Training as carpenter at the vocational school "Young Africa" in Beira, Mozambique

    Core area “Sustainable economic development, training and employment” Improving young people's job prospects

    Education is vital in enabling people to improve their own economic prospects. However, Mozambique's education system has serious shortcomings. In the past few years, Germany has therefore been working closely with other international donors to fund, for example, the building of schools and improvements to teacher training.

    In the future, Mozambican-German development cooperation will focus on vocational education, because deficits are great in this field, too. Training courses are not sufficiently relevant to labour market needs, and curricula are often theory-oriented. There is also a lack of vocational orientation programmes. As a result, only a small proportion of the 450,000 young people who enter the job market every year are able to find formal sector jobs.

    The BMZ provides funding for the construction and equipment of vocational schools and assists selected schools in improving the quality of teaching and management. Efforts are also under way to boost the role of the private sector in vocational education. Among other things, enterprises are invited to take part in the drafting of practice-oriented curricula. In addition, the BMZ supports the use of information and communication technology in training courses and in the education and in-service training of vocational school teachers.


    Making enterprises more competitive

    If the country is to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth and create new jobs, it needs to give a boost to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The BMZ is assisting the Mozambican government in improving the business climate for MSMEs. One particular aim is to boost the rural economy.

    As part of public-private development partnerships, GIZ, on behalf of the BMZ, is working together with national and international enterprises, combining the innovative capacity of the private sector with the resources, knowledge and experience of development cooperation practitioners. This is intended to foster the integration of Mozambican MSMEs in supply chains.

    Access to loans for micro entrepreneurs

    Often, MSMEs cannot access financing for the tools and machinery that would enable them to expand their businesses because no suitable products exist. On behalf of the BMZ, KfW Development Bank is providing refinancing funds to private banks, thus enabling them to offer businesses attractive loans with longer maturities.

    Since very few bank branches exist in rural areas, Germany is also promoting innovative ways of selling these financial products. Special attention is being devoted to giving women access to the financial system.

    Efforts are also under way with the central bank to set up a deposit insurance fund. This fund is intended to increase people's confidence in the banking system and open up opportunities for poorer people, too, to save money to provide for old age or emergencies.

    As at: 18/01/2023