Maputo, Oct. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - According to data from the central bank, the number of bank accounts in Mozambique grew by 4.7% in 2023 to 5,577,994, led by the capital, Maputo, where, on average, each person had two accounts.
According to the Bank of Mozambique's financial inclusion report, in 2022 the country had 5,326,096 bank accounts, translating into 306 accounts per thousand adults (a measure of bankarisation), a figure that rose to 309 in 2023.
"Concerning geographical analysis, in 2023, the highest level of binarization of the economy was observed in Maputo city, with around two bank accounts on average per adult," the report reads.
In the capital, in the south of the country, the number of bank accounts per thousand adults rose from 2,000 in 2022 to 2,266 last year, but in the opposite place, in Zambézia province, in the north, it fell from 116 to 104.
The report adds that the total number of female bank account holders in Mozambique rose from 190 per thousand adults in 2022 to 193 in 2023, while the increase was from 414 to 419 among men.
The financial inclusion index calculated by the Bank of Mozambique for 2023 stood at 15.13 points, an increase of 1.14 points compared to 2022, which results "fundamentally from the increase in non-bank agents, bank accounts and electronic money".
"The outlook for financial inclusion is promising. With the implementation of strategic regulations and innovative projects, the country will be well positioned to achieve comprehensive and sustainable financial inclusion," says the Bank of Mozambique document, pointing to the importance in this process of the activity of Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), which allow the payment of services and transfers via mobile phone.
"Robust infrastructure, especially interoperability through the single national network (SIMO) between EMIs, and between these institutions, banks and microbanks, as well as payment service providers, was an essential advance," the report recognises.
According to central bank data, in 2023, Mozambique had 15 banks, 14 microbanks, one investment company, three EMIs (one for each mobile telecommunications operator), four credit unions, one company providing payment services, a company that issues or manages credit cards, and eight bureaux de change.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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