The president of the Mozambique Chamber of Commerce (CCM), Álvaro Massingue, challenges the commercial banks to provide credit lines directed at agriculture, at an attractive cost, to boost this sector that absorbs 80% of the economically active population in the country.

Massingue said that many credit application processes, by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating in the area of agriculture have had little success. Given this situation, he suggests urgent measures so that this sector of activity can find "a cushion in an agricultural guarantee fund or in the coverage, by insurance, of the risks associated with the activity.

The president of the CCM highlighted the need for the Government to create fiscal policies and strategies to encourage agriculture, throughout its value chain. "We note, with some apprehension, the introduction of another fee for water holes that will bring negative impacts for the development of agriculture, so we call for a review of the measure, by the impacts that this will represent, in the indicators of the doing business.

Massingue's positioning comes in the scope of the 1st Virtual Seminar, organized by CCM, in partnership with IHK Region Suttgart, about rice and tomato value chain. The event that took place this week brought together members of the government and private sector.

"We elected rice and tomatoes for their importance in the economy and for the fact that they are raw material to boost the associated industries, as well as for their valuable contribution in the potentialization of family incomes," he justified.