Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses how in Mozambique frustrations at the contrast between expectations of energy abundance and experiences of poor access and rising costs are expressed through popular culture and small-scale protests

Paper long abstract:

In Mozambique, the acquisition of full national ownership of the Cahora Bassa mega-dam and initial investments in oil and gas extraction in the northern province of Cabo Delgado have led to official pronouncements in the media declaring the country to be energy resource-rich, as well as to a rush to enact legal reforms in the energy sector with a view to attracting international capital. These government promises have generated rising expectations of a better life among the citizenry, which contrast with a lived reality of poor-quality energy access and high transport costs. Frustration at this contrast drove several protest episodes in the period after 2008, but in recent years intensified repression has made people reluctant to take to the streets in large numbers. This paper examines how new forms of everyday protest have emerged around electricity and fuel in a context marked by promises of energy resource development. Drawing on analysis of expressions found in popular culture and ethnographic research in peri-urban neighbourhoods in Maputo and Matola, we argue that in a context where there are limited platforms to publicly engage with energy policies, citizens resort to micro-protests and derision as forms of political action.