The Dilemma of Small Business in Mozambique: A Research Note

Abstract

A vast portion of the economic activity in Mozambique consists of small businesses. Moreover, these business activities are often either informal or unrecorded in official sources (Dana, 1996; Fialho, 1996; Fungulane, 1999). Not surprising, the accuracy of the statistical coverage is poor and uneven.¹ For example, calculations of the economic contribution of the informal sector by the Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (INE) and the Italian Government Co-operation Agency suggest that the real GDP is underestimated by some 79% (Economist Intelligence Unit, 1998). Abreu and Abreu (1996), of the Central Bank in Mozambique, using a monetarist approach, have estimated that the informal sector accounts for at least 33% of the Mozambican GNP. In Beira, the second largest city in Mozambique, Navaia and Kaufmann (1999) estimate that at least 60% of the firms are informal businesses.

Citation

Kaufmann, F. and Parlmeyer, W. (2006), "The Dilemma of Small Business in Mozambique: A Research Note", Galbraith, C.S. and Stiles, C.H. (Ed.) Developmental Entrepreneurship: Adversity, Risk, and Isolation (International Research in the Business Disciplines, Vol. 5), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 203-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1074-7877(06)05011-2