Mozambique’s president intends to sell 11% of the share capital of Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI), in which Portugal’s state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos is the lead shareholder, to the public and 25% to domestic investors, as part of BPI’s planned exit from the shareholder structure.
“Mozambique’s government has been seeking to create the conditions so that the 36% stake currently held by BPI presents an opportunity to broaden the participation of Mozambican investors, including citizens, companies and institutional investors, while complying with the legally required procedures for valuation, negotiation and authorisation,” stated Daniel Chapo.
At the ceremony marking the 28th anniversary of the Mozambique Stock Exchange in Maputo, the president said the government is working to turn the sale of the Portuguese bank’s stake into an opportunity to expand Mozambican investors’ presence in the country’s largest bank.
BCI has a share capital of 10 billion meticais (€138 million) and a shareholder structure led by Caixa Participações, part of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) group, with a 51% stake, followed by the Portuguese bank BPI, with 35.67%, which has publicly announced its intention to exit, and CGD itself, holding a direct stake of 10.51%, among other shareholders.
It is essential that, «soon», Mozambicans can say BCI «is now truly local», in reference to the bank’s slogan.
The proposal “under consideration” provides for the “allocation of 11 percentage points to the Mozambican public,” whilst Mozambique’s government continues “to work towards increasing, in coordination with the management, including the bank’s employees, the allocation to institutional and corporate investors by 25 percentage points, subject to the legally required procedures for valuation, negotiation and authorisation,” he explained.
In practice, Chapo’s proposal would disperse the entire stake currently held by BPI, distributing it among small Mozambican investors and institutional and corporate investors.
The President framed the operation as part of a broader strategy to develop the national financial market, arguing that there is a need for “a deeper, more liquid capital market capable of offering instruments suited to the needs of companies and investors”.
The government is also “working on refining the legislative framework applicable to banking institutions, insurance companies and other economically significant firms, with a view to promoting greater domestic ownership of their capital, whilst complying with prudential and regulatory requirements,” he added.
For Chapo, this transaction would serve as an example for future similar initiatives: “We want this experience, should it go ahead as planned, to demonstrate that the capital market can play an important role in the economic nationalisation of business ownership, while preserving investor confidence, financial stability and the competitiveness of institutions”.
In May, CGD’s chief executive, Paulo Macedo, reaffirmed the Portuguese group’s interest in remaining a shareholder in the Mozambican bank, despite BPI’s announced intention to sell its stake.
Following a meeting with Daniel Chapo, Paulo Macedo stated that CGD intended to maintain its presence in BCI: «As long as the authorities deem it appropriate and as long as we are welcome,» he said, emphasising the group’s commitment to Mozambique, whilst also acknowledging the possibility that the bank might eventually be listed on the Mozambique Stock Exchange.
According to its latest annual report and accounts, BCI retained its leading position in the Mozambican banking system in 2025, serving around 2.5 million customers. Profits fell 40.3 per cent to 3,604 million meticais (€48.6 million), a decline the institution attributed to higher impairment provisions on public-debt exposures due to worsening sovereign risk, and to extraordinary costs from refunded commissions.
Source: Lusa