Mozambique is a former Portuguese colony that gained independence in 1975. The Portuguese had done little to develop industries other than transportation which they used to link Mozambique's ports to the interior of southern Africa. The major sources of income remain the profits from handling South African goods and the earnings sent home by Mozambicans working in South Africa. Although Mozambique is rich in minerals and natural gas, little has been done to develop an export industry.
Petroleum has to be imported.
Two years later it began a guerrilla movement against Portuguese colonial power. In 1974, after the government in Portugal collapsed, a cease-fire was declared. It had declared socialist ideals but ran a one party state. An organisation to overthrow the government of Mozambique was formed in 1976 by white Rhodesian officials who were trying to prevent the establishment of black-majority rule in their own country. The guerrillas disrupted the economy by sabotaging vital facilities.