Gapi and APIEX have committed to jointly carry out a program to promote investment and strengthen the national business community. 

In a recently signed memorandum of understanding, they decided to start mobilizing and making available resources focused on activities to promote and expand national entrepreneurship.

Signed by the president of the Executive Committee, Adolfo Adriano Muholove and by the general director, Gil da Conceição Bires, respectively, this memorandum is based on the assumption that the promotion of the national business sector and of foreigners with business in Mozambique requires investments in material, financial and human resources that result in the creation and strengthening of Small and Medium Enterprises.

Some actions have already been defined as urgent, namely, (i) the identification of priority sectors for the promotion of investments with impact on product exports; (ii) the design of programs and projects that promote investments for the expansion and modernization of the operational capacity of the national business community; (iii) the development of training programs for the national business community; and (iv) the promotion of value chains that facilitate market insertion by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Speaking at the signing of the memorandum, Adolfo Muholove, PCE of Gapi, considers that "this instrument establishes a collaboration platform in initiatives oriented to the mobilization and availability of financial resources that constitute solutions for the promotion and expansion of national entrepreneurship.

Recent data from the National Institute of Statistics shows that more than 95% of the business activity is carried out by MSMEs and that about 40% of the GDP comes from the activity of the informal sector where Gapi has developed programs of empowerment of entrepreneurs and formalization of businesses.

The parties recognized the importance of these segments to promote the inclusion and connectivity of the national economy, emphasizing, however, that, for such, there is a lack of technical and financial support for their development and expansion.

In this APIEX-Gapi cooperation, the synergies of a government institution that "promotes and facilitates investments and exports with a focus on domestic and foreign companies" and a development finance institution that "fosters economic, social and financial inclusion in Mozambique, promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and job-creating investments" are joined to achieve the objective that guides this memorandum.