Blocking human potential: how formal policies block the informal sector in the Maputo corridor

This paper focuses on one of the most interesting cross-border regions in Africa, the so-called Maputo corridor. For more than a century, the Maputo corridor has been an informal cross-border micro-region, constructed by millions of migrants, extensive informal trading as well as dense socio-ethnic interactions. Since the mid-1990s there is a formal project, officially known as the Maputo Development Corridor (MDC), which seeks to reconstruct and revitalise this rather informal cross-border relationship, which effectively has existed for more than a century.

The aim of this paper is to relate the formal policies of the MDC with the underlying informal social fabric of this cross-border corridor, and determine to what extent the formal policies block or unlock the human potential of the micro-region. In the second section, I outline and discuss the informal and historical corridor, which is mainly built around migration and informal trade. The third section discusses the main characteristics and policies of the formal MDC initiative, primarily its objectives, institutions and planning strategies. In the fourth part of the paper, I relate the formal with the informal. I concentrate first and foremost on two main aspects: the development strategy and the governance mechanisms. In the final section I discuss ways and policy options whereby the formal and informal can become mutually reinforcing instead of competitive.

(From introduction)