Mozambique: Six out of ten Mozambicans have no savings

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Mozambique: Six out of ten Mozambicans have no savings

2:04 CAT | 13 Aug 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Only 40% of Mozambicans can afford to save any money at all. The government recognizes the need to increase participation in the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), to be implemented by 2031.

“There is a crucial need to educate Mozambicans about the benefits of saving, encouraging them to start saving and investing for their future, whether in the formal or informal system,” reads the report in the Ministry of Finance document, consulted by Lusa.

The proportion of adults who save money, it adds, “is low, both in rural and urban regions”, given that, on the demand side, “only 38.3% of adults saved money in 2022”, according to the most recent data used in the study.

The document adds that “a lack of planning and saving for the future puts individuals at risk of financial challenges, poverty, and dependence on others or the state during periods of reduced work capacity”.

Regarding “barriers to accessing savings”, the document also points out that “lack of income is the main reason for this”, relating that 72% of Mozambicans who do not save indicated, in a study, that they do so due to “lack of income”, 25.3% because they “do not consider it a priority”, and 16.7% because they had “unplanned expenses.”

The document recalls that the savings system in Mozambique “offers a variety of institutions that collect these resources, including banks, micro-banks, credit unions, electronic money Institutions, as well as savings and revolving credit groups [such as the ‘xitique’]”.

“A large portion of the population that saved money did not do so in a formal financial institution”, the document emphasizes, noting that 36.4% of adults saved in a bank, followed by the option of saving money at home (31.9%) and then through community groups (17.7%).

Expanding access to financial products and services, increasing the use of affordable and quality financial products and services, promoting financial literacy and strengthening consumer protection and trust in financial services are the four central pillars of the new financial inclusion strategy.

The 2025-2031 strategy document emphasizes that “financial inclusion serves as a catalyst for achieving the country’s broader development objectives” and “is not limited to providing greater access to financial products and services, but also aims to empower individuals and businesses to improve their livelihoods, build resilience, and participate fully in the economy”.

“In addition to promoting entrepreneurship, financial inclusion facilitates savings and investment, contributing to economic and social well-being”, it reads, further emphasizing that the strategy “results from extensive consultation and collaboration between the Government, financial institutions, the public and private sectors, as well as development partners”.

“It reflects the joint commitment to positioning financial inclusion as a central pillar of Mozambique’s socioeconomic development,” the strategy document concludes.

Source: Lusa