Zitamar Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

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Welcome to a jam-packed Zitamar Podcast, featuring news and analysis from the Zitamar team and special guests joining us to discuss the week's most important events, including analysis on the Cabo Delgado conflict and the announcement of local elections next year.

🎧 [01:14] First, Zitamar News editor Tom Bowker spoke with experts on the sale of a huge coal mine in Tete province to Indian company Jindal. The mine has been controversial ever since it opened more than a decade ago, for the environmental and social impacts it has had — particularly given a lack of transparency from either the company or the government. And with this new deal — approved by the government this week — there are fears things could get even worse.

🎧 [1:38] Erika Mendes of Mozambican environmental NGO Justiça Ambiental explained how the local community in Moatize has been and continues to be negatively impacted by the coal mine — and her fears for how things will develop under new ownership.

🎧 [11:35] Then Tim Buckley, a renowned expert on energy transition issues in India, China, and his home country Australia, where he heads up the think tank Climate Energy Finance, explained why India is the natural buyer for Mozambican coal — even though they too are talking about gradually weaning themselves off the dirty fuel. He started by explaining how India's companies ended up on a big international coal-buying spree — which also included the deal which saw ICVL buy Rio Tinto's coal mines in Moatize in 2014.

For more on this story, our article from February is now outside the paywall:

Jindal coal mine takeover raises fears for jobs, communities — and 'greenwash'

Mozambican journalist and Zitamar Podcast regular Fernando Lima joined us to give his thoughts on the political scene in Mozambique, as municipal elections are scheduled for October next year [14:49]. He and Zitamar editor Tom Bowker also discussed whether the state should do more to ensure suppliers to government projects are producing their raw materials legally [17:01].

🎧 [21:21] Finally Piers Pigou, an analyst on the Cabo Ligado project, brought us up to date on efforts to win outside funding for the Rwandan and SADC military deployments in Cabo Delgado — and what might happen if no funding materialises.

His latest article on that topic is published on Zitamar here:

Nyusi seeks to shore up Cabo Delgado support

The full Cabo Ligado monthly report is available here:

Cabo Ligado Monthly: February 2022

Sign up to our newsletter at zitamarnews.substack.com, or through our main website zitamar.com, to receive this podcast by email, or you can also find us on podcast apps and on Spotify, which is currently perhaps the easiest way of subscribing to the show and making sure you don't miss an episode.

Until next week, goodbye.

Filipe Nyusi completed the biggest reshuffle of his presidency on Thursday, naming Adriano Maleiane as the new Prime Minister, and promoting energy minister Max Tonela to replace Maleiane at the finance ministry.

A number of other ministers were also moved, but Celso Correia, believed to be Nyusi's first choice for prime minister, instead stayed in position at the agriculture ministry.

The reshuffle comes in the context of an increasingly tense atmosphere within the ruling party Frelimo, which is due to decide later this year on who will be its presidential candidate at the next elections in 2024.

Leading Mozambican journalist and political analyst Fernando Lima joined Zitamar editor Tom Bowker this evening to talk through the changes.

Welcome to the Zitamar Podcast — back after a hiatus. We have some good episodes coming up in the pipeline, but couldn't resist a quick episode today to talk about the showdown currently going on at the hidden debts trial.

Former President Armando Guebuza is wrapping up his two-day testimony today, having yesterday — as expected — tried as far as possible to pin the blame for the $2bn scandal on his successor, Filipe Nyusi, who at the time was the country's defence minister.

I called up Fernando Lima, who was in court yesterday, to discuss the implications of these momentous two days, for the future of Mozambican politics.

Read our report on Thursday's hearing here:

Guebuza says Nyusi should answer 'hidden debt' questions

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In today's Zitamar Podcast, Fernando Lima talks about the latest developments in the 'hidden debts' trial, where pressure is still high for current president Nyusi to testify. Meanwhile, his predecessor, Armando Guebuza, is said to be preparing to take advantage of the public platform of his testimony, due next month, to damage Nyusi — something the current government is now seeking to avoid.

In part two, Piers Pigou, a consultant with Crisis Group and Cabo Ligado, joins us to discuss the prospects for EU funding for Rwandan and/or SADC military deployments in Cabo Delgado — concluding that combining the two separate missions could bring benefits both politically and on the ground.

Piers' latest piece on the SADC deployment, for Cabo Ligado, is now available on the Zitamar website, here:

Sobering SAMIM assessment reflects mission's inadequacies and the insurgency's evolution

Thanks for listening, and have a great weekend.

Welcome back to the Zitamar Podcast. Joining me today is Tomás Queface, a Mozambican analyst on the Cabo Ligado project and one of my regular go-to people to help me understand what's going on in Mozambique.

We discuss the ongoing fall-out from the tragic road accident in Zambezia last weekend, the effects of tropical storm Ana, and the news that Lesotho is considering pulling its troops out of Cabo Delgado.

Tomás also talks us through his recent piece on the role of religious organisations in mediating peace in Cabo Delgado:

Will religious organisations have a role in mediating the Cabo Delgado conflict?

Thanks as ever for listening,

Tom Bowker — editor, Zitamar News

Welcome to another edition of the Zitamar Podcast.

Today, regular guest Fernando Lima, a senior Mozambican journalist and the publisher of Savana and Mediacoop, joins me to discuss the issues of the day, including the prospects for Mozambique's economy in 2022, and the official reaction to the weekend's road crash tragedy which has killed 28 people.

In part 2, Peter Bofin of Cabo Ligado talks us through his analysis of recruitment propaganda from Islamic State and also Al Shabaab in East Africa, and how their rivalry could be helping fuel the conflict in Cabo Delgado.

Thanks again for listening,

Tom Bowker, editor, Zitamar News

Hello, and welcome to the Zitamar News Podcast, taking you behind the headlines in Mozambique.

This week on the podcast — now outside the paywall — I'll be interviewing my colleagues from Cabo Ligado, who have just published the latest Monthly Report (available here).

In today's episode, ACLED's Senior Researcher for Mozambique, and long-time Zitamar collaborator, Sam Ratner joins me to give an overview of the direction the insurgency in northern Mozambique has taken over the last two months.

I'm also joined (from 19min55) by Zitamar reporter Pamela Machado who explains how a new policy under the European Union's Green New Deal could have an outsized negative effect on Mozambique. And this time, it's not about gas.

Story: EU carbon policy could hit Mozambique aluminium exports

Stay tuned all week for more news and analysis on Mozambique — and look out for our new podcast appearing in your favourite podcast app.

Thank you for listening — and please feel free to reply to this email with any feedback, and forward to your contacts who might find it interesting.

Tom Bowker — Editor, Zitamar News