Mozambique: State approved 742 investment projects worth $6.2B, in last two years

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Mozambique: State approved 742 investment projects worth $6.2B, in last two years

1:00 CAT | 04 Sep 2023

Minister Silvino Moreno was speaking at the opening of the 21st coordinating council of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in Marracuene, on the outskirts of Maputo. [Image: Domingo]

Mozambique has approved 742 investment projects valued at $6.2 billion in the last two years, the minister of industry and trade revealed on Monday, admitting, however, that reforms are needed to improve the business environment.

“It is necessary to continue to make reforms in order to simplify procedures, reduce the time and cost of the approval processes for projects to licence economic activities, create conditions for the implementation of industrial infrastructure projects and promote the addition of value to national raw materials,” said Minister Silvino Moreno, at the opening of the ministry’s 21st coordinating council, in Marracuene, on the outskirts of Maputo.

The minister recalled that in the current legislature, the country now has a new Private Investment Law, “more attractive, modern and suited to global challenges”, and that a new Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Law is being prepared, as well as legislation for the organisation of commercial activity, an integrated agricultural marketing plan, the revision of licensing regulations for industrial and commercial activity and the drafting of a mechanism for improving the country’s business environment.

The transformation of the National Inspection of Economic Activities (INAE) “into the Economic Activities Inspection Authority, in order to make it more effective” will also go ahead, he said.

In his speech, Minister Silvino Moreno also said that “92,452 companies have been licensed in the last two years through the e-BAU [One-Stop-Shop] platform, of which 2,026 are new industries”.

“During this period, 742 new projects were also approved, with an investment value of around $6.2 billion. These figures should lead to an increase in industrial production in the country, targeting both the domestic market and the international market, and consequently contribute to improving the trade balance,” he emphasised.

On the other hand, the minister of industry and trade recognised the continued decline in the weight of manufacturing in Mozambique’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“From 7.8% in 2020 to 7.4% of GDP in 2022. This percentage is still below the target we have set ourselves for 2024, which is 9%,” he said.

According to Silvino Moreno, the mapping of industrial activities in Mozambique is also underway: “so that we can have information on the profile of the national industrial park, in quantitative and qualitative terms, as well as the characteristics of national production”.

Source: Lusa