The Mozambique Tax Authority (AT) intends to transform the informal economy soon, as a platform to broaden the tax base, improve revenue collection and contribute to reducing the levels of poverty that still affects 47 percent of the Mozambican population.

The fact was revealed by the President of the Tax Authority of Mozambique, Amélia Muendane, in Chimoio, at the opening of the seminar to launch the modern cooperative movement that recently brought together district administrators and other players in the production and trade chain.

Muendane challenged the administrators of the 12 districts of the province and other leaders, in the sense of actively engaging themselves to reach the Government's commitment of reaching, by 2035, a middle income economy, in which every Mozambican will have a decent daily meal.

With the transformation of informal commerce into formal commerce, aggregated into cooperatives, the Mozambican economy will be able to flow, through the payment of taxes, which will be reflected in the life of the population, reaching a daily income of at least four to six dollars (256 to 384 meticais).

According to the president of the TA, quoted by the newspaper Notícias, the Government's bet is to transform the province of Manica into a development granary. "When we increase our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), through tax payments, fewer Mozambicans will be below the poverty line," he added.

The governor argued that modern cooperativism is not only for small, medium or large producers, but also for any economic approach for profit, from a formal activity.

According to the Secretary of State in Manica, Edson Macuácua, who spoke at the event, the province has a strong history of cooperativism that will have to be massified by cultures, activities, and value chains.

He stressed the importance of cooperativism as a model of production in which the means are owned collectively. He pointed out that the province of Manica has more than 90 percent of the economically active population, mostly young people, working in the informal sector.

He said he believes that with the cooperative movement, informal people will transition to the formal economy. He appealed to the district administrators to lead the process and articulate with producers, farmers, peasants, members of existing cooperatives, and district business councils in the dynamization of this movement.

"Manica province needs structured change that contributes to a good organization of producers into cooperatives, for their integration into provincial, national and international markets and obtaining better prices," Macuácua said.