Introduction

The British in Delagoa Bay (Lourenço Marques) were an economically influential community. They formed the largest group of foreigners in Portuguese East Africa's capital city during the first half of the twentieth century. A London daily newspaper described them as “the most progressive and wealthy community at the port”. They were state contractors and comprised the comprador elite. Together with their Portuguese agents, they engaged in speculative activities, and dominated the economic sectors of shipping, handling agencies, insurance and large-scale importation.

Given Delagoa Bay's strategic position, in terms of trade, transport and labour links with the southern African region, the presence of British capital and enterprise was important, as a means of securing control – both economic and political – over the port. This was particularly the case after the end of the Boer War (1899–1902). No longer essential to the political and economic independence of a British-controlled Transvaal, Delagoa Bay was, nevertheless, still a crucial factor in maintaining the flow of manual labour for the mining industry. The impact of British capital penetration, and its role in the stimulation of systematic economic colonialism in Mozambique was evident in many sectors of the economy. The activities targeted included the chartered companies, wholesale and retail distribution, economic and supportive infrastructures, the import/export trade, plantation agriculture and, less successfully, mining. Although the promotion of British private enterprise in East Africa was part of a post-“scramble” Foreign Office policy aimed at British territories, the effects were nevertheless felt in Portuguese East Africa.