Trade financing is readily available from Mozambican commercial banks. Project financing is available from commercial banks and some specialized banks. Financing for large projects is commonly done with development banks willing to take on emerging market risks that private banks are not. Venture capital in Mozambique is a new concept and not readily available.

Methods of Payment

To pay for imports, Mozambican firms need to justify their payment to the Bank of Mozambique and obtain authorization to make foreign payments. This is a common practice but can be lengthy and cause the importer to take more time to process payments.

Overwhelmingly, Mozambicans use cash to settle day-to-day transactions, though mobile money transfer systems have become popular. These are led by M-PESA (Vodacom), mKesh (TMcel), and e-Mola (Movitel). Visa is the dominant credit card and owns a market share of over 90%.

The Interbank Society of Mozambique (Sociedade Interbancária de Moçambique, or SIMO) announced in 2022 that it would decommission the eponymous SIMOrede – Mozambique’s counterpart of the SWIFT interbank transaction system – in favor of American company Euronet, which formerly acted as the SIMOrede system’s backstop.

Mozambique’s financial system provides for the most common methods of payment, including open account, letter of credit, cash in advance, documentary collections, etc. Standard and Poor’s and Fitch issue credit ratings for the Government of Mozambique and have recently downgraded their ratings. There is an Information Credit Bureau at the Central Bank that provides information on collection agencies in the country. Law firms also perform collection functions for a fee.

For more information about the methods of payment or other trade finance options, please read the Trade Finance Guide.

For information on the banking system in Mozambique, please refer to the 2022 Investment Climate  for details.