Good afternoon. The mood of business owners at a meeting called by the CTA, Mozambique’s largest business association, on Tuesday, reinforces the conviction that the government is still not offering any kind of roadmap out of the nationwide protests, over a month after President Daniel Chapo took office.
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According to figures from the CTA, 17,000 jobs have been lost as a result of the demonstrations, as shops and other businesses have been vandalised, goods transport has been restricted by roadblocks, and pressure to sell goods more cheaply has caused traders to stop importing goods, for fear of selling them at a loss. The CTA’s figures cannot necessarily be taken at face value: the organisation has a pro-government bias, and they might be exaggerated to heighten the sense that the demonstrations are ruining the country. But regardless, it is obvious that the ongoing disorder is costing jobs, in a country that has long struggled to create jobs even in normal times. Some goods are starting to disappear from some stores, although they can still be found in the capital Maputo. For customers, this is inconvenient, but for traders, it means sales are falling and their fixed costs may become unaffordable.
