The outgoing representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Pietro Toigo, argues that private companies in the country lack robustness, which makes it difficult for them to access a higher type of financing.

In an interview to the newspaper "Notícias", about the balance of his four years at the head of that financial institution in Mozambique, Toigo considers that the constraints of the private sector are related to its fragmentation and the fact that it is very small.

"The companies that consider themselves big, are actually small and medium-sized, and that restricts a little bit the ability of entrepreneurship to access a certain type of broader financing. Agriculture is based a little bit on informality and interpersonal relationships and that also restricts a little bit the ability to invest in the sector," explained Pietro Toigo.

According to the outgoing ADB Representative in Mozambique, the private sector lacks the capacity to make strong and sustainable connections between Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the megaprojects, which will be a major challenge. And to overcome these problems, the source stressed that the institution he heads has several projects to support SMEs in the country, such as those working along the Nacala Corridor to make stronger use of this logistics platform.

As for the business environment, Toigo said there are gains, although piecemeal reforms are still needed. "Historically, the country has a predominance of the public sector over private and a level of bureaucracy that can often stifle the private sector," Toigo said.

However, basing it on "Doing Business," the source said that there are interesting considerations in the report in the different provinces. It said that in some, you can see indicators that perform much better in some provinces compared to other provinces.