More than 90 percent of Mozambique’s population does not have a bank account and there is a consequential need to bring financial services closer to citizens, said President Filipe Nyusi in Maxixe, Inhambane province.

In his recent comments at the third Financial Inclusion Fair, an event organised by the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Nyusi recalled that every district will have a bank branch within four years. But financial services must also be taken to more remote areas, he added.

Under the One District One Bank project, an agreement was signed on that occasion between the National Rural Development Fund and the banks Millenium bim, BCI, Moza Banco and Nosso Banco, concerning the establishment of bank branches in all districts where they are still lacking.

The project aims to minimize suffering among people who are forced to travel long distances to access financial services, said Nyusi, cited by the daily Notícias.

Figures released at the fair show that a third of the Mozambican population take at least one day to reach a financial institution. Despite growth in the number of the country’s financial institutions, from 12 to 18, district bank coverage is under 50 percent, while formal lending is only available to 3 percent of the adult population.

Bank branches are currently only present in 78 of Mozambique’s 150 administrative districts.

Source: Macau Daily Times