Business between Mozambique’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large projects operating in Mozambique rose from US$45 million per year in 2002 to US$350 million in 2011, according to figures published by the Ministry for Planning and Development.

The business of supplying goods and services to large projects at the end of 2011 involved around 470 small and medium-sized Mozambican companies. The main factors affecting business growth for these companies are high interest rates and a poor business climate.

On presenting a summary of the first day of work of the 9th Coordinating Council, António Cruz said that procedures, specifically the time and costs involved in setting up a new company, as well as access to credit, along with high rates of interest, were constraints on the development of Mozambican companies.

This situation leads to the directors of large companies choosing foreign suppliers due to the inability of Mozambican companies to provide competitive goods and services.

Mozambican newspaper Notícias, noted that Mozambique has been falling in the ranking of the World Bank’s “Doing Business” index, and that Mozambique is considered to be the country with the highest market rates of interest. (macauhub)