Mozambique: Informal sector criticizes its exclusion from post-electoral protest recovery credit line

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Mozambique: Informal sector criticizes its exclusion from post-electoral protest recovery credit line

11:54 CAT | 04 Mar 2025

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

The informal sector says that it makes no sense for it to be excluded from the 10 billion meticais credit line for post-electoral protest recovery. Traders are proclaiming themselves against discrimination and claim that everyone has suffered the impacts of the protests.

The informal sector has a significant weight in the national economy, with INE data from 2021 indicating that it represents around 45% of the country’s GDP. Even so, the informal sector was not included in the credit line announced by the government, which has not gone down well.

“If it does not cover them, it is discrimination. The protests covered everyone, no one escaped. So, in my opinion, it was important to cover the informal sector. At the end of the day, those who carry out a visible activity that has a direct impact on the consumer are the informal sector,” a spokesperson for the sector claimed.
Furthermore, informal workers criticize the interest rates applied to loans as too high, making the business environment even more difficult.

To have access to credit, which will be available from March 1 to September 30, banks must receive guarantees from companies.

Source: O País