Mozambique: lending & credit regulation — 2026-08

Regulated

Mozambique: Centralized banking regulation for credit; no specific fintech license

Frozen snapshot — the guide as it stood at the end of 2026-08. See the live guide for the current state.

Credit activities are strictly regulated by the central bank, Banco de Moçambique (BM). Only licensed credit institutions and financial companies may grant credit. There is no specific regulatory framework for non-bank fintech lenders, P2P platforms, or BNPL providers; such entities likely require full banking or financial company licenses to operate legally. The regulatory environment is centralized, with BM overseeing prudential standards, credit registries, and consumer protection disclosures.

Which licence do you need?

Your activityRequirementCapitalTimelineAuthority
Consumer lendingLicenceCredit Institution or Financial Company License[1]

Requires full banking license; no specific consumer credit license exists.

——Banco de Moçambique
SME / commercial lendingLicenceCredit Institution or Financial Company License[1]

Same licensing requirement as consumer lending.

——Banco de Moçambique
MicrofinanceLicenceFinancial Company License[1]

Explicitly regulated as a distinct category of financial company.

——Banco de Moçambique
Buy-now-pay-laterUncertainverify with regulator

No specific BNPL regime; likely requires full credit license.

———
P2P lending platformUncertainverify with regulator

No specific P2P framework; platform operators may need licensing.

———
Credit bureau / scoringRegistrationCredit Registry Membership[2]

Mandatory reporting to Central Credit Registry for supervised entities.

——Banco de Moçambique
Debt collectionUncertainverify with regulator

No specific debt collection license identified.

———

New — what changed recently

  • 2025-04-09Notice No. 3/GBM/2025 — Reduced minimum regulatory provision percentages for non-performing loans for 12 months.[3]
  • 2024-12-30Notice No. 12/GBM/2024 — Modernized Central Credit Registry regulation, mandating loan data reporting.[2]
  • 2023-10-16Notice No. 5/GBM/2023 — Established mandatory pre-contractual credit information disclosure rules.[1]

Market-entry checklist

  1. 1Obtain BM LicenseApply for Credit Institution or Financial Company license from Banco de Moçambique.
  2. 2Register Credit RegistryConnect to and report data to the Central Credit Registry per Notice 12/2024.
  3. 3Implement FINC SheetsUse standardized pre-contractual information sheets per Notice 5/2023.
  4. 4Comply with LTV/DTIAdhere to 100% LTV and DTI ratios for creditworthiness assessment.