Mozambican banks close 2024 with credit in default above the recommended level

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Mozambican banks close 2024 with credit in default above the recommended level

2:00 CAT | 18 Feb 2025

File photo: Lusa

Around 40% of credit granted by banks BNI and Ecobank was in default at the end of 2024, but the majority of Mozambican banking institutions also maintained ratios above the 5% recommended by the central bank.

The Bank of Mozambique’s report on Prudential and Economic-Financial Indicators reveals that the state-owned BNI – which is among the central bank’s list of institutions with less than a thousand customers – closed the fourth quarter with a non-performing credit ratio (NPL) of 37.42%, against 41.09% in the previous quarter and 52.4% in the first quarter of 2024.

Among the commercial banks on the central bank’s list are also Ecobank, with an NPL ratio
of 42.66%, against 43.78% in the previous quarter (33.88% in the first quarter), Moza Banco,
with a ratio of 34.24% (23.69% in the third quarter), and Access Bank, with a ratio of 21.04%
(17.92% in the third quarter).

From the list published by the central bank, based on data provided by the financial institutions themselves, only the United Bank for Africa (UBA), First National Bank (FNB), Standard Bank, First Capital Bank (FCB) and Absa have an NPL ratio lower than recommended (5%), respectively 1.08%, 2.06%, 3.86%, 4.39% and 4.66%.

Millennium BIM, one of the largest banks in the country and majority-owned by the Portuguese BCP, saw the non-performing credit ratio in the last quarter of the year remain at 5.27%, as in the previous one, while that of BCI, led by Caixa Geral de Depósitos, rose to 10.97%.

Data from the central bank indicate that 15 commercial banks and 12 micro-banks currently
operate in Mozambique, as well as various credit cooperatives and savings and credit organizations.

Source: Lusa