Mozambique’s Minister for Industry and Trade, Armando Inroga, said the government is speeding up economic reforms in order to improve the country’s business climate, reports local newspaper Jornal de Notícias.

Mr Inroga said the reforms are necessary to make Mozambique more competitive among countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and to create better conditions to attract investments.

The minister was referring to a set of economic policy measures taken recently by the government that include the adoption of a single document for company registrations and the creation of a credit risk centre waiting to be approved by the country’s parliament.

“We have also [introduced] the insolvency law, [and] a simplified commercial and industrial licensing [procedure]; and the implementation of all these measures … will allow Mozambique to rise in the ranking when the World Bank releases its next ‘Doing Business’ report,” Mr Inroga was quoted saying.

Mozambique rose 15 places in the latest Doing Business report, released in late October. The country is now 127th in the World Bank’s ranking.