One third of Mozambicans want the country to follow China’s development model

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One third of Mozambicans want the country to follow China’s development model

5:37 CAT | 25 Oct 2016

Lusa (File pohto)

More than half of Mozambicans regards China as the power with the greatest influence in their country, and more than a third argues that Mozambique should follow the Chinese development model, according to a study published today.

The findings are in Afrobarometee, a study conducted through face-to-face interviews with more than 54,000 citizens of 36 African countries, representing the views of more than three-quarters of the continent’s population.

According to the survey, an average 63 percent of respondents perceive China’s influence in their country as positive or very positive, largely due to infrastructure sector development and China’s business investments.

When asked which country currently has the greatest influence in their countries, 28 percent of respondents identify their former colonial powers, followed by China (23 percent) and the US (22 percent).

The level of perceived influence varies greatly between countries, with Mozambique in second place after Zimbabwe for citing China as the most influential state.

Fifty-two percent of Mozambicans who responded to the survey said that China was the most influential, while 9 percent chose South Africa, 8 percent the US and 5 percent the former colonial power.

When asked about what development model their country should follow, most African respondents (31 percent) chose the US, followed by China (24.3 percent) and then the former colonial powers (12.5 percent).

Here too, Mozambique follows a different trend, with 36 percent of respondents choosing China and 15 percent preferring the US.

Despite the preference of Mozambicans for the Chinese development model, Mozambique is not among the countries with the most positive opinions about the Chinese influence, although it is above average.

At the continental level, 63 percent of respondents see China’s influence in their country as “positive” or “very positive”, a figure that rises to 92 percent in Mali, 84 percent in Niger and 78 percent in Cape Verde.

In Mozambique, 65 percent of respondents have a positive view on the influence of China; 9 percent have a negative opinion and 26 percent have neither a positive nor a negative opinion.

With regard to financial development assistance by China, 43 percent of Mozambicans consider that Chinese cooperation is doing a good job and 19 percent say it is doing a bad job.

Source: Lusa