About twenty companies in the coal, oil and natural gas chains have received external audits to benefit from certification, as a way to respond to one of the main constraints affecting the development of the national Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

This act is part of the National Business Certification Program (PRONACER) implemented by the Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique (CTA) in partnership with the National Institute for Standardization and Quality (INNOQ) and the Foundation for the Improvement of the Business Environment (FAN).

In this context, CTA proceeded yesterday, in Maputo, to deliver the first diploma of certification to the company MOZComputers, with ISO 9001 (Quality Management System).

PRONACER, launched in 2019, has as its main objective to ensure the effective and sustainable participation of national em- ployees in the value chain of natural resource exploitation.

In this program, which is shared 50 percent by the participating companies, 155 companies registered nationwide, of which about 80% expressed interest in ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety), and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System).

As part of the initiative, one hundred companies have benefited from training on the importance, need and types of certification required to do business with multinationals. The first diploma for a certified company under PRONACER was handed out yesterday, and 19 institutions will be awarded the rest later this year.

During his speech, the president of CTA, Agostinho Vuma, encouraged the companies to join the certification, "because in an increasingly interconnected world where production processes are dispersed, the offer of quality services is one of the main requirements to be part of global value chains.

"In this context, certification contributes to the improvement of the company's image and is a tool to convey credibility of its products, resulting in greater exposure to domestic and global markets," he stressed. For his part, the Director General of INNOQ, Geraldo Albazine, urged MOZ Computers to continue improving its processes until excellence is achieved.

Still within the scope of the materialization of CTA's Strategic Plan 2021-2024, which, among other objectives, aims at increasing the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium-sized Mozambican companies, the certification of 15 more companies is foreseen, focusing on the province of Cabo Delgado in the scope of the "+Emprego" project implemented by the association with funding from the European Union and the Camões Institute.