Africa-Press – Mozambique. The World Bank and the Mozambican government have allocated over 20 million US dollars to support Mozambican small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the central provinces of Manica and Sofala, and the southern provinces of Gaza and Inhambane.
The money comes from the “More Opportunities” project, which is based inside the Mozambican Finance Ministry. According to a report in Thursday’s issue of the independent newsheet “Carta de Moçambique’”, the money is intended to unblock regional economic potential, strengthen business competitiveness and expand access to financial services and economic opportunities.
According to Mário Ubisse, a Business Development Specialist, speaking on Wednesday, in Maxixe city, Inhambane province, at a workshop dedicated to SMEs ,“For capacity building, we are talking about approximately one million dollars for the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Gaza, and Inhambane. For grants, we are talking about 20 million dollars, also for the four provinces”, he said.
He explained that these are just two parts of a broader programme that involves credit lines, guarantee funds, and other forms of technical and financial assistance.
According to Ubisse, the project’s main focus is preparing companies to exploit existing opportunities. To this end, the project relies on training tailored to the real needs of each company, using a digital diagnostic tool to identify specific management gaps and provide financial literacy, leadership training, digitalization, and green competitiveness.
He highlighted that the goal is to empower at least 1,250 companies, strengthening not only technical skills but, above all, the ability of SMEs to access financing, compete more effectively, and connect to the value chains of the ongoing megaprojects.
“The opportunities are there, the resources are there, but if companies are not properly prepared, they will not be able to exploit them”, he said.
For his part, Abdul Razaque, head of the Inhambane Provincial Business Council, the capacity-building actions and subsidies already under way could serve as a catalyst for the economic development of the province, especially the city of Maxixe, considered a logistics hub.
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