Recall the old adage about giving someone a fish as opposed to teaching the person how to fish. While touring the countryside, I saw few signs of vigorous economic activity. Much of the new money and wealth is centered around the South, near Maputo. The northern countryside, by contrast, is very poor. Roughly 70 percent of the population there lives in poverty.
Skilled labor is in short supply.
I'd have a hard time calling some of the paths I drove on roads. Encouraging the Bleakest Possible Story Corruption is also a serious problem. I heard stories of extortion and bribery by local officials, who make businesspeople pay for permits and licenses. I drove through the flood areas in the South, and the scene was devastating. Whole villages had been swept away.