ABSTRACT
Mozambique emerged from a 15-year civil war in 1992 and the country’s first multi-party elections were held in 1994 (Christie and Hanlon, 2001). Since then, the country has enjoyed positive economic growth and is developing at a fast pace. However, coupled with this ongoing period of relative prosperity is sustained population growth and rapid urbanization. The country has had a population growth rate of approximately 2.2 per cent over the past two decades, with an increase in the urban population from 21 to 35 per cent of the total population between 1990 and 2007 (World Bank, 2011). Over the same 17-year period, the percentage of households living in slums has risen from 75 per cent to 80 per cent. While per capita income has more than doubled since the end of the war, inequality remains entrenched with an income Gini coefficient of 47.1 for the last decade (World Bank, 2011). In fact Mozambique has fallen two places on the 2010 Human Development Index (HDI) (ibid.), and is now ranked 155 out of 159 countries (Zimbabwe being 159).
