At the 2026 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing, Mozambique presented its national strategy for tackling poverty, placing strong emphasis on supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), accelerating industrialisation and promoting local value addition.
Speaking on behalf of the Government, Minister of Planning and Development Salim Cripton Valá outlined Mozambique’s ambition to reduce the national poverty rate from 65% in 2022 to 27.9% by 2044 through a combination of inclusive economic growth, productive investment and structural economic transformation.
The Minister argued that poverty reduction requires more than economic growth alone. According to Mozambique’s strategy, sustainable progress depends on expanding opportunities for entrepreneurship, strengthening local businesses, improving access to finance and increasing the domestic processing of natural resources and agricultural products. The Government sees SMEs as key drivers of job creation, income generation and economic inclusion across the country.
Valá acknowledged that monetary poverty worsened between 2014 and 2022 due to a combination of climate shocks, the insurgency in Cabo Delgado and volatility in international commodity markets.
Mozambique Minister of Planning and Development, Salim Cripton ValáHowever, he noted that other social indicators improved during the same period, including reductions in multidimensional poverty and inequality. Mozambique’s Gini coefficient reportedly declined from 0.51 to 0.45, while approximately one million people moved out of poverty in rural areas between 2019/20 and 2022.
The Government’s poverty reduction agenda is anchored in the National Development Strategy 2025–2044 (ENDE) and the Five-Year Government Programme 2025–2029 (PQG). These frameworks envisage raising economic growth from 2.15% in 2024 to 9.2% by 2044 while investing heavily in health, education, infrastructure, innovation, business development and industrialisation.
A central component of the strategy is the promotion of local economic development through the Local Economic Development Fund (FDEL), which provides financing, training and technical support to micro and small enterprises across districts and municipalities. The Government views the fund as an important mechanism for expanding economic participation, particularly among young people and women.
The Minister also stressed that Mozambique’s natural resources should serve as catalysts for industrial development rather than remaining sources of raw commodity exports. Greater domestic processing of raw materials, he argued, would generate employment, increase local value addition and maximise the economic benefits derived from the country’s resource base.
Addressing delegates at the forum, Valá concluded that poverty is not inevitable and can be overcome through targeted public policies, productive investment, institutional strengthening and international cooperation focused on inclusive development.
For original Portuguese version.
