The failure to fully comply with the requirements defined by law remains the main reason for the poor adhesion of companies , particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to the stock market. This position was shared by the Chairman of the Board of the Mozambique Stock Exchange (BVM), Salim Cripton Valá, during the Annual Conference of the Private Sector (CASP) held from March 30 to 31, 2022, in Maputo, under the theme "Reforming the Business Environment for Economic Recovery".

The list of legal requirements includes three elements: good economic and financial health, organized accounting, and shareholder dispersion. According to BVM's CEO, a considerable number of companies operating in the domestic market, especially SMEs, are unable to meet these requirements cumulatively, a reality that hinders their admission to the stock exchange.

"The three major bottlenecks we face are: I) the good economic and financial health of companies, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises; II) organized accounting and audited accounts (a large part of companies face this problem and it is somewhat linked to economic informality); and, finally, III) shareholder dispersion (they are not public limited companies, but rather single-family and sole proprietorship companies)," said Salim Valá. Speaking in the panel entitled "Financial Solutions for the Recovery of the Business Sector and the Creation of Resilience."

Betting on attracting more companies to the stock market, BVM launched the Third Stock Market in November 2019, a market considered a preparation and incubation market, specially created to facilitate the listing of SMEs to the stock market.

SMEs operating in the domestic market are by and large Private Limited Companies, when regulations require them to be Public Limited Companies (SA). The "few" existing Corporations also fail to meet the requirements, precisely because of their shareholding structure, i.e. they do not have the shareholding dispersion imposed by law.

On the occasion, Salim Valá made it known that the market capitalization is currently set at 19.36% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), after in 2019, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was at 15%. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, to this part, new companies have been listed on the Third Stock Market, with 11 companies now listed on BVM.

It should be noted that BVM signed in March 2017, a memorandum of understanding with the Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique, (CTA), which in addition to contributing to the continuous improvement of the business environment and competitiveness of the national economy, also aims to contribute to the sustainable development of the Mozambican capital market.