Mozambique has recently witnessed impressive economic growth. However, poverty levels are still high. It is therefore important that growth is sustained, accelerated and broadened, especially, in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector which is the largest employer in Mozambique.
This formed a firm foundation that private sector participants of the AMSCO, Norfund & TechnoServe meeting at Hotel Avenida in Maputo noted in working together to come up with home-grown solutions to address poverty, lack of skilled SME Sector and general employment in the country.
“Government shall continue to place emphasis on improving and strengthening our business and economic environment to make it easier for private investment to flourish with a deliberate emphasis on the SME sector” said Hon. Armando Inronga, Minister of Industry and Commerce during his keynote address.
Hon Inronga shared the opportunities that exist in various sectors such as Agriculture and Infrastructure that need to be developed, citing his appreciation for the unity among AMSCO, Norfund & TechnoServe as a welcome venture towards human, technical and financial development of enterprises in the country.
AMSCO Project Officer, Issufo Caba underscored similar sentiments citing that in order for Mozambican enterprises to become globally competitive, profitable and sustainable, companies have to make considerable investments towards human capital development. He shared the management and capacity building model AMSCO uses to assist in the development of African economies through private sector and state enterprises that Mozambique should also take advantage of.
Taking it a step further Norfund added the importance of technical capacity and access to finance.
Jake Walter, Director of TechnoServe Mozambique, spoke broadly on the role of agriculture and plantation forestry in securing a sustainable future for Mozambique’s rural economies. He encouraged participants to maintain the highest global standards of labour, environmental, and quality management practices. He also emphasised the importance of partnering with local communities and governments, and with other companies in their industry, to achieve those standards.
Running under theme “Supporting the Private Sector, the engine of growth in Mozambique” the workshop attracted Government representatives, leaders of small, medium and large enterprises in Mozambique, International Cooperating Partners and Development Finance Institutions.
AMSCO is a special purpose company established by the UNDP in 1989 to rollout the African Training and Management Services (ATMS) Project in order to assist African enterprises to become globally competitive, profitable and sustainable. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the Executing Agency and the African Development Bank is the Regional Coordinating Agency for the Project.
Norfund – the Government Investment Fund for Developing Countries – was established in 1997 by the Norwegian Parliament. Norfund’s objectives are to contribute equity and other risk capital, extend loans and provide guarantees for the development of sustainable commercial activities in developing countries. Norfund aims to establish viable, profitable activities that would not otherwise be initiated due to the high risk involved.
TechnoServe works with enterprises in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. TechnoServe helps enterprises in their integration of the agriculture value chain. These programmes modernise staple food crop value chains and strengthen high value crops to improve smallholder integration and market access.
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