Networks of power and corruption: the trade of Japanese used cars to Mozambique

Abstract

The trade in used commodities has received limited geographical attention. The global production network (GPN) approach offers a theoretical frame through which to explore how second‐hand goods, such as used cars, are traded internationally. The structure of a trade network and the tensions within it are researched through an inductive empirical GPN method and the embeddedness of powerful actors is related to context specific discourse. This article contributes to the analysis of the links between production and consumption through investigating informal and corrupt economic networks and exploring how a trade flow is embedded in a patrimonial state. The empirical case study demonstrates how used commodities are re‐produced through political and cultural processes. In Japan a strict inspection regime excludes many used cars from the domestic market, some of which are exported via South Africa for sale in Mozambique. Embedded actors, including Pakistani trading families, play key roles in the governance of this international trade network. Corrupt individuals within the Mozambican customs service exert power at the import node to extract rent from this trade network, but the official neoliberal narrative of ‘development success’ in Mozambique constrains space for critique of their actions. Discussing the example of used car imports demonstrates how there are political structures which enable actors to have agency in trade networks and this shows how studies of international commodity flows have to stretch beyond the immediate manifestation of trade networks and chains to capture the dynamics of power relations.

From Waste to Resource: The Trade in Wastes and Global Recycling Economies

“…[RELATED RESOURCE 3] Another sector to demonstrate the importance of family-based networks of traders is used cars. Here, Andrew Brooks' research on Japanese used-car imports to Mozambique, via South Africa, shows the importance of a small number of Pakistani traders in controlling the trade [155]. In Benin and Nigeria, it is again ethnic and family-based networks that control the used-car trade that flows through Cotonou Free Port [156].…”

Was Africa rising? Narratives of development success and failure among the Mozambican middle class

“…Prominent civil and legal critics of the government were silenced in politicized murders, including the killings of Journalist Carlos Cardoso (2000), Banking Official António Siba-Siba Macuácua (2001), Customs Director Orlando José (2010), Judge Dinis Silica (2014) and Lawyer Gilles Cistac (2015). Their deaths constrained the investigation of fraud and corruption and supressed the freedom of speech, highlighting the limits of Mozambique's democracy (Brooks, 2012a;Ganho, 2016). Something else common between all these killings is that they occurred in the affluent neighbourhoods of Maputo, in the banks, cafes and streets which epitomized Mozambique's rise.…”

Understanding reverse supply chains

“…However, resale markets in developing countries will often absorb products that are no longer desired or acceptable elsewhere. Factors including lower quality standards, a weak forward supply chain, poor communication technology infrastructure, under-developed regulation and corruption in developing countries contribute to this (Brooks, 2012). Therefore, the EOL strategy may require a reappraisal of how product life cycles differ in different markets for recovered products.…”