“Contraband only increases poverty”

 

Smuggling between Mozambique and South Africa, India and China, among others, costs the country about US$2 billion a year, close to 12.6% of its annual gross domestic product, a doctoral thesis written by the president of the Tax Authority (AT), Amélia Muendane, claims. Muendane’s thesis unveils the “smuggler’s web” disadvantaging the Mozambican state.

“Smuggling consumes a significant part of our budget and Gross Domestic Product. The data indicate with a margin of 5% of standard deviation that smuggling is above 12%. We have ascertained that in terms of budget it is over 40%. Without smuggling, Mozambique would already be self-sufficient or have a surplus budget since 2006,” the president of AT writes. With neighbouring South Africa, India and China the most active smugglers of Mozambican products, with an emphasis on wood, seafood and precious stones, Muendane advocates more incentives and the involvement of the whole society in the fight against the trade. “There is no particular country that is the biggest thief in the economy, but we see that, from 2014, there is a tendency to smuggle from Germany. It is necessary to pay attention to these emerging [in terms of smuggling] countries,” Muendane underlines.

Former head of state Joaquim Chissano, a prominent figure in the dissertation, says that Amélia Muendane’s thesis is the starting point for change and reform.

“It is an example of the progress and development of Mozambique. What we need for Mozambique is to develop men and women. We have to fight poverty and smuggling can contribute to increasing poverty,” Chissano says. In turn, former prime minister, Luísa Diogo, praised Muendane’s courage.

“I was in love as soon as I saw the theme and I couldn’t miss it. A topic (contraband) that leads us to reflect very deeply on what this Mozambique is capable of with what it has. One of the great conclusions that she (Amélia Muendane) draws in her thesis is that, in this issue of contraband versus the development of the economy, it would be possible for Mozambique to cover its budget with its own revenues if it did not have contraband,” Diogo notes. The president of the Mozambican Tax Authority obtained her PHD with distinction. Muendane singles out electronic commerce as the major challenge in the fight against smuggling.