The Mozambique Stock Exchange (BVM) has argued that capacity-building for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), combined with stronger governance and transparency standards, is essential to facilitate their access to financing — both through bank credit and capital markets.
The position was presented by Alcino Michaque, BVM’s Operations Director, during a panel at the fourth edition of the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance Mozambique (BFSI 2026) conference. In his remarks, Michaque began by framing the role of the financial system in the implementation of the government’s recently approved Development Strategy 2025–44.
He explained that the strategy is anchored, among other elements, in the structural transformation of the economy, with a focus on sectors such as energy, agribusiness, and tourism. For Michaque, the central question is what the financial system can offer to leverage the country’s economic potential and support small and medium enterprises, which represent the largest share of Mozambique’s business landscape. “What can our financial system offer to leverage this existing potential, to support the small and medium enterprises that are, in fact, the backbone of our business community?” he asked.
Michaque explained that the financial system comprises different components, including monetary, foreign exchange, credit, and capital markets — the latter being where the stock exchange operates. He noted that the BVM is, by nature, a platform geared towards mobilising medium- and long-term capital, though it operates under its own set of criteria and requirements.
In this context, he indicated that the exchange has been reflecting on ways to support SMEs and bring them closer to the capital markets. It was within this framework that the BVM launched the Third Market in 2019, a segment created specifically to respond to the characteristics of SMEs. “The Third Market was, effectively, a response to the nature of our small and medium enterprises,” he said.
According to Michaque, the segment was designed to bring closer to the exchange those companies that were not initially able to meet all the requirements needed to raise financing through the capital markets. “The Third Market was created to bring closer to the exchange this type of company that, from the outset, could not meet all the requirements to finance themselves through the capital markets,” he explained.
“The capital market has requirements that must be met by companies seeking to raise financing,” Alcino Michaque said.
The BVM Operations Director recalled that the Mozambican capital market offers a range of instruments and segments, including the debt market, the equity market, the official listings market, the second market, and the third market. Despite the existence of these instruments, he acknowledged that challenges remain.
He stressed that elements such as trust, governance, and transparency must always underpin any discussion of capital markets. Nevertheless, Michaque identified SME capacity-building as one of the central ongoing challenges. “The issue of capacity-building is vital so that they can become bankable, whether in the credit circuit or in the capital markets,” he said.
He added that the capital markets themselves impose requirements that companies seeking to raise funds must satisfy. In his view, one of the key levers still missing for SMEs is the improvement of their governance, transparency, and organisational structures, so as to make them financeable entities. “I believe this is one of the levers that companies have lacked — the issue of improving their governance, their transparency, and becoming bankable companies,” he said.
The BFSI 2026 conference runs over two days and brings together government officials, regulators, representatives of financial institutions, banks, insurers, fintechs, investors, development partners, business leaders, and specialists to discuss solutions aimed at accelerating digital transformation, strengthening financial inclusion, and promoting the development of the national financial system.
Source: Diário Económico
