance. The speculative dynamics of accumulation prevented diversification and more complex industrialisation which, in turn, reinforced the role of financialisation as a means to and form of accumulation of capital. The paper argues that changing these dynamics of accumulation requires conscious industrial strategies focused on diversification and articulation of production, which cannot be achieved without challenging the extractive mode of accumulation and the power relationships associated with it.

RESUMO

Este artigo argumenta que as condições históricas sob as quais o capitalismo nacional se desenvolveu no pós-independência de Moçambique empurraram a economia para uma crescente financeirização e para uma especialização mais afunilada da produção em torno de atividades cada vez mais básicas e mais simples. No Moçambique pós-independência, o capitalismo nacional surgiu das cinzas do modo de acumulação centrado no Estado qhe havia sido construído em torno das estruturas sociais dominantes de produção herdadas do colonialismo, e sob o impulso das reformas económicas neoliberais e da forte dependência dos fluxos de financiamento privado internacional. As dinâmicas especulativas de acumulação impediram a diversificação e a industrialização mais complexa, o que, por sua vez, reforçou o papel da financeirização como meio e forma de acumulação de capital. O artigo argumenta que mudar essas dinâmicas de acumulação requer estratégias industriais conscientes focadas na diversificação e articulação da produção, que não podem ser alcançadas sem desafiar o modo extrativista de acumulação e as relações de poder a ele associadas.

KEYWORDS:

• Mozambique
• financialisation
• narrow specialisation
• capital accumulation

PALAVRAS-CHAVE:

• Moçambique
• financeirização
• especialização afunilada da produção
• acumulação de capital

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all those who directly and indirectly contributed to the research process that produced the arguments articulated in this article. We would like to thank Elisa Greco, one of the co-editors of this special issue, and the two anonymous reviewers for their detailed, insightful and helpful comments and editorial revisions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco

Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco, a Mozambican political economist, holds a PhD in economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. He is a visiting professor at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG), University of Lisbon, a researcher at the Centre for African and Development Studies (CEsA), and associate researcher at the Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IESE), in Maputo. His research is focused on political economy of economic crises and change in southern Africa, with emphasis on Mozambique.

Diogo Maia

Diogo Maia is a PhD Candidate in Development Studies at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG), University of Lisbon, with a graduate degree in economics and a master’s degree in environmental economics (School of Economics and Management, University of Porto). He is a researcher at the Centre for African and Development Studies (CEsA).