Between interdependence and sovereignty: the energy dilemma of the Mozambican state

Paulo Vilanculo"

The announcement of the Beira-Ndola oil pipeline project, presented as a "milestone of interdependence and shared progress," raises a fundamental question: why does the Mozambican government prefer to subscribe to a model of regional cooperation instead of pursuing a path of autonomy and economic sovereignty? The promises of shared progress and regional integration sound familiar, but who benefits most from this sharing? How long will we continue to transform our economy into an interdependent one? How long will we continue to accept that integration means subordination and cooperation means renunciation? Why does the government prefer to channel resources, energy, and political capital into projects that benefit the outside world, instead of investing in internal infrastructure?

In a context where the region seeks energy integration and stability, cross-border projects like Beira-Ndola become prestigious diplomatic assets and gain political visibility. This is one of the least discussed, yet most revealing, episodes of how Mozambique has been a peripheral player in the major regional economic machinery. The government seeks to reinforce its international image as a responsible and cooperative actor within the SADC. Thus, choosing a "shared" project can allow Mozambique to gain political and economic capital, even at the cost of its autonomy.

Beira-Harare: the forgotten precedent of unequal integration

The Beira-Harare oil pipeline, built shortly after Zimbabwe's independence, was designed as a symbol of post-colonial cooperation and solidarity, with a clear promise to share infrastructure and energy resources to break free from colonial dependencies. However, as the pipeline became operational, it became evident that the sharing was more rhetoric than reality. While Zimbabwe guaranteed a stable and cheap fuel supply, Mozambique was transformed into a transit corridor, with minimal economic returns for the state and almost none for the communities. Even so, the bilateral contracts and agreements remained almost untouched, always protecting the strategic interests of the neighbor and external partners more than those of the Mozambican people.

Cahora Bassa: the electric mirror of a delayed sovereignty

The energy of Cahora Bassa is perhaps the most symbolic and painful example of an independence that never reached the economy. The history of Cahora Bassa continues to be a mirror reflecting the fragility of Mozambican economic sovereignty. But, ironically, the energy that springs from the Zambezi illuminates its southern neighbor long before it reaches the villages and cities of the country that produces it. It is a cruel portrait of independence without economic emancipation. For decades, South Africa was the biggest beneficiary of Cahora Bassa, buying cheap energy and transforming it into an engine of its industrialization, while Mozambique bears the environmental, social, and diplomatic costs of the undertaking. Mozambique continues to export raw energy and import poverty in return. Cahora Bassa is, therefore, a living metaphor for forced interdependence, a model where Mozambique provides resources, territory, and labor, but remains on the periphery of profits and decision-making power.

Temane– South Africa: the forgotten lesson of energy dependence disguised as partnership.

The recent history of the Temane gas pipeline is one of the most illustrative examples of how Mozambique has been a spectator to its own energy potential, a symbol of economic and diplomatic imbalance, where bilateral gains were never truly bilateral. The Temane pipeline was conceived under the control and majority investment of the multinational Sasol, which held, from the beginning, the decision-making power over the volume, price, and destination of the gas. Just as the Beira-Ndola oil pipeline is being announced today, the project was presented at the time as a landmark of regional cooperation and energy integration; however, two decades later, the reality has proven quite different. South Africa massively benefits from Mozambican gas, supplying its industries and consolidating its energy security, while Mozambique receives minimal dividends, limited to symbolic taxes and promises of social development that never materialized. This Temane experience should serve as a strategic lesson. It shows that interdependence without equity is merely a sophisticated form of dependence. When capital, technology, and management are in the hands of the stronger partner, the project ceases to be shared and becomes exploited.

An unbuilt oil pipeline and an ignored road: the strategic blindness of a state that has turned its back on itself.

The National Highway linking Mozambique, a strategic route for the flow of agricultural products, the circulation of goods, and social mobility, remains in a state of almost chronic neglect. Potholes, dilapidated bridges, and impassable stretches make the route a symbol of national disconnection. Ignoring the rehabilitation of national roads is, therefore, ignoring national development itself. Every pothole on a road is an obstacle to economic integration, internal competitiveness, and the dignity of the citizen. As long as the pipes and cables that crisscross the country serve neighboring countries more than Mozambicans, Mozambique will continue to be a territory of transit and not of progress. It is a glaring paradox: the country invests in export infrastructure but ignores the internal infrastructure that could consolidate sovereignty and national cohesion.

While the Executive rushes to sign multi-million dollar agreements for new oil pipelines and cross-border energy megaprojects, national roads remain in ruins, isolating provinces, hindering internal trade, and stifling the local economy. Conversely, opting for interdependence is therefore a decision of political realism, but also a reflection of the country's structural weaknesses. “Interdependence” functions as an instrument for legitimizing dependence and disguises the lack of sovereignty over strategic resources. What is heralded as “shared progress” can simultaneously be a technical advance and a political setback, depending on who controls the flow of resources and the destination of the profits.

The Beira-Harare experience, coupled with the Cahora Bassa energy project and the Temane gas pipeline to South Africa, are classic examples of how Mozambique exports wealth and imports poverty, showing how regional gains are defined by who finances, controls, and profits. And while official discourse insists on "strategic partnerships," reality insists on reminding us that without economic sovereignty, all integration is disguised subordination. Geography, which could be a competitive advantage, becomes a means of economic extraction, where the territory serves as a passage and not a means of transformation.

The discourse of “regional cooperation” often masks unequal production relations, where sharing is apparent and dependence is structural. Ultimately, the Beira-Ndola pipeline can symbolize the central dilemma of the contemporary Mozambican economy: to cooperate in order to survive or to assert oneself in order to emancipate oneself. The central problem is that Mozambique continues to position itself as a logistical corridor for the wealth of others, and not as a protagonist of its own development. Today, when the Beira-Ndola pipeline is announced, the same narrative of “shared progress,” “energy integration,” and “mutual benefit” is repeated. But the past of Temane, Beira-Harare, and Cahora Bassa reveals a pattern that can no longer be ignored, in which Mozambique has been the corridor for the wealth of others. The country that generates energy, gas, and fuel continues to depend on basic imports and to bear consumption prices incompatible with its production.

The challenge now is to break the cycle. If the Beira-Ndola pipeline follows the model of the past, Mozambique will once again be a country of unfulfilled energy promises, where pipelines crisscross the territory but progress continues to pass by the people. It is the old colonial model re-enacted under the guise of modernity and regional integration. Mozambique's true challenge is not just building oil pipelines, gas pipelines, or dams; it is building economic autonomy, sovereignty over resources, and justice in the distribution of benefits. True energy sovereignty is not measured by the length of pipelines, but by the capacity to transform resources into internal development. And that is a debt that the Temane gas pipeline left unpaid and that the Beira-Ndola pipeline cannot repeat.

2025/12/3