{"id":99218,"date":"2026-04-06T16:30:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi"},"modified":"2026-04-06T17:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:02:33","slug":"government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi","title":{"rendered":"Government Criticized as Largest Debtor to SMEs in Malawi"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ap-summary\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\n<h4>What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n<p>The president of Mozambique&#8217;s APME criticized the government for being the largest debtor to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), stating that delays in payments are harming the sector. Pedro Silva emphasized the importance of timely payments for the survival of SMEs and called for policies that support their growth, which is vital for the national economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Mozambique. <\/strong> <\/span>The president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (APME) of Mozambique criticised the government on for being the largest debtor to SMEs in the country, warning that the executive is \u201ckilling\u201d the sector.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to look after businesspeople. They cannot continue waiting sixty or ninety days to receive payment for their invoices. The government must also pay attention; it cannot be the biggest debtor to SMEs, otherwise it is killing them,\u201d said Pedro Silva, the new president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, as reported by the media on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Pedro Silva also highlighted delays in invoice payments by the Mozambican state, which compromise the liquidity of small and medium enterprises and hinder the regular operation of their activities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we want to strengthen SMEs, we cannot leave them last. We will defend the needs of our SMEs,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>The APME president added that strengthening small and medium enterprises is crucial for stimulating the national economy, calling for greater attention to the sector\u2019s needs and policies that ensure better circulation of resources within the economy.<\/p>\n<p>Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in Mozambique&#8217;s economy, contributing significantly to employment and economic growth. However, they often face challenges such as delayed payments from the government, which can hinder their operations and financial stability. The government\u2019s role in supporting SMEs is essential for fostering a more robust economic environment and ensuring the sustainability of these businesses, which are vital for the country&#8217;s development and job creation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Mozambique<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What You Need to Know The president of Mozambique&#8217;s APME criticized the government for being the largest debtor to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), stating that delays in payments are harming the sector. Pedro Silva emphasized the importance of timely payments for the survival of SMEs and called for policies that support their growth, which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":99217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[747,1353,8604,283,737],"class_list":["post-99218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-government-debt","tag-mozambique","tag-smes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government Criticized as Largest Debtor to SMEs in Malawi - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"APME&#039;s president warns that government debts to SMEs threaten their survival and the national economy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Criticized as Largest Debtor to SMEs in Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"APME&#039;s president warns that government debts to SMEs threaten their survival and the national economy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T16:30:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T17:02:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/04\/sm_1775494611.391419.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1183\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Government Criticized as Largest Debtor to SMEs in Malawi\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T16:30:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T17:02:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi\"},\"wordCount\":342,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/04\/sm_1775494611.391419.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"business\",\"Economy\",\"government debt\",\"Mozambique\",\"SMEs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/government-criticized-as-largest-debtor-to-smes-in-malawi\",\"name\":\"Government Criticized as Largest Debtor to SMEs in Malawi - 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