The business of peace: Tiny Rowland, Financial Incentives and the Mozambican Settlement

Not generally well understood is the extent to which Mozambique’s peace process was paved with financial incentives which made the final settlement possible. Alex Vines describes how the chief executive of the UK-based multi-national, Lonrho, Tiny Rowlands, having paid the insurgents protection payments since the early stages of the war, came to influence Renamo’s and regional leaders’ engagement in the peace process. Without Rowland’s money, the Rome talks might well have dragged on at additional financial and humanitarian cost, although additional inducements from the Italian government were also required to make sure the agreement held.