Portugal's Fundo Empresarial da Cooperação Portuguesa (FECOP) has approved five investment projects in Mozambique with a combined value of €382,000, of which €282,900 is covered by the mechanism's financial guarantees. The announcement was made on Friday (13) by Portugal's Ambassador to Mozambique, Jorge Monteiro, during a ceremony marking the accession of three additional financial institutions to the initiative.

According to Lusa, the ceremony, held in Maputo, formalised the entry of Moza Banco, Banco Nacional de Investimento (BNI), and Microbanco Confiança into the fund, raising to six the total number of financial institutions involved in operationalising the mechanism, which is designed to improve access to credit for Mozambican micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

According to Jorge Monteiro, the five projects have been approved since June, when the mechanism entered a new phase of implementation, allowing the first investments to benefit from financial guarantees provided by Portuguese development cooperation.

The ambassador said the results demonstrate the beginning of FECOP's objectives being realised, enabling Mozambican companies to advance investment initiatives and create value.

With a total allocation of approximately €17 million, the fund provides credit guarantees, technical assistance, and grants, seeking to reduce the barriers that hinder financing for smaller enterprises.

The initiative became operational in June, when Millennium bim, Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI), and Vista Bank Moçambique signed the first accession agreements with FECOP.

The mechanism allows banks to share part of the risk associated with loans through the financial guarantees made available by the fund. This component aims to facilitate lending to companies that face difficulties in providing the collateral typically required by banks.

"The initiative involves Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, the Instituto para a Promoção das Pequenas e Médias Empresas (IPEME), and the Associação Moçambicana de Bancos, seeking to broaden access to financing and strengthen the investment capacity of Mozambique's private sector."

In addition to guarantees, FECOP has a grants facility of approximately €560,000, aimed at strengthening the competitiveness and access to financial services of small businesses, associations, and cooperatives.

Jorge Monteiro underscored the importance of MSMEs to the national economy, stating that they represent approximately 99% of Mozambique's business community, are present across different regions of the country, and play a significant role in local economies.

The ambassador argued, however, that the provision of financial resources must be accompanied by technical assistance, noting that challenges related to management, organisation, and project preparation continue to limit access to financing.

"Financing is important, but often even more important than financing is technical support," he said, calling for closer engagement with beneficiary companies.

For her part, the president of the Associação Moçambicana de Bancos (AMB), Esselina Macome, said the expansion in the number of participating institutions should translate into an effective increase in credit operations and the number of companies supported.

Macome cautioned that participation in the fund does not exempt institutions from standard banking risk assessment and management procedures, stressing the need to ensure that entrepreneurs present financially viable and properly structured projects.

Esselina Macome also highlighted the mechanism's potential to support the formalisation of small businesses, particularly those operating in the informal sector, advocating for greater coordination between financial institutions and business support entities.

The expansion of bank participation comes at a time when Mozambican companies can already submit applications to the fund through the participating financial institutions, which are responsible for assessing the eligibility and financing conditions of each project.

FECOP was originally established in 2014 and subsequently underwent a restructuring process after constraints in the use of available resources were identified. The revision of the mechanism was one of the commitments made during the 6th Bilateral Summit between Portugal and Mozambique, held in December 2025 in the Portuguese city of Porto.