This Friday morning, January 27, the Governor of the Banco de Moçambique, Rogério Zandemela, launched the 4^th edition of the Regulatory Sandbox, an initiative aimed at tackling the challenges set forth by technological innovation in financial services.

During his speech, the Governor stated that the project falls under the implementation of the 2016-2022 National Financial Inclusion Strategy, set to increase the use and access to financial services by the Mozambican population, albeit without neglecting the challenges linked to risk mitigation, financial stability, consumer protection and market conduct.

According to Mr. Zandamela, this edition, with 8 participating fintechs, one Danish and one South African, covers the digital wallet, payments aggregator, financial intermediation services and accumulating savings and credit associations.

Moving forward at the ceremony, the central bank Governor handed-over certificates to the five fintechs approved in the 3^rd edition of the Regulatory Sandbox in 2022, and noted that they may hereinafter market their products in partnership with authorized financial institutions or autonomously, through licensing by the Banco de Moçambique.

For their part, the chairmen of the Mozambican fintechs and banks associations, João Gaspar and Teotónio Comiche, respectively, have been unanimous in stating that, despite the challenges linked to regulatory matters and access to technological infrastructures, the country has been seeing an increase in innovative players and solutions setting out to drive access to digital financial services and ultimately the financial inclusion of the general population.

The event was attended by the Chairman of the Board of the Mozambique National Communications Institute, Tuaha Mote, the Board Members of the Banco de Moçambique, Benedita Guimino and Esperança Majimeja, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Mozambique Interbank Society, Sariel Nhabinde, central bank heads and staffers, guests and fintech representatives.