I-1 the first car in Inhambane Province

If you ask permission at the Inhambane Police station you can walk round the back and check out an old Ford which was the first car in the Province. Of more interest to me were the young men making concrete blocks in wooden frames. This 18 year old Antonio Fabieo, all across Mozambique you can see an explosion in the manufacture and sale of building materials.

New efficiency measures introduced in the drive-thru coconut retail sector.

The Mechanics of Mozambique

This is Cremildo Fernando Cumbane, a 25 year-old mechanic’s assistant, at his workplace in Inhambane town. In driving your own car around Mozambique, you meet a lot of mechanics of varying skill levels and with greatly varying equipment and inventive ideas for how to fix your car. I’ve been interviewing the people I meet around the country, and like anywhere, mechanics here are not short on opinions - even if they are sometimes short of the right tools.
Don't judge a mechanic by the graveyard of vehicles in front. Despite appearances, some of the cars that come to this business to be fixed do actually drive away again, but not all.

Tai Kwon Do in the bairro's of Maputo

Mozambique is a young country, 50% of the population is under 14 years of age. Here young men from the crowded Polana Caniso bairro of Maputo demonstrate their passion for learning Tai Kwun Do. How the energies of such a youthful population can be best utilised for the growth of the economy is something I'd like to learn more about. Staying in shape and taking pride in your appearance are popular pastimes in Maputo for the rich and poor alike.

The flow of people in and out of South Africa

I had heard that most of the border between Mozambique and South Africa was somewhat informal. However I didn’t expect to see people wandering in and out of giant holes in the fence on the slope directly below the rear windows of the immigration offices at Ressano Garcia the principle border post. This is Wallace To, a 26 year old Mozambican who has lived in Ressano Garcia, for ten years. I interviewed Wallace about his life scratching out a living on both sides of the fence. When I return to Hong Kong I will be looking for papers and articles on the influence of cross border employment on the Mozambican economy.

The problem with photography

This is one of my photos from my first visit to Mozambique in 2007.
It's a prime example of the kind of seemingly dramatic photography that creates a negative impression but says very little.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm not so sure.
These children aren't fleeing a fire, they are just going about their lives as a grass fire burns through and around their village. Fire to them is a fact of life and a vital part of the life cycle of the land.
So think twice about what you see in newspapers and magazines. Photographers want to get published so they submit their most dramatic images be they fair and representative or not.

Where would you visit if you were me?

Between July and September this year, I've been very lucky to be able to extend my time in Mozambique compared to the two previous years. I'm currently in Hong Kong having returned from four weeks in Maputo. I return there on the 12th of August, and after a couple more hours with the mechanic and after a few more interviews, I'll be leaving on a six week journey to drive around a large chunk of the country.

It should be a rather pleasant way to visit some of the farms, plantations, forestry projects, ports, mines, schools, tourist developments, entrepreneurial and business initiatives and people that make up some of the pieces of the potential prosperity jigsaw. I am greatly looking forward to the trip. The stubby 4x4 delivery van cum people mover that I've bought for the trip should serve well enough as my home and office for this journey.

I'm looking for access to get in and photograph some of the foreign and local enterprises that have taken the plunge and are busy doing their business. Just about any business of any size could be of interest. Some are classically photogenic and important, like large coalmine projects, agriculture or forestry. Others may be less obviously so, but I think there can be a good photograph taken or insight gained from just about anything people do for a living.

Does anyone have any suggestions of particular businesses, investment projects, agricultural and entrepreneurial initiatives or people that I should not miss visiting?

Do you have any contact details for anyone connected to your most helpful suggestion?

For an explanation of the concept of this book, click this link.
http://mozambiquegoingforward.blogspot.com/2009/08/book-outline.html

Thank you for your time and assistance with my quest.

Colin Beere

Exciting statistics!

If you've never come across TED and particularly the world's most entertaining statistician Hans Rosling check out this link. He has several great presentations on TED.com.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html

The first Ferrari in Mozambique hits the smoother streets of Maputo

In mid-July 2009, the first Ferrari imported into Mozambique was seen crusing the smoother streets of the capital.

Belonging to members of the family behind the MBS group, the brand-new F430 Ferrari, parked alongside a freshly delivered Audi R8, brought traffic to a standstill in central Maputo.

How well is the trickle-down theory of economic growth working for one of the poorest countries in Africa?

Do you have knowledge and experience of Mozambique?

I'm in the process of researching potential photographic subjects and written content to complete a photographic book about the state and direction of modern Mozambique.

I'm trying to find knowledgeable people investing, working or living within a wide variety of sectors and levels of the economy of Mozambique.

If you are interested in sharing your thoughts or experience, I'd be delighted to hear from you. It can be on the basis of an off-the-record background chat or an interview by email, telephone or video call. As I'll be visiting every province in Mozambique before the end of this project, perhaps we can even meet face-to-face.

I'm looking for frank people who tell it like it is, but I do come from the low-key end of the interview scale. These are complex and important subjects. It's more important to me to get people's best thoughts, best expressed than to throw complex questions at people and expect them to give me their most reasoned and fluent answers on the spot. I'm not just looking for glowing praise but real information about the challenges and rewards of doing business here.

Whenever physically possible, I like to send people their quotes for double-checking. Often I find that people's suggested amendments to their own original answers turn their quotes into something much more concise, organized and powerful. Some people I speak to might prefer to take a couple of weeks to cogitate and then write a few hundred words about whatever they feel particularly strongly about.

I'm also looking for access to get in and photograph enterprises that have taken the plunge and are here doing their business. Just about any business of any size could be of interest. Some are classically photogenic and important, like large coalmine projects, agriculture or forestry. Others may be less obviously so, but I think there can be a good photograph taken and insight gained from just about anything people do for a living.

Do you know any people, companies, projects or organizations that you think I should consider for inclusion in a book of opinions and experiences regarding the current state and future potential of Mozambique's economy?

For an explanation of the concept of this book, click this link.
http://mozambiquegoingforward.blogspot.com/2009/08/book-outline.html

Book Outline

There are a lot of photography books I don't like. They get easier to shoot, edit and print and publish every year. Shooting the photos for this book is the easy part.

Finding a way of making those photos illustrate more than the photographer's preconceptions is the hard part.

Many of the photos that I've shot so far are of small local business owners, tradesmen and farmers whom I've interviewed for perspectives and ideas about the economic possibilities of today’s and tomorrow’s Mozambique. Ultimately, some of these interviews, along with extracts from speeches, excerpts from books, newspaper articles, academic papers, plus many more interviews and other material will make up the text in this book.

In both the photos and the text, my goal is to avoid unfairly adding to and reinforcing some of the stereotypes about countries such as Mozambique. This book is not about my opinions, but about giving voice to a range of people who know more than I do about these issues.

I hope that a book that gives space for the views of (for example) a market stallholder with those of the CEO of an international commodities company, or local entrepreneurs alongside those of professional thinkers and social leaders, will have some merit and depth that I feel is sometimes lacking in photography books. A photo can occasionally be a substitute for a thousand words, but why not have both?

Through this format, I hope to reach an audience that may not normally read development strategy papers or hear from the farmer on the ground or the local CEO. My hope is to produce a book that combines ideas, opinions and experiences from as wide a variety of informed sources as possible. There will also be a dedicated companion website for this book. By expanding texts from the book onto the website, it creates space for a broader range of voices and resources than any book alone could contain.

All I can offer interested individuals, companies or institutions is the chance to have their ideas, thoughts or experiences featured in a book alongside those of other international and Mozambican business people, academics, politicians, strategists and a cross section of the citizens of Mozambique.

In the book, each contribution will carry beneath it a link to a source for more information on that subject or from that source. In the case of an extract from an academic paper, for example, the intention is to take the reader to the entire document.

As ever, I'm always looking for access to get in and photograph enterprises that have taken the plunge and are here doing business. Just about any business of any size could be of interest. Some are classically photogenic and important, like agriculture, forestry or mining projects. Others may be less obviously so. I believe there can be a good photograph taken and insight gained from just about anything people do for a living.

I hope you can understand my interest in producing a book of this type. No book similar to this about Mozambique currently exists.

Click this photo to see a little selection of my work and some work in progress shots that may make the cut and be in the eventual book.

Thanks for your time. If you can put your thinking hat on and make any suggestions, that would be terrific.

Regards and thanks,
Colin Beere

US Trade and Investment Conference 15th and 16th of July

Armando Guebuza, President of Mozambique, opens the recent US-Mozambique trade and investment conference hosted by the US embassy in Maputo.





Click here for more background on the conference and here see to a few photos.

Ronald Langston delivered an interesting speech on behalf of the Corporate Council on Africa which you can find here.

In my research, I'm looking for introductions to companies and organizations with interesting and informative tales of doing business here in Mozambique.

Did they chose investing in Mozambique over another African country or business venture, and if so why?

What of companies that are currently thinking about coming to Mozambique? Why are they interested? What, apart from the current global recession, is currently holding them back?

I'm looking for thoughts and background on where investor confidence comes from in developing nations such as Mozambique, and what is being done to nurture that improving sentiment.



I'm in the process of photographing and or interviewing people from a wide variety of sectors and levels of the economy. If you are interested in sharing your thoughts or experience, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
It can be on the basis of an off-the-record background chat or an interview by email or telephone.

These are complex and important subjects. It's more important to me to get people's best thoughts, best expressed in their own words, than to throw complex questions at people and expect them to give me their most reasoned and fluent answers on the spot. I'm not just looking for glowing praise, but for real information about the challenges and rewards of doing business here.

Mozal. A farmer in his cornfield near BHP Billington's Mozal site near Maputo

I'm interested to hear from informed people with opinions regarding Mozal. What can other potential large investors in Mozambique learn from the Mozal deal? If the government of Mozambique were courting the same deal now, how much would their negotiating position have changed since the Mozal deal was signed?

Photos- work in progress

Click here to see a small selection of my work, including some of the work from Mozambique. These are some of the shots that may be used in the eventual book. At this point they are mostly uncaptioned and unorganized. Please excuse this as it's a work in progress.

Colin Beere

Colin Beere
colinbeere@gmail.com