Mozambique: Significant progress made in promoting financial inclusion – Watch

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Mozambique: Significant progress made in promoting financial inclusion – Watch

7:39 CAT | 11 Mar 2022

Photo: TVM

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday expressed his satisfaction with the significant progress that has been achieved in terms of financial inclusion, especially access to banking services.

This progress, he said, has been attained under the government’s national strategy for financial inclusion that was launched in 2016.

Nyusi was speaking in the district of Maringue, in the central province of Sofala, at a ceremony to mark the opening of a new bank branch, under the “one district, one bank” project.

According to Nyusi, banking services are now available in 85 per cent of districts compared with just 55 per cent in 2016. In addition, the percentage of people living in rural areas who have access to banking has increased from just four per cent in 2014 to 31 per cent in 2020.

The President pointed out that “financial exclusion across the country fell from 60 to 40 per cent, with the percentage of people holding bank accounts rising from 18 per cent 2014 to 30 per cent in 2020”. In addition, the number of ATMs has increased significantly.

Nyusi said that the country is following a strategic development approach that focuses on three axes. The first is agricultural production supported by the government’s agricultural development programme, Sustenta. This aims to consolidate the value chain and promote rural marketing and agro-processing – and requires financial intermediation.

He explained that the second axis of the development strategy is building infrastructures, electrifying administrative posts under the Energy for All programme, expanding the telecommunications network of mobile telephone and internet services, increasing the geographical coverage of the branches of the Central Bank, and constructing and rehabilitating the rural road network.

Nyusi noted that “these expansions make it possible to optimise and implement the digital communication tools of the electronic platforms of the financial system and the easy operation of the bank clearing system”.

He added that the third axis covers the training and empowerment of young people through the financial literacy programme of the Central Bank to facilitate the recruitment of local labour and to improve communication between the bank and its clients.

Nyusi concluded that all of these factors will lead to a reduction in operational costs and bring banking services to the districts.