Amudo, Mozambique

What makes Canada different from Mozambique?

I mean...how come Mozambique in Southeast Africa, like Canada, wants very much to be a civilized countries and welcomes tourists and produces all kinds of things. Yet, Canada is a first world nation and Mozambique is one of the poorest? Why aren't the people of Mozambique as well off as the people of Canada? Do Canadians think this has to do more with the luck of Canada's 1) size of land? 2) location in proximity to USA? 3) or some other attribute that Mozambique could take advantage of it it wanted to obtain Canada's economic level of stability? Also which of these would be the biggest blow to Canada? 1) No more oil wells left in Alberta 2) Canada's continental land mass splits from USA, no more land border 3) Massive global warming alters Canada's agricultural produce completely. edit pcb2: That's not DNA, that's early education. It would be DNA if Mozambique citizens spent their first 7 years of life since birth living in Canada. But it's simply Canada spends/is able to spend more on education than Mozambique. Canada's eductation makes Canada richer long-term. But to spend lots on education, you have to be rich to begin with. So it's an unfair catch 22, is it not?

Public Comments

1. Erm, lets think; Mozambique has an AK-47 assault rifle on it's national flag, Canada has a maple leaf.
2. DNA is destiny: Average IQ in Canada (2006): 99 Average IQ in Mozambique (2006): 64
3. The biggest reason a country is "first wold" and not third world is good government. Japan has it, Thailand does not. France has it, Argentina does not. Canada has an effective government which is far better than anything in Africa. It was organized by the British.Third World governments do not foster business. In fact they often steal from businesses and banks. Assets are far less safe in Third World countries. That is often why the rich in the Third World keep their money in the first world. This danger of being robbed discourages investment in the Third World. When investment does happen there is a very large risk premium involved.
4. Why isn't Mozambique like Canada? This could be a very long winded answer going back very far in the history of the world. However, factors which could have affected Mozambique in comparsion to Canada could be Mozambique was one of the last countries in Africa to regain control from it's colonizer portugal (1975) Canada did not have this problem and also put it behind other African nations such as Ghana which gained Independence in 1957. Even after Mozambique gained Independence, a civil war occurred in Mozambique from 1975-1993. This civil war started due to conflicts between the rich white ruled South Africa and Rhodesia and the communist backed Mozambique. This obviously put Mozambique on a back foot economically and showed instability compared to many nations world-wide. I would argue that it is undeniable that the lately gained freedom of Mozambique and consequent civil wars played a huge factor in what Mozambique is today. It should also be noted that Mozambique is in Africa and as we know Africa suffers economically in many countries due to previous exploitation as a result of slavery and colonization.