It is not enough to keep the elephants away. The biggest success, he says, is the district forum launched last April. It is not quite yet a truly democratic process but it is encouraging. The biggest failure is that nothing concrete has materialised. Fair says that since the contract was signed, South Africans and Australians have expressed interest in developing tented camps in the reserve.
All land belongs to the state in Mozambique.
Another failed deal where Mozambique gave lots of land to investors with little capital was the Mozagrius concession in Niassa province for the South African Chamber for Development of Agriculture in Africa. BME is rumoured to be pressing for title deeds to the land. Beachfront property could then sold. If the law needs to be changed, Frelimo's majority in Parliament could do it over Renamo's objections. Late last year, BME was shocked when the government dusted off a 1960s project to build a deep-sea port for oil and grain tankers in Ponta Dabela, the jewel of the reserve's coast.