Financial inclusion
• Forum
FSDMOÇ WAS ESTABLISHED
in 2014 with the aim of supporting and facilitating the development of inclusive financial markets in Mozambique, with UK DFID and Sweden Sida support. FSDMoç recognizes the need for a greater focus on a financial sector offering quality services that enable resilience and economic empowerment for all Mozambicans. To this end, it conducts research and data analysis to help market actors better understand the needs of demand-side, smallholder farmers, small businesses, women, young people, and rural communities. This way, it contributes to the provision of knowledge and know-how to our partners and others, to build the business case for providing appropriate, affordable, and accessible financial services and products. Mozambique has a National Financial Inclusion Strategy (2016-2022), which is a strong signal that the country recognizes the importance of financial inclusion for the social and economic development of the country and its citizens. The Financial Inclusion Report 2018 by the central bank indicates an improvement of access to a bank account, at 32% of the adult population, while more than 50% use mobile money accounts. Both banks and insurance companies are increasingly offering digital solutions, extending their services far beyond the limits of their physical presence.
MOZA BANCO
has been one of the banks at the forefront of financial inclusion in Mozambique, by launching innovative products and services for the nonbanked and creating new models of banking to further push inclusion. As the only bank with almost entirely Mozambican capital, our responsibility toward inclusion, innovation, and development is even greater. To date, we own the third-largest network of banks in the country, with 67 units in all provincial capitals and various districts, and we are looking to further increase this, once the current COVID-19 scenario allows. Financial inclusion cannot be reached simply through the expansion of physical branches and must combine alternative channels, including digital services and products that address the needs and concerns of the lower segments. This is currently a focus of our strategy, as we expand our offerings to stand up to the innovation, functionality, and efficiency that denote best practices across the market. We are complementing these efforts with actions to boost financial literacy and education in order to ensure an effective and conscious utilization of financial services. Since 2016, the bank has achieved a remarkable performance, with proven positive results in gaining clients’ and the market’s confidence as well as economic and financial indicators.
LENDING IN MOZAMBIQUE
has traditionally been constrained by the asymmetry of information between lenders and borrowers. Providing complete, reliable, and accessible data to lenders is the best way to build confidence and boost lending, which in turn triggers an economic multiplier effect. Through our private credit bureau, we seek to have a central impact on the bottom of the pyramid and boost financial inclusion, and by doing so, we create a systemic change in the way access to credit works. We become the catalyst that helps many individuals and SMEs to develop first-time credit reports that enable them to get better and cheaper access to future credit. Thus, by setting up its first private credit bureau, Mozambique opens up an enormous opportunity to grow an inclusive economy. The financial sector has received us with open arms, and we are licensed by the central bank and operate as a regulated entity under a law in Mozambique. In the early parts of setting up business, this has been our single-biggest obstacle. Now that we are through that phase, we are working very well with the data teams at various banks and lenders to start collecting the data in a structured way.
SINCE ITS FOUNDING,
GAPI has spearheaded private-sector development, inserting SMEs into the formal economy, with a focus on young entrepreneurs and start-ups. Since 2007, we have been registered on the central bank’s list of credit institutions as a para-banking institution. Our focus has been on managing funds to investing in development projects. GAPI combines three lines of services: business development through community-based financial institutions, institutional development support, and financial services such as loans, guarantees, and microfinance. The bulk of our revenues, about 70%, come from service fees on fund management for institutions such as the African Development Bank, Nordic development finance institutions, and German KFW, which allocates funds to the government and the government sub-contracts GAPI. Less than 30% of our income comes from interest and credit. We are also members of the African Association of Development Finance Institutions. We reflect the economic situation and priorities of Mozambique, and thus around 60% of our activities cover the agro-industry sector. As the population is growing by 3% annually, the importance of creating a robust formal economy is becoming all-the-more pressing by the year. We work with the government, civil society, and international partners, because this is a priority for all sectors.
SOCREMO
was founded in 1988 initially as a credit association; it later evolved to become a full-fledged microfinance bank serving principally the bottom of the pyramid. The SOCREMO mission is to “provide sustainable innovative financial solutions to micro, small, and medium enterprises, value chains, and households,” and its vision is to be the “preferred financial partner fulfilling dreams.” Thus, our main focus is on the micro segment, which is currently served by about 25-30% of the banks in Mozambique. There is definitely significant space for growth in this segment. Over the years, we have grown our presence to 15 branches and aim to add four branches in 2020, extending our presence to all provinces and opening a total of 26 branches within the next four years. We currently have 58,000 banking clients and 12,500 loan clients with a portfolio of MZN1.1 billion (USD16.5 million). We provide savings, current accounts, and fixed-term deposits accounts. On the loans side, we provide predominantly working capital loans. In terms of loan sizes, we provide finance from as little as MZN5,000 to MZN10 million. This covers the whole range, from micro enterprises to SMEs. Additionally, SOCREMO offers micro insurance funeral policies in partnership with Hollard Seguros.