Privatization and Employment Relations in Africa: The Case of Mozambique

The impact of privatization on the public sector has generated much discussion over recent years, in both advanced and emerging economies. Across much of Africa, the imposition of structural adjustment policies by international financial institutions has led to wholesale privatizations since the 1980s. Given that the state was the major employer in many African countries, this has had far-reaching implications for much of the workforce, and has contributed towards a large informal sector and residual, yet still important, public sector. This chapter seeks to explore the impact of privatization on employment levels and the nature of employment relations in the public sector through exploratory in-depth research in Mozambique. The job cuts resulting from privatization in Mozambique had major implications for employment levels. Moreover, the residual public sector is characterized by a lack of union power and low pay, yet relative job security and equity. It is concluded that the important role of the public sector in economic development is often discounted, and that the state has a vital role to play both in ensuring decent work (and, indeed, acting as a role model in this regard) and in addressing historical inequities.