The Financial Inclusion Index calculated by the Bank of Mozambique dropped 1.2 points in 2021, due to the reduction of places of access to financial services and the downturn caused by covid-19, reads the report.
“The overall Financial Inclusion Index (IIF) calculated by the Bank of Mozambique (BM) stood at 12.76 points in 2021, compared to 13.93 points recorded in 2020,” says the document published by the central bank.
“This drop results, fundamentally, from the reduction in access points (bank branches, micro-banks and credit cooperatives, banking agents, automatic machines and points of sale), with a special focus on the city of Maputo.”
The drop also results “from the retraction of economic activity over the period under review (COVID-19 effect),” the document adds. The annual publication is planned under the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (ENIF).
The strategy’s objective is to “build a financially included society in Mozambique”, where for every thousand adults there are still only 315 with a bank account – with greater coverage in terms of mobile wallets: 67% of the adult population has an open account in electronic money institutions (fully managed by codes on the cell phone, even without Internet).
The National Strategy for Financial Inclusion includes 54 actions that should be carried out between 2016 and 2022, but still only a third has been carried out, says the report.
The document considers it a priority to approve new regulations and licenses in the sector (particularly in the area of financial technology companies), as well as “the completion of the interoperability of financial services provided by banking institutions through the single national network.
A national diagnosis on financial literacy and “the expansion of coverage levels of mobile phone services” are also urgently needed.
“Despite notable developments over 2021, challenges remain for improving levels of financial inclusion, especially in rural areas,” the report stresses.
