Do more with boom, UN tells Mozambique

Maputo - Mozambique is set to be Africa's fastest growing economy this year but a UN poverty expert on Tuesday urged the government to do more with the country's natural resource boom.

"It is an unavoidable fact that significant numbers of Mozambicans are living in extreme deprivation and social exclusion," said Magdalena Sepulveda, the United Nations special rapporteur on poverty and human rights.

Coal and natural gas windfalls have made once civil war-torn Mozambique among the world's fastest growing economies, with the International Monetary Fund on Monday forecasting 8.4% growth for 2013.

But experts have been sounding the alarm about worrying inequality levels despite the country's two decades of peace, stability and economic growth.

The country ranks 185th out of 187 countries on the 2013 UN human development index.

"There is no room for complacency," warned Sepulveda, at the end of a week-long visit to the country.

The government should adopt the same energy used to rebuild after the civil war and "redouble the effort otherwise they are going to be going in the wrong direction", she said.

While poverty was most glaring in rural Mozambique, in urban areas people are not necessarily better off.

In 2010, street riots broke out in several Mozambican cities in response to rising living costs, including that of bread.

"The vast majority of people have little opportunity to access formal employment and live in dire conditions" said Sepulveda, pointing to the glaring contrasts in the capital.

Her visit came as Mozambique's government began to consider proposals on minimum wages.

While wages are set to increase between 5 and 31%, most employees will still earn under $130 (€99) a month and many considerably less.

The basic pay was "completely insufficient for basic needs" and out of line with inflation, said Sepulveda.

"If not urgently addressed, these evident disparities and high levels of social exclusion could present a threat to social stability," she added.

Gender inequality was another major concern said the UN rapporteur, pointing out that more than half of girls had no access to primary education.

Over 50% of girls marry before the age of 18 while 41% of girls between the ages of 15 to 19 either are or have been pregnant, she said.