Maputo – The Mozambican Government has acknowledged “serious challenges” in developing Public-Private Partnerships in the country, pledging to push ahead with reforms targeting the regulatory environment and procedural bottlenecks to build investor confidence.
The admission came from Minister of Economy Basílio Muhate at the opening of the second conference on Public-Private Partnerships in Maputo, held under the theme “Promoting Investment for Economic Acceleration.”
“The development of Public-Private Partnerships in Mozambique still faces serious challenges. We still have a long way to go in strengthening institutional capacity, improving the regulatory environment, reducing procedural delays and building full trust with our investors,” Muhate said. 
The minister said the government was already moving to address the problems through a clear reform agenda. “We recognise these challenges, and this is a sign of maturity and commitment to more concrete solutions. That is why the Government of Mozambique is implementing a clear reform agenda to consolidate the PPP system in our country,” he said.
Among the measures being rolled out is the creation of a Public-Private Partnership Support Centre, a technical unit that will assist in identifying, structuring, evaluating and monitoring projects. The government is also introducing new assessment tools, including a PPP competitiveness index, which Muhate said would allow the country to objectively measure its capacity to structure and manage projects against international standards of quality and efficiency.
The government is further developing a new generation of strategic projects in the energy, transport, logistics and infrastructure sectors, which the minister described as critical to unlocking economic constraints. Muhate also pointed to coordination between public financing, private investment and concessional instruments, including blended finance solutions, as a way to maximise investment impact.
José Caldeira, chairman of the board of directors of Business Legal magazine, which organised the conference, said the challenges facing Mozambique required “robust, predictable cooperation models supported by effective governance between the public and private sectors.” Caldeira pointed to limitations in the legal framework for public-private partnerships, as well as a lack of clarity and interpretation difficulties that continue to affect investor confidence and the competitiveness of the system.
The second conference on Public-Private Partnerships was organised by Business Legal magazine in partnership with the Mozambican Government, bringing together representatives from the public and private sectors alongside international partners.
