Nearly 15% of the loans granted by BCI—the largest bank in Mozambique, led by Portugal’s Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD)—were in default as of March 31. Meanwhile, other banks also maintained ratios above the 5% limit recommended by the regulator.
In the Banco de Moçambique report on Prudential and Economic-Financial Indicators for January to March, released today, Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI) appears with a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 14.47% (compared to 14.18% in the previous quarter), though it reinforced its coverage ratio to 21.03%.
On the other hand, Millennium BIM—another of the country’s two largest banks (both with over two million customers) and owned by Portugal’s BCP—saw its NPL ratio fall in the first quarter of the year to 2.37% (down from 2.69% in the previous quarter), with a coverage ratio of 86.57%.
In the third quarter of 2025, Ecobank appeared with 78.54% of its granted credit in default. Since then, Malawi’s FDH Bank confirmed at the end of September that it had concluded the acquisition of Ecobank Mozambique, taking a 98.87% controlling stake.
Read more: Bank of Portugal announces stricter mortgage rules
The institution, which officially changed its name to FDH Bank Moçambique on February 20, appeared in the final quarter of 2025 with an NPL volume of just 1.62%—without any explanation provided in the document for this sharp reduction. It further reduced this weight to 1% by March, maintaining a coverage ratio of 86.81%.
According to the central bank’s first-quarter report, Moza Banco closed 2025 with a bad debt ratio of 29.21%, which decreased to 27.58% by March, with a coverage ratio of 36.42%, while Access Bank maintained its previous period’s recording of 6.96%.
Prepared based on data provided by the financial institutions themselves, the document also points out that First National Bank (FNB), Standard Bank, First Capital Bank (FCB), and Absa presented NPL ratios within the recommended parameters (below 5%), standing at 4.66%, 0.64%, 1.66%, and 4.15% respectively.
The Banco de Moçambique previously warned of a deterioration in the national banking sector’s credit portfolio, with defaults rising in 2024 and clients owing the equivalent of more than 400 million euros.
Read more about this topic: Africa: Foreign currency shortage the main obstacle to banks’ growth
In its financial stability report, the central bank noted that the NPL ratio settled at 9.32% of the total in 2024, up from 8.23% the previous year, “continuing above the conventionally accepted maximum threshold of 5.0%.”
“This increase reflects a deterioration in the quality of the credit portfolio and a reversal of the trend recorded in previous years,” the document reads, adding that total non-performing loans amounted to 30.41 billion meticais (412 million euros) in 2024, a 12.88% increase.
Data from the central bank indicates that 15 commercial banks and 12 microbanks currently operate in Mozambique, alongside credit cooperatives and savings and loan organizations, among others.
