WHO IS THE MAIN BRAKE ON MOZAMBIQUE'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?

After regaining independence and after the end of the civil war, Mozambique opened up a little bit to foreign investment, naturally the first foreign investors were South Africans. a very natural phenomenon, by the way white Africans know sub-Saharan Africa after all they have been here for over 300 years. They know perfectly well the mentality of the inhabitants of sub- Saharan Africa, including Mozambique, they understand well the local approach to business, It would seem that they also know the local cultures, of which there are many in Mozambique. Mozambique borders South Africa to the south and was always a popular holiday destination for white Africans. It would seem that nothing better could happen to Mozambique. South Africans with good knowledge, also practical, with good money and good funds for investment is the best solution for one of the poorest countries in a world torn by various wars for 30 years. An average European who has no knowledge of this region thinks that South Africa is a country comparable to England, France, Belgium, Germany. The average European investor believes that South Africa has the same business laws, the same solutions and the same business ethics as Europeans. The average European considers white South Africans to be culturally close to themselves so he trusts that they have the same approach to social and economic issues as he does. And this is where the problem begins.

South Africa remains a country of enormous social segregation to this day, for example, mixed marriages between whites and blacks are rare in South Africa, the average white South African does not speak any dialect or local language other than Africans that exists in South Africa, some white South Africans even have trouble with the official English language. A white entrepreneur to exist in South Africa has to maneuver between the idiotic laws imposed by the South African government, he cannot trust anyone and in order to function in business and in the South African economy he has to pay bribes.

The first investments in tourism in Mozambique were South African, first investments in small supermarkets and shops and sale of goods were created by South African for South African tourists. In an informal way, small ghettos were created for white South African tourists created by small South African entrepreneurs. The hallmark of this is a plaque at every entrance to a hotel or restaurant "Right of admission Reserved" from the point of view of the average European tourist, this type of badge is absolutely bizarre. I recently asked the South African owner of one of the small restaurants in one of the Mozambican coastal towns - what would happen if I came to your restaurant with a black fiancée ( by the way I am a white boy from Sweden ) to which he replied, "Well, I cordially invite you, we will serve you as best we can but I would completely lose any respect for you"

This doesn't stop white South Africans from dating black girls late at night when no one is watching but in broad daylight officially, no! Having this ingrained approach, they are unable to create mixed marriages, mixed businesses are not able to have fun together, and by creating enclaves, ghettos and enterprises just for themselves, they do not contribute in any way to the development and education of a given region. If we add to this excellent knowledge how to bribe, circumvent the law, and not honor various agreements especially agreements with local communities, then we are shown the image of a typical entrepreneur who is only focused on profits at all costs, has absolutely no feelings towards the reality surrounding him and on the contrary deepens the cultural differences that divide him from the local community. Recently there has been quite a lot of noise on the internet about the company Sasol, Company was accused of unethical practices towards its employees, and failure to honor agreements with local communities. The shocking news was that in order to get a job at Sasol, you had to pay a bribe to the recruiter, the company's board and local managers knew about this procedure perfectly well and most likely made money from it as well. This practice was also known in other companies managed by South Africans, in agriculture and even in tourism industry. We have often heard of cases where a person was employed in a company and allegedly taxes were paid to the tax office and state administration, but in the end, it turned out that the tax was never paid. Of course, all this was done by the hands of local Mozambican managers, but in many cases the South African managers knew about this procedure perfectly well, but they didn't care, as long as the company was making money and everything was working why should I go into details, these are some local matters that I'm not interested in. Every investor investing in Scandinavia, France or Great Britain, especially if he lives there with his family, learns and benefits from local culture, learns the local language in order to function independently in business and in the social sphere. Creating enclaves just for yourself and your business never leads to real economic development. Such a philosophy is the main brake on any social, cultural and business development, it causes and deepens cultural differences, and in the end it frustrates both the investor and the employee. True ethical business produces economic development, education, friendly and peaceful environment. in turn, creating closed enclaves and ghettos causes mutual distrust and misunderstanding which ultimately leads to problems.

Eric Rasmus Sőder is a Swedish Globetrotter and a writer well known of his sharp eye and pen.