About two dozen national small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have just benefited from a training action aimed at providing them with knowledge about financial products and services for the needs of local content.

The initiative promoted by Millennium bim bank arises from the institutional partnership with MozUP (Business Development Center of the sponsored by the partners in Area 4, including the Mozambique Rovuma Venture (joint venture between ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC), as well as the other concessionaires in Area 4 - Galp, KOGAS and ENH).

The online event focused on access to finance, business planning, financial solutions to support investment, treasury and imports, and insurance banking services, with the target group being potential local suppliers of goods and services to the oil and gas industry megaprojects.

Twenty companies from different activity sectors participated (such as real estate, logistics, civil construction, locksmith, engineering and architecture, catering and cleaning, among others), which benefited from the training of Millennium bim's senior staff, namely Oldemiro Belchior (Investment Banking Department), João Gonçalves (Corporate Marketing), Danil Suca (Credit Department) and Felix Moisés (Ímpar Insurance).

It should be noted that Millennium bim and Mozambique Enterprise for Sustainability (MES), manager of MozUp, signed a memorandum of understanding in 2020, whose objective is to promote the development of financial solutions aimed at positioning the bank as a reference partner of MozUp, in order to provide local SMEs with skills in business management based on good market practices, making them eligible for bank financing and qualified to the demands of operators in the LNG industry.

However, the director of MozUp, Barbara Habib, noted that "access to finance is one of the biggest challenges faced by Mozambican SMEs.

MozUp has partnered with leading financial institutions, including Millennium bim, not only to improve the overall capacity of SMEs in financial and business management, but also to connect these Mozambican companies to existing financial products and services that can help catalyze the growth and success of their businesses.

To date, through initiatives like this one, MozUp has supported more than 500 Mozambican companies in improving their business performance and competitiveness so that they are better qualified and prepared to provide services to the oil and gas industry, as well as other growing sectors in Mozambique.