BACKGROUND 

Despite strong and sustained economic growth over the past decade, the Mozambican economy has undergone minimal structural transformation. Specifically, growth has not translated into increased employment opportunities. The latest estimate of the unemployment rate is 23% overall, with more than a third of youth between 20-25 years of age unemployed. These figures have remained largely unchanged over the last decade. Coupled with Mozambique’s high population growth rate of nearly 3% per year, the employment situation suggests that most of the 300,000 new entrants into the labor market each year will not find stable employment. Job creating continues to be constrained by a poor investment environment, lack of infrastructure, and financing constraints. To achieve its goal of inclusive growth, the Government of Mozambique (GRM) has to focus its policy attention on reforms that improve the business environment and strengthen the human capital of the country. It is crucial to have a solid private-public dialogue mechanism to discuss these reforms.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this project is to strengthen private sector business associations at the provincial level, as well as the Mozambican Confederation of Business Associations’ (CTA) ability to work with them, so they can promote an improved business enabling environment through advocacy, and provide useful services to their own members. The project provides assistance in how to run an association more effectively, which includes membership surveys about desired services. Associations are assisted to develop or utilize existing training materials to offer their members various business development services. The project also trains associations on how to work with the media to get their advocacy messages to a wider audience, as well as how to communicate more effectively with their members. Finally, CTA supports twinning arrangements between newly emerging associations, and designs a grants fund program used for a variety of policy reform initiatives and institutional strengthening capabilities.

EXPECTED RESULTS/IMPACTS

The project will:

• Strengthen capacity of business associations to advocate and lobby for pro-business policy reform;
• Strengthen business association capacity to participate effectively in the Public and Private Dialogue process;
• Improve business association capacity to deliver support services for their members; and
• Enhance sustainability of business associations by identifying alternative sources