A protester reacts during a ‘national shutdown’ against the election results at the Luis Cabral neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique on November 7, 2024
Intensifying post-election election protests in Mozambique are taking a toll on businesses in neighbouring Zimbabwe and South Africa whose raw materials are stuck on the troubled country’s ports.
Mozambique is facing its worst-ever post-election violence following a disputed October 9 poll won by the ruling Frelimo party.
The opposition has been leading protests that have seen the death of over 30 people after domestic and international observers highlighted several irregularities in the polls and lack of credibility in the electoral process.
Losing presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, who fled the country for fear of his life, has been urging protesters to paralyse the country’s economy. And protesters warned they will now target ports and borders, especially with the region’s economic powerhouse, South Africa.
Activities at Mozambique’s biggest ports, Maputo and Beira, were severely disrupted this week after transporters stopped operations fearing attacks by protestors.
Delta Corporation, Zimbabwe’s biggest company by market capitalisation, said it was beginning to feel the pinch because of the unrest in Mozambique.
“The recent developments with our neighbours Mozambique are of concern. We use the port of Beira quite significantly,” said Delta finance director Alex Makamure.
“For most of our raw materials we use mainly Durban and Beira but increasingly our sugar, which we import, us preforms and glass
“We actually have quite a bit of raw materials that are sitting in Beira and our supply partners have indicated that any incoming stock until the situation improves in Mozambique we have to redirect to Durban or other ports because the situation doesn’t look like resolving itself the way we would have wanted.”
Zimbabwe also gets all its fuel imports through a pipeline from Beira. It also heavily relies on Mozambican ports for mineral exports and food imports.
Juanita Maree, chief executive of the Southern Africa Association of Freight Forwards (SAFF), said the conflict in Mozambique came at a time when the logistics and supply chain in the region were under pressure from several other disruptive challenges.
“The economic of this situation is long-term and extends beyond Mozambique to all other countries in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region but in particular South Africa and Zimbabwe, as halted trade raises the risk of economic setbacks,” SAAFF said in a statement.
“The supply chains currently utilising the Maputo corridor compete internationally, and the predictability required for ensuring international competitiveness is putting these fragile supply chains at significant risk.
“Maputo has long been a vital port for regional and international trade, growing significantly in importance over the last 15 to 20 years as a successful public-private concessionary – an operating model that has increased capacity, driving growth and investment into Mozambique – one of the world’s poorest economies and indeed into southern Africa.”
South Africa has been forced to close one of its busiest borders with South Africa because of the escalating violence. SADC leaders will meet in Zimbabwe this weekend for an extra ordinary summit where the Mozambique crisis is expected to top the agenda.
Borges Nhamirre, an analyst at the Institute of Security Studies based in South Africa, said the SADC summit must help to unlock the political logjam in Mozambique as it was threatening regional stability.
“The SADC summit starting this week could buttress Mozambique’s last stand for democracy by encouraging the electoral bodies to respect the will of the people as expressed at the polling stations,” Mr Nhamirre said.
“SADC can also help find a mechanism for the peaceful resolution of post-election violence by urging Mozambique to follow the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections.”
SADC’s observer mission’s preliminary report appeared to give Mozambique’s electoral processes the thumbs up, which triggered withering criticism from the opposition and the media.
There were also questions about the credibility of the mission’s head and former Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume. Mr Karume’s tenure in Zanzibar was marred by allegations of election fraud and violence.
SADC executive secretary Elias Magosi said the bloc “does not have a carrot-and-stick approach” when dealing with member states that fail to stick to its guidelines and principles for free and fair elections.
Frelimo has been in power in Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975 and its candidate Daniel Chapo was announced the winner of the October 9 polls.
SADC also faced criticism after it endorsed Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections despite concerns raised by its observer missions that the polls did not meet the regional body’s standards.