President Daniel Chapo on Wednesday called for the 487 ventures covered by Mozambique’s public-private partnership (PPP) framework, large-scale projects, and business concessions to list on the Mozambique Stock Exchange (BVM), and demanded compliance with legislation requiring Mozambican participation in the capital of those companies.

Chapo was speaking at a ceremony marking the BVM’s 28th anniversary in Maputo, which was also the occasion for the stock market debut of MECTS (Mozambique Electronic Cargo Tracking Services), the first PPP to be admitted to trading on the national bourse. “These 487 ventures under the public-private partnership framework, large-scale projects, and business concessions are required by law to be part of the Mozambique Stock Exchange, and Mozambicans must be part of these companies,” he said.

For Chapo, the listing of MECTS should open a new phase in the application of legislation governing large investments, giving citizens access to investment opportunities and to the profits of these companies. “MECTS must be the first, but not the only, nor the last company to be admitted to the Mozambique Stock Exchange,” he stressed.

The President recalled that PPP legislation stipulates that a portion of the share capital of these ventures must be reserved for sale on the stock exchange, preferably to Mozambican citizens, and expressed regret at the delay in enforcing those rules. “Fifteen years have passed since this legislation was approved, and 28 years since the founding of the Mozambique Stock Exchange. And only now are we witnessing the listing of the first company under this public-private partnership regime,” he observed.

For the head of state, opening the capital of large companies is a means of broadening citizens’ economic participation and more widely distributing the benefits of investments made in the country. Mozambicans, he argued, should not feature in these investments merely as workers or consumers. “We do not want an economy in which Mozambicans are only workers and consumers, but rather an economy in which they are also entrepreneurs, investors, shareholders, and owners of productive assets,” he declared. “We want young Mozambicans, entrepreneurial women, workers, civil servants, farmers, and small business owners to find in the capital market an opportunity to accumulate wealth and participate in the growth of the economy,” he added.

Chapo also issued a warning to companies, reminding them that national participation in large projects is a legal obligation. “Compliance with the legal obligations of national participation is not optional. Compliance with the law cannot depend on the goodwill of companies,” he said.

The chairman of the BVM’s board of directors, Pedro Cossa, described the listing of MECTS as a milestone for the development of the capital market. “The admission of MECTS to trading constitutes a pioneering milestone, as the first public-private partnership to be listed on the stock exchange,” he said.

According to Pedro Cossa, the transaction could encourage other companies to turn to the bourse, helping to diversify sources of financing and broaden investment opportunities. “The significance of this act goes beyond the entry of one company into the market. First and foremost, it expands the universe of issuers and opens the door for other ventures to do the same,” he explained.

MECTS is a Mozambican technology company that operates the Electronic Sealing and Transit Cargo Tracking System (SEERC) in partnership with the Mozambique Tax Authority, and also develops digital solutions to modernise processes for institutions and businesses. Its stock market listing comes 15 years after the approval of Law No. 15/2011, which establishes the legal framework for PPPs, large-scale projects, and business concessions, including mechanisms for national participation in the capital of such ventures.