Although agriculture and small or medium-sized enterprises are important to the Mozambican economy, there is enough evidence that it is not possible to process local raw materials, diversify the economy, or increase the competitiveness without access to modern environmentally adequate energy at an affordable cost.

In Mozambique, for example, it is not possible to disassociate the promotion of industrial development from the need to increase the level of access to energy.

The rural areas of Mozambique have great potential for development, from small and medium scale agro-industry, processing agricultural products, and installing irrigation systems. It is also in rural areas where it is economically most viable, to adopt integrated renewable energy systems, and to promote productive uses of energy.

UNIDO, through the "Towards Sustainable Energy for All in Mozambique" (T-SE4ALL-M) project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), intends to contribute to the widespread increase in knowledge about renewable energies among agents and market facilitators in this sector. In light of this, consultations were carried out with the private sector between 2018 and 2019, documenting the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the pursuit of capital intended for investment in renewable energy systems for productive uses, especially in rural areas of Mozambique.

“It is urgent to diversify the range of attractive and adequate financial mechanisms for the national private sector, in order to encourage the massification of energy generation systems, including solar energy, biomass, or other alternative and sustainable energy sources”-Jaime Comiche, UNIDO Country Representative in Mozambique

On 11th March 2020 TSE4ALL-M project spearheaded by UNIDO and FUNAE reinforced its commitment to promoting access to sustainable energy sources by signing a partnership agreement with BCI “Banco Daqui”. The aim of the contract is to establish and manage a guarantee fund account which will be utilized to facilitate access to capital (loans) for industrial enterprises for the financing of renewable energy systems for productive uses in Mozambique.
“The agreement formalized today, will boost development access to energy for productive purposes, where it is most neglected and necessary, thus contributing to sustainable and inclusive industrial development in Mozambique, and also to accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”- Jaime Comiche, UNIDO Country Representative in Mozambique.

The guarantee fund dubbed “Credito Super” whose initial duration is 3 years is a commitment to cover the risks associated with the loan issuance to borrowing companies that do not have access to standard commercial loans due to their inability to meet requirements for collateral, reporting, and provision of sufficient financial standards. The grant funding amounting to USD 1,000,000 constitutes the initial capital for the financing of the fund’s activities.

‘’In working towards social inclusion, there is need to consider economic inclusion thus advancing the creation of job opportunities for all. Ensuring access to sustainable energy is a crucial step towards achieving economic inclusion and the partnership with BCI is a kick starter for the efforts towards access to funds for the economic activities” Eng. António Saíde, FUNAE Chief Executive Officer
UNIDO believes that the CREDITO-SUPER credit line will bring a differentiated and useful product to the national market, which responds to the needs of the entrepreneurial private sector, and is concerned with universal access to modern energy. It is hoped that the launch of the BCI credit line will bring on board more players especially from the private sector thus dealing with the challenge of access to finances to enable access to renewable energy technologies.