The cost of setting up a new business in Mozambique rose 468 percent in three years, the Confederation of Mozambican Economic Associations (CTA) said, calling the figure harmful to the economy.
“From 2015 to 2018, the cost of opening and registering a company in Mozambique rose by 468 percent from 7,835 (109 Euros) to 36,629 meticais (512 Euros),” the CTA reports in a note published online on Monday.
The amount corresponds to the total cost of reserving the name of the company, obtaining notary recognition of signature, entry in the commercial register and publication of the companies’ statutes in the Boletim da República.
The total corresponds to “US$607.75, well above Mozambique’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) which, according to the International Monetary Fund, is below US$500,” the employers’ association notes.
According to the GDP per capita figure, no-one has “the capacity to pay what the Mozambican state requires to become formal”.
Going into further detail, the CTA asks why the cost of publishing in the Boletim da República should be 31,811 meticais (445 Euros) when there is Internet access, and also the 1,050 meticais (14.7 Euros) figure for recognising a signature.
The employers’ confederation fears that costs will push entrepreneurs into the informal economy, and asks: “In a country where population growth is high, in contrast to the creation of jobs, what can be expected?”
The improvement of the country’s business environment was pointed out as a priority by the President Filipe Nyusi, after the country dropping its position in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” 2017report in November.
The same index, updated for 2018 and available on the Internet, sees Mozambique drop one more place to 138th among 190.
Source: Lusa/ COM
