Armed Conflict in Mozambique in 2013: Another Resource Curse?

Cornelia Körtl

doi:10.22151/politikon.27.2

Authors

Cornelia Körtl University of London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.27.2

Keywords:

armed conflict, distribution of power, Mozambique, natural resources, political settlement, rent-allocation, rent-seeking, resource curse, resource rents

Abstract

In the context of an investment boom in the extractive sector, Mozambique recently experienced another armed conflict. The correlation between natural resources abundance and dependence and violent conflict is widely known as ‘resource curse’. This study examines whether the outbreak of armed conflict in Mozambique is a resource curse. The research finds that natural resources are related to but insufficient to explain the outbreak of armed conflict. The new discovery of natural resources changes both the magnitude and distribution of rents what threatens the existing power distribution between the waring parties, Frelimo and Renamo. The change in power distribution changes the socio-economic and political context, or political settlement, and when these changes give rise to certain conditions, violent conflict emerges. These conditions explain the outbreak of armed conflict in Mozambique.