Mozambique approves new Industrial Licensing Regulation, completing reform of business licensing

Maputo — The Government has approved a new Regulation on the Licensing of Industrial Activity through Decree No. 62/2026 of 24 September, published in Boletim da República No. 183, Series I. It repeals Decree No. 22/2014 of 16 May, which had governed the matter for more than a decade.

The new regime enters into force 180 days after publication, around 23 March 2027. Approved by the Council of Ministers on 16 June 2026, it focuses on digitalisation, legal certainty and attracting domestic and foreign investment.

The decree closes a reform cycle that began in July, when the Government revised the Prior Notification (Mera Comunicação Prévia) and Simplified Licensing regimes. Those two decrees, which also cover small industrial units, enter into force right about now.

Four categories of establishment

Industrial establishments are now classified as micro, small, medium or large (art. 6). An establishment falls into a category when it meets at least two of the three criteria in the table. Where its parameters fall into three different levels, the middle level applies.

The new Regulation prevails over any other licensing or prior-notification regime whenever the activity is industrial under the Classification of Economic Activities (CAE) in force (art. 4). Prior Notification and Simplified Licensing apply only to low-risk micro and small units that are not subject to prior inspection (art. 5). The Minister of Industry will set, by order, which industrial activities qualify for those regimes.

As a rule, industries of any size must be located in industrial zones. Outside them, installation requires authorisation and an opinion from the Municipality or District. Micro units may operate in residential areas or buildings, with a favourable opinion and provided they carry out no activities subject to an environmental impact study (art. 7).

Digital process, short deadlines and QR-coded licence

Applications to install an establishment are filed online through the Integrated Citizen Services Platform (e-BAU) or at local offices of BAU, IP (art. 13). Where the platform is not yet available, the process may still be handled on paper.

• Review of the application: the licensing authority has up to 5 working days to decide on the application. If it does not decide within that period, the application is tacitly approved (art. 15).
• Installation authorisation: the decision is issued within up to 5 working days for large establishments and up to 3 working days for small and medium ones, counted from the end of the project review (art. 20).
• Licence: issued in electronic or physical form, unsigned and authenticated by a QR code that can be verified only on the official BAU portal (arts. 29 and 30). The authorisation may be cancelled if operations do not start within 90 days, extendable by a further 60.
• Validity: the licence is valid for 5 years for small, medium and large establishments. The registration record for micro units is valid for 3 years. Renewal must be requested at least 15 days in advance, failing which the licence lapses (art. 31).
• Transfer: when an establishment is transferred, a new licence is issued in the new owner's name within 5 working days.

The Regulation also creates accredited entities. These are individuals or companies recognised by the Minister of Industry to prepare projects, studies, opinions and conformity assessments (art. 39). Their involvement may waive certain steps or shorten deadlines. Foreigners may not be accredited as individuals and may only work as subcontractors of corporate entities. The list of accredited entities will be published quarterly.

The July reforms: Prior Notification and Simplified Licensing

The new industrial regime complements two decrees published in Boletim da República No. 141, Series I, of 27 July 2026. Both were approved by the Council of Ministers on 26 May 2026 and enter into force 90 days after publication, around 25 October 2026. Both also apply to micro and small enterprises in industrial activity.

Decree No. 40/2026: Prior Notification. Approves the new Regulation on Prior Notification for the Exercise of Economic Activities and repeals Decree No. 27/2023 of 23 May. It covers the low-risk activities listed in its Annex II.

• A declaration by the business owner is enough to start operating. Inspection takes place afterwards.
• The Certificate is issued by the BAU, or by District Governments where there is no BAU, within 2 hours at most. A delay in issuing it does not prevent the activity from starting.
• The Certificate has the same value as a licence. It is valid for 3 years and renewable for the same period.
• Certificates issued under the previous regime must be regularised within 6 months, at no cost (art. 33).

Decree No. 41/2026: Simplified Licensing. Approves the new Regulation on Simplified Licensing for the Exercise of Economic Activities and repeals Decree No. 39/2017 of 28 July. It extends the regime to more activities.

• It covers agriculture, trade, communications, construction, culture, industry, fisheries, services and tourism, for the activities listed in Annex II.
• The activities covered are exempt from environmental impact studies and from prior inspection.
• The Simplified Licence is issued within 1 day at most and is valid for 3 years, renewable.
• Simplified licences issued under the previous regime must be regularised within 12 months, at no cost.

Decree No. 62/2026 ties the three regimes together. Low-risk micro and small industrial units follow Prior Notification or Simplified Licensing, within the list the Minister of Industry is to approve. All others follow full industrial licensing.

What changes for establishments already operating

Industries operating under a licence or registration obtained under Decree No. 22/2014 have 180 days from the new Regulation's entry into force to replace it (art. 67). They pay only the licence issuance fee. If the Regulation enters into force around 23 March 2027, the replacement period ends around September 2027.

Applications filed while Decree No. 22/2014 was still in force will be processed under the new Regulation (art. 68). For the first 24 months, they incur no additional charge for the industrial licence issuance fee.

In practice, businesses should:

1. Confirm the size category of each establishment under the criteria in art. 6.
2. Check whether the activity may move to Prior Notification or Simplified Licensing once the ministerial order listing those activities is published.
3. Regularise Prior Notification Certificates (6 months) and Simplified Licences (12 months) issued under the previous regimes.
4. Plan the replacement of industrial licences within 180 days of Decree No. 62/2026 entering into force.

Still to be published are the revision of fees and fines, to be set by joint instrument of the Ministers of Industry and Finance, and the implementing rules to be approved by the Minister of Industry.

References

The bulletins are available free of charge on the Series I page of the Imprensa Nacional de Moçambique.