and expenses monitoring and accountability, , the government created an Information System
Development Centre (CEDSIF) within the Ministry of Finance and it also approved the Public
Finance Vision 2011-2025.
In the context of regional integration, one stop border post has been implemented in Ressano
Garcia/Lebombo, the border between Mozambique and South Africa, including the construction of
an alternative road for cargo lorries. In addition, border posts have been improved in terms of
infrastructure, equipment and service provision as to ensure their efficient operation. Visa
requirements were also relaxed for some SADC member States namely South Africa, Swaziland,
Zimbabwe and Malawi, and the amount of the deductible import fee has increased from 50 to 200
USD. Customs procedures were also simplified with the introduction of Abbreviated Declaration,
review of cargo clearance regulation and adoption of the JUE. Furthermore, there was an
improvement in the regional infrastructure network that connects Mozambique with the hinterland
such as to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to the Mozambican ports was also improved.
Despite the progress above referred, there are some challenges that must be dealt with in the
area of management and economic governance such like business environment for small and
medium enterprises (PMEs) which is still not yet satisfactory due to excessive regulatory
barriers, high financing cost, labour low qualifications and deficient access to the market; in
addition, infrastructure network is not adequate mainly at district level and this has been
hampering the expansion of the electronic payment system; and there is also a need for more
effort for the reduction of external dependency;
Corporate Governance thematic area constitutes challenges for the country in the context of
APRM, given the fact that the approach to this theme is relatively new and, as a result the
progress is very modest. However, it ought to be mentioned that there have been some
encouraging trends in terms of principles, standards and norms. For instance, a Corporate
Governance Code was created and undertaken improvements of the legal framework for the
insurance activity. The country also approved norms that will simplify the economic activity (such
as the Laws on competition, Consumers’ Rights, Insolvency and Law on Arts Patronage); the
creation of professional institutions such as the Institute of Directors of Mozambique, Association
of Independent Auditors, Bar Association and Association of Accountants and Auditors of
Mozambique have contributed to a large extend, to the improvement of the legal framework for
the implementation and monitoring of Corporate Governance.
Notwithstanding this progress, there are important challenges in this thematic area. Indeed, the
implementation of the Corporate Governance Code is far from being effective due to the lack of
definition of aspects related to its operationalization. Additionally, the country is not yet sufficiently
attractive in terms of doing business and it has been classified in a declining ranking in the past
three years. This suggests a weak effort suppressing business barriers or that the rhythm of the
removal of such barriers is slow as compared to other countries.
With regards to the Socioeconomic Development thematic area, the Human Development Report
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the country is ranked at 185 among 187
countries and territories analysed in term of Human Development Index (HDI). The government
considered this ranking strange and argued that in general the index which constitutes the
aggregate of the computing of IDH in general present a growth. Therefore, the government
approached the UNDP to understand as to how the computing was done. As mentioned before,
the country, registers a GDP growth on average 7% per annum. The GDP per capita shows that it
has increased from 340 USD in 2007 to 470 USD in 2011, which reflects a positive variation with
reflex to the living condition of the population in terms of access to goods and services such as
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