Natural gas won't solve Mozambique's development challenges

An article in ISS Today expands on a recent report from the African Futures Project, a collaboration between the Pardee Center and the Institute for Security Studies, using IFs to assess Mozambique’s long-term development prospects. The discovery that Mozambique holds one of the largest reserves of natural gas in the world has generated great optimism about the country’s future. But the recent sovereign debt crisis has cast serious doubt on the ability of the country to effectively manage the associated profits and better promote human development. Without a concerted effort to ensure transparent management of gas revenues and channel that windfall into investment in basic human development, the country will continue to face barriers to inclusive growth. Without basic service delivery and better budget management, gas reserves won’t help Mozambique’s poorest. The article was written by Zachary Donnenfeld (Korbel MA 2015), currently a researcher with ISS in Pretoria, and Alex Porter (Korbel MA 2014), currently a research affiliate at the Pardee Center.