The government of Mozambique has announced its National Cooperative Development Program (PNDC) for 2026–2046, which aims to formalise 10,000 co-ops.
It is hoped the plan will integrate 1.5 million informal economy operators, and create 500,000 jobs by 2046, with a focus on industrialisation, local processing of domestic produce, and support for MSMEs.
Social inclusion is also a key goal, with the government mandating that 40% of beneficiaries must be youth and that 35% of co-operative management positions must be held by women.
The Council of Ministers has approved the plan as an operational instrument to implement the General Cooperatives Law, Industrial Policy and Strategy, Local Content Law, and General Law on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Sectors to be supported through the plan include agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and mining, and efforts will be made to integrate co-ops into the supply chains of large national projects.
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Measures will include the development of productive hubs and co-operatively owned industrial parks, aimed at reinforcing the country’s productive and industrial capacity.
The government says it wants to increase procurement from the national co-op sector, strengthen trade between co-ops and MSMEs, and boost the creation of co-operative industrial parks.
Its ambitious goal is to turn Mozambique into a national and international reference in organising the productive base through modern co-operativism.
Ministers want the plan to reinforce the participation of co-ops in the country’s exports, and to increase the contribution of co-ops to the GDP, and to broaden the country’s tax base, and improve its trade balance.
