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Daniel Chapo, governor of the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, arrived in Matola on 3 May to participate in the ruling party Frelimo's selection of its next presidential candidate. Two days later, he left the meeting as the candidate elect — to the surprise of everyone, including himself.

So who is Daniel Chapo, why has he been selected for the top job, and what can we expect from a likely Chapo presidency?

Zitamar's Tom Bowker, Fernando Lima, and Tomas Queface discuss in this special edition of the Zitamar Podcast.

Read Zitamar's profile of Daniel Chapo here: Who is Daniel Chapo, the prospective next president of Mozambique?

And for more on how the selection was made: Daniel Chapo: the choice that surprised everyone

Image: President Filipe Nyusi (left) with his heir apparent, Daniel Chapo, at the extraordinary meeting of Frelimo's Central Committee in Matola, 5 May 2024. Photo courtesy of Frelimo

In this edition of the Zitamar Podcast, Zitamar News editor Tom Bowker talks to Alex Perry, the British journalist whose reporting of the siege of the Amarula during the attack on Palma in 2021 won him a major journalism award, and led him to carry out his own survey into exactly how many people were killed as insurgents rampaged through the town. He found that some 1,400 were dead or still missing, two years later; and his figures have now largely been endorsed by ACLED, Zitamar's partner on the Cabo Ligado project. He tells us how the survey came about, how it was conducted, and discusses whether TotalEnergies should bear any responsibility for the tragedy — and if so, whether the company can ever be held accountable.

In part two, Zitamar Podcast host and producer Tom Raine talks to Zitamar collaborator Tavares Cebola about recent developments in contemporary culture in Mozambique — including the rise in electronic music, the Azgo Festival coming up in May, and new theatre productions in central Mozambique.

Sign up to receive Zitamar's daily and weekly newsletters at www.zitamar.com, where you can also become a paying subscriber to receive access to all our breaking and archived news content, and the indispensable Zitamar Daily Briefing.

Join Zitamar News' editor in chief, Tom Bowker, in discussion with editor at large Fernando Lima and managing editor Tomás Queface, first recapping developments from Frelimo's Central Committee meeting, then taking a look at Mozambque's macroeconomic situation.

The second half of the podcast features the recording of an online briefing last week by Cabo Ligado, providing an update on the conflict in the north east of the country.

The Cabo Ligado webinar is also available on YouTube, where you can also see the presenters' slideshows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eqiNUCkOs

Podcast timestamps:

Part 1: The latest from the Frelimo Central Committee
Part 2: Mozambique macroeconomy update (21:08)
Part 3: Cabo Ligado: Situation update and the unfolding violence in northern Mozambique (41:19)

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In this episode, Tom Bowker and Fernando Lima discuss the shadow boxing around who will be Frelimo's next presidential candidate. Could Armando Guebuza make a shock return? Fernando also reports back from a recent visit to Afungi - an oasis of calm and development amid growing chaos and violence elsewhere in Cabo Delgado, as Tom Gould explains.

Welcome back to the Zitamar Podcast, with a special episode looking ahead at what 2024 holds for Mozambique.

Zitamar editors Tom Bowker and Fernando Lima discuss general elections due to take place in October - and the fraught processes that Frelimo, Renamo, and MDM face in choosing their candidates.

Tom Gould gives an overview of the current state of play in Cabo Delgado, where a resurgent conflict could derail or at least delay a restart in the LNG project led by TotalEnergies.

And finally, Tavares Cebola joins Tom Raine to discuss Mozambique's participation in the football African Cup of Nations - and a famous victory that almost was.

Visit www.zitamar.com for more insights into Mozambique, and to sign up for our Daily Briefing email. Subscribe to this podcast through Afripods, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hello and welcome to the latest Zitamar Podcast, featuring news and views on Mozambique's political and economic outlook, from the Zitamar team and special guests.
The news round-up focuses on three big stories from the past week. Contributing editor Fernando Lima provides his take on the fuel price rises and the urban transport strikes that have ensued, and looks at how the government can and should respond to them.
He also assesses the likely impact of coal miner Jindal's decision to quit using the Sena rail line to take coal from Tete to the port of Beira, switching instead to its recently acquired export terminal at Nacala. The move is more bad news for Beira and the province of Sofala as a whole.
READ: Jindal drops Beira corridor to send all its coal via Nacala (£)
Then, Zitamar reporter Tom Gould gives us the inside line on the news that Plexus Cotton is ready to walk away from Cabo Delgado, potentially leaving tens of thousands of farmers broke and angry – the opposite of what the government is trying to achieve in the troubled province. Tom was at the Chatham House meeting where Plexus raised the alarm – though we understand talks are ongoing to keep Plexus' Mozambican operation afloat.
READ: Cabo Delgado cotton farmers on the brink as Plexus warns it can't go on
This week features an interview with Charlie Robertson (Twitter's @RencapMan) on how Mozambique's high fertility level could be leading the country into another debt crisis — and how the way to escape the trap is to drastically improve levels of education.
Charlie is chief economist at Renaissance Capital and has been covering Africa for over 10 years. His new book, The Time-Travelling Economist, brings together much of what he has learned over that period, and the conclusions he has drawn – in particular the key roles of fertility, education, and electricity in determining development outcomes.
The book is available to buy on Amazon here, in digital format here, and the whole introduction can be read for free here. The opinion piece which kicked off our conversation is online here: Sociopathic economists and the coming high fertility crisis.
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Until the next time.


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