The government has concluded the annual joint review of budget support with its main donors, known as the Programme Aid Partners or the Group of 19 (G-19). The two sides agreed that sufficient progress had been made in the matrix of agreed performance indicators to justify continuing support. Of the 43 targets in the performance framework the government was judged to have met 20 and to have made progress on 15; the remaining eight were judged not to have been met. Following the review the G-19 pledged a total of US$689m in budgetary aid for 2011.

Donors' greatest concerns related to governance, including the fight against corruption. In particular, donors registered their disappointment at the lack of progress made on passing legislation relating to conflicts of interest, the disclosure of assets by senior officials, the legal protection of "whistle-blowers" and the development of a strategic plan to address corruption. However, the G-19 commended the government on its efforts towards improving the country's business environment and joining an international scheme to boost transparency in poor countries' mining sectors, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, as well as the African Peer Review Mechanism, which aims at boosting mutual accountability among African governments.

The recent review also included an assessment of donors' performance, which was, for the first time, undertaken by the government itself, rather than independent consultants as previously. The G-19 was judged to have met eight of 21 targets, with progress made on a further three. Donors were assessed on criteria including timeliness of aid disbursements and the alignment of their strategies with that of the government. The group is also assessed on the number of meetings held with local officials, which can waste government resources. Although the G-19 missed nearly two-thirds of its targets, mainly relating to the manner in which aid was delivered, it was notable that the group honoured its pledges on the amount of aid to be disbursed, despite the economic turmoil in several EU members, including Ireland and Portugal.

Mozambique is one of the most aid-dependent countries in the world, and the annual assessments of the government's and donors' performances are seen as examples of best practice for international assistance. However, the relationship between the local authorities and the country's donors has grown more fraught in recent years. This is partly due to negative donor perceptions about the government's commitment to democratic pluralism. These concerns culminated last year in an unprecedented temporary freeze on disbursements (April 2010, The political scene). Although the dispute was eventually resolved and blocked disbursements made, budgeted aid to the country has broadly stagnated after years of successive increases. Now that donors no longer consider Mozambique to be a post-conflict country, they are set to show less leniency about perceived shortcomings of the government. The local authorities, for their part, no doubt look forward to being less beholden to aid conditions as the country's minerals boom gathers pace. Revenue from this sector could soon come to eclipse the contribution from donors.