O processo de privatização em Moçambíque: sua influência no sucesso das empresas

Abstract

The present paper aims to analyze the influence of the privatization process on the success or failure of privatized enterprises in Mozambique. Although already initiated in 1985 in a non-systematic manner, privatizations in Mozambique become an important economic policy instrument with the introduction of the Economic Rehabilitation Program (PRE), gaining then a greater dimension. According to the legislation enacted by the Assembly of the Republic, and as provided for in the Government Programme, the general objective of privatisations is to increase business efficiency and effectiveness, contributing to an increase in the country's competitiveness and economy. Contrary to what was foreseen, a large number of privatised companies are not operating in accordance with the terms of their award, nor are they contributing to greater competitiveness and efficiency of the economy; the failure of some privatised companies constitutes a problem with great weight in the economy, since it brings negative consequences for the Government (reduction of tax revenue and reduction of the efficiency of the economy, among other aspects), for the entrepreneurs (reduction of investment opportunities and markets) and for the workers (reduction of employment and real wages). This study is relevant to the extent that the privatisation process involves a substantial part of the Mozambican industrial park, which implies significant modifications in the allocation of resources in the economy, which occurs through their transfer from the public to the private sector, the transformation of the activity of the companies and the reallocation that favours structural change in the economy, in the medium and long term. Given the scale of the privatisation process and the cases of failure, it is important to analyse the different factors that influence this outcome, namely the economic and business environment, the institutional environment and the privatisation process itself. Although there is a dialectical relationship between these factors, this paper only analyses the impact of the -j privatisation process on the results obtained by the companies in the post-privatisation phase. The existence of many unsolved and worsening problems makes the analysis of their causes and implications, and possible solutions, relevant. With this study it is not intended to prove that privatisation is the cause of failure; the intention is to demonstrate that the objectives of privatisation are not being achieved because it is done without taking into account the economic and institutional conditions in which they occur, limiting the possibilities of their being successful. The paper aims to prove that, under current conditions, results can be more positive to the extent that the privatisation process is improved, since changes in the economic and institutional environment, although crucial and determinants of business success, are by nature slower. A statistical analysis of the problem was not possible because, since the total aggregate information on the privatisation process is not available, there was insufficient data available; thus, case studies were carried out on four industrial enterprises. The viii firms selected for the case study were, in that sense, not chosen on a random basis, but rather on the following criteria and grounds: (i) to elect enterprises sold through public tender, as this is the modality used in the award of about 90% of privatized enterprises in Mozambique; (ii) to elect small and medium enterprises as it is in them that more problems are encountered in the post-privatization phase. The sample therefore consists of four companies: SPAR, L. Duarte dos Santos, MORFEU and FAPAM, belonging respectively to the food and drinks industry, the metallurgical and metalworking industry, the furniture industry and the clothing industry. The methodology of analysis consisted in comparing the objectives that governed the privatisation of the enterprises and the results achieved by them after their privatisation. For data collection: (i) interviews, some of them structured with a survey, were conducted at the level of the targeted enterprises and the bodies and institutions linked to the privatisation process, namely the Technical Unit for the Restructuring of Enterprises (UTRE) and the Office for the Restructuring of Industrial, Commercial and Tourism Enterprises (GREICT); (ii) available and accessible written material on the privatisation process, including related legislation, was compiled; (iii) interviews were conducted with the Mozambican Workers' Organisation (OTM), the Union of Metallurgical and Metalomechanical Industry Workers and