December 8, 2024: In mid-2023 the Southern Africa Development Community, SADAC, extended its military mission in Mozambique. A year later on Oct. 24 Daniel Chapo won the Oct. 9 election, extending Frelimo’s 50-year grip on power. Frelimo is one of the longest lasting dictatorships in Africa. The current leader of Frelimo is Filipe Nyusi and he is the real ruler of Mozambique while President Daniel Chapo has a lot less power and influence.

Mozambique is corrupt. The Transparency International Corruption index puts Mozambique near the bottom of the list at 145 out of 180 nations rated. Then there is the UN Human Development Index that has been compiled annually since the 1990s. The index ranks all nations on how well they do in terms of life expectancy, education, and income. The top ten tend to be the same nations every year. The bottom ten are the Solomon Islands, Syria, Cameroon, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Comoros, Mauretania, Benin, Uganda, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Mali, Burundi, South Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic. North Korea is not ranked because not enough reliable data is available on the population or economy.

Taiwan was not rated because China insisted Taiwan was part of China, but in previous years Taiwan would just about make the top twenty, competing with South Korea and Israel for 20th place while North Korea would rank near the bottom of the list. Aid experts estimate that North Korea has about one twentieth of the GDP per capita as affluent South Korea. You could call Mozambique the North Korea of Africa as it has one of the lowest GDP per capita’s in the world. There was a civil war from 1975 to 1992. Frelimo won that conflict and has been the undisputed ruler of Mozambique since 1992. There are still occasional rebellions in the interior and outside urban areas. Since 2017 there has been an active Islamic terrorist threat along the northeast coast. There continue to be small battles between the army and various anti-government groups or segments of the population that oppose government policies. Frelimo is known more for violence than good government.

Since 1975, when Mozambique broke free of its colonial ruler Portugal, Frelimo has run the country, and not very well. When the Portuguese left in 1975, most Mozambicans wanted them to stay. Four hundred years of Portuguese rule made Mozambique prosperous and peaceful. Portugal had its own problems at home and felt it could no longer afford to rule Mozambique. So they left and were replaced by Frelimo. Mozambique was in chaos until 1992 when the civil war ended. Since then there have been elections, a free market economic system and lots of local violence.

Mozambique is on the southeast coast of Africa, opposite the island of Madagascar. Currently Mozambique has a population of 35 million. Some 56 percent are Christian while 26 percent practice ancient local faiths. Only 17.5 percent are Moslem. Poverty is endemic, despite the abundant natural resources. Corruption among government officials and businessmen keeps these two groups rich while the rest of Mozambicans remain poor. There are over 40 different languages spoken in Mozambique. That made Portuguese a common second language for most Mozambicans.