Mozambique: Ombudsman calls for more dialogue between State bodies and businesses

The Mozambican Ombudsman, Isaque Chande, has called for more dialogue between State bodies and businesses to remove obstacles hindering productive activity, such as red tape, delays in issuing licenses, and corruption. “We have already received requests from companies to intervene because the State has owed us debts for more than two or three years. We have also already spoken with institutions involved in collecting tax debts, situations that ended up being resolved,” said Chande.

“We have also intervened to solve delays in decision-making or the issuing of licenses. There were cases that dragged on for more than two years, but which were eventually solved after our intervention”, he said. “The business sector in Mozambique has a significant amount of VAT that it has not been able to recover for many years.

Even though it is not a direct cost, the slowness in reimbursement ends up becoming a cost for companies,” he explained. Manuel added that the lack of foreign currency also constitutes an obstacle to economic activity, as it prevents the import of raw materials and equipment necessary for production. “As long as we don’t have foreign currency to import intermediate goods and capital goods, we won’t be able to produce. We want the business environment to be like a highway, without speed bumps or potholes”, he declared.