Mozambique’s Business Robustness Index recovered marginally in the second quarter, rising from 26% to 27%, in a period marked by floods, a fuel crisis and restricted access to the foreign exchange market, the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA) announced on Thursday, 10 September.
The improvement, though slight, signals resilience in the private sector amid successive shocks that have constrained business activity across the country, according to CTA president Álvaro Massingue, who was speaking at the 22nd edition of the Economic Briefing.
“They demonstrate that the national private sector continues to show capacity for resilience and adaptation. However, we cannot interpret this improvement as a sign that structural problems have been overcome,” Massingue said.
The recovery in business robustness occurred in a quarter when economic activity began to show signs of improvement, despite the impact of floods in Maputo and Gaza provinces, the fuel crisis and difficulties in accessing foreign currency.
The macroeconomic environment index followed the same trend, improving from 55% to 58% between the first and second quarters. According to CTA, the improvement was driven by a slight increase in aggregate demand, exchange rate stability and a favourable movement in interest rates.
Despite the recovery in indicators, business activity remains exposed to constraints that limit productive capacity and increase operating costs. Among the main obstacles is fuel supply. Massingue said that an approximately 46% increase in the price of diesel, combined with supply shortages, is producing cascading effects across industry, transport, agriculture and consumers.
“The approximately 46% increase in the price of diesel, combined with supply shortages, has cascading effects on industry, transport, agriculture and, naturally, on consumers,” the CTA president emphasised.
Difficulties in accessing foreign exchange also remain one of the primary constraints on business activity, limiting companies’ ability to import raw materials, equipment, fuels and other inputs essential to production.
In response to this environment, CTA is calling for greater coordination between monetary, exchange rate and fiscal policies, as well as measures to reduce the cost of financing for the private sector. The prime rate currently stands at 15.5%, to which commercial banks add their own risk spreads.
For the coming months, the business confederation maintains a cautiously optimistic outlook of moderate activity recovery, underpinned by the normalisation of fuel supplies, continued agricultural commercialisation and increased activity linked to natural gas projects.
CTA nonetheless warns of risks associated with international fuel price volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, calling for coordinated action between the government, the private sector and development partners to remove structural constraints to business competitiveness.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/10/negocios/empresas/economic-briefing-cta-empresas-recuperam-robustez-no-segundo-trimestre/
