An interview with Profile Mozambique by Moza Banco’s Director of Institutional and Protocol, Octávio Mutemba, highlights the institution’s different initiatives in terms of building financing solutions for 2024.
Profile Mozambique: Looking back over the last year, what were the most obvious challenges facing the institution and what measures were taken to overcome them?
Octávio Mutemba: In 2023, Moza Banco once again demonstrated its ability to overcome challenges, especially in a less favorable context of the global economic situation and the worsening of restrictive monetary policy at national level. The global economy saw a considerable slowdown as a result of preventive action by central banks to combat the general rise in inflation.
In Mozambique, the Central Bank increased the mandatory reserve coefficients for domestic and foreign currency liabilities from 10.5% to 39% and 11.5% to 39.5% respectively. This measure substantially reduced bank liquidity, adversely impacting the ability of banks in general to carry out their day-to-day activities with due normality. As a result, one of the banks’ most important functions, which is to finance the economy, was significantly affected, a reality that Moza was no exception to.
PM: Let’s talk about the main events that made a positive impact on the company and contributed to its growth during 2023.
OM: In 2023 Moza celebrated its 15th anniversary and launched the Faz Acontecer campaign, as a way of emphasizing the proactive spirit of Mozambicans who “Make it Happen” every day. In the meantime, several milestones have been marked over the past year, most notably the implementation of transformative initiatives to promote financial inclusion, particularly with a focus on the relatively more vulnerable social groups.
The implementation of the radio program “Conta com o Moza” is the result of Moza’s efforts to increase access to and use of financial services for more and more Mozambicans. Farmers, small traders, civil servants and state agents, students and low-income women represented the target audience for the first phase of the program, which took place in 5 Districts in the center and north of the country (namely: Derre, Memba, Murrupula, Chimbunila and Majune) where Moza is the sole banking operator, as part of the Presidential Initiative “Let’s Bank Mozambique – One District, One Bank”, There were a total of 12 editions that transmitted weekly and in local languages, concepts, good practices, security tips, among other useful information related to financial services and the management of personal finances. With this commitment to using predominantly local languages, Moza Banco became the first banking institution in Mozambique to adopt this approach to communicating financial content.
PM: What are the main goals and priorities for Moza Banco for 2024, particularly with regard to building financing solutions and its human capital?
OM: This year, Moza intends to continue investing in innovative and efficient solutions that will help create even more facilities for our clients and business partners. There are several projects underway in the financial and technological fields that will bring benefits to Mozambicans. We want to further strengthen the dissemination of some of the products and services created in previous years, in particular Moza Connect, which aims to integrate the Bank’s core system and the core system of companies to make life considerably easier for Mozambican entrepreneurs, especially when it comes to carrying out transfers in the comfort of the companies’ working environment and with economic benefit due to the reduced precariousness applicable.
In 2024, Moza will also invest in specific products for women, further strengthening our sense of universality as a Mozambican bank. Our big goal is to ensure that every Mozambican thinks of the name Moza when they want to sign up for any banking service or product. With regard to human capital, Moza has always prioritized the well-being of its employees, investing in various aspects that are crucial to the well-being of its employees and their families. In fact, in 2023 Moza was among the “best companies to work for in Mozambique”, according to a study carried out by Tempus Global. In 2024, we will continue to invest in our human capital, in health, education, training and in all aspects of the company.
PM: Are we going to have any concrete news in terms of Moza Banco’s products and services?
OM: A recent and noteworthy development for Moza is the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to provide a EUR 10 million line of credit to finance small and medium-sized enterprises, with the main focus on women’s entrepreneurship. This line of credit covers all sectors of the economy and contributes to the country’s economic development.
The credit line in question will increase access to finance for women entrepreneurs and other small businesspeople who currently find it difficult to take out traditional credit due to the relatively penalizing interest rate environment.
There have been significant advances in the technology available to the banking industry and the entry of new players in this industry (Fintechs). Given these developments, how is Moza Banco positioning itself to respond to the technological challenges?
Since its inception on the national banking market, Moza has made a strong commitment to technology. In the light of the Bank’s strategic plan (2022 – 2026), an ambitious Digital Transformation programme is underway, aimed at integrating new technological support infrastructures and adjusting organizational processes across the board, allowing customers greater convenience, efficiency, transparency and security when carrying out their banking operations and bringing them even closer to our remote channels for providing services with quality comparable to the highest international standards.
On the other hand, Moza believes in advantageous partnerships to improve the customer experience when using banking services. This is why Moza enjoys interoperability with e-money operators, thus galvanizing its potential for contact with an unbanked public, with a greater incidence in the most remote districts of the country and without a physical presence of banks. In our view, fintechs can be the Bank’s partners in stimulating improved access to and quality of banking services nationwide.
PM: Taking into account the acceleration of digital transformation that we are seeing these days, with the adoption of digital platforms for interacting with customers and automations that promote process efficiency, what are the main impacts that can be expected on the Bank’s structures and what strategies are planned to support them?
OM: Moza is more than a bank with customers. It is a bank for customers.
For this reason, we strive to keep up to date with the various technological developments, process innovations and global paradigm shifts affecting the international, regional and national social, economic and political fabric, with an impact on the various economic sectors (which are increasingly interdependent), including banking.
In order to stimulate the organic adaptation of new technologies in the Bank, we are avid investors in the continuous training of our employees at national and international level. We participate in technological and innovation discussion forums in the region and around the world as speakers to share authentic experiences and knowledge with the various global players. As evidence of this way of being, Moza has even taken part in the 11th edition of the Webb Summit, the largest technology conference in Europe and the world, which has been held annually since 2009.
Also in 2023, Moza was represented as a speaker at the World Financial Innovation Series, held in Nairobi, Kenya, which is one of the African countries that has seen the greatest development in the digitalization of banking processes.
