The full Kori guide
Commercial questions, documentation, institutions and dependencies to investigate before launch.
Existing guide retained. Requirements and agency descriptions below require individual confirmation; they are not a definitive current checklist. The new assessment supplies a tailored investigation plan with explicit confirmation questions.
Get my tailored roadmapUpdated 2026
Independent · not legal or tax advice
Maputo, Mozambique
In this guide
Choose how you enter
Read the one-stop-shop system
Find your licensing track
Use the licensing matrix
Sequence the setup — in parallel
Map who approves what
Check the readiness of your plan
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
Almost no entry is delayed by a single hard step. Entries are delayed by doing steps in the wrong order — and by discovering a licensing, land, or environmental dependency after the clock has already started.
This guide will not fabricate fees or day-counts — those change, and quoting them precisely does more harm than good. What it gives you is the decision structure: the questions to answer, the order to answer them in, and the points where a local professional input is genuinely required. It is an orientation document, not legal, tax, or investment advice.
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
Choose the vehicle by what you are trying to do in-market — not by habit. Each route changes your licensing path, tax exposure, control, and speed.
A Mozambican company you own. The default for operating businesses that will contract, hire, and invoice locally.
Fits when
you are here to operate and want a clean local balance sheet, local contracting, and a durable presence.
An extension of the parent rather than a separate company. Faster in some respects, but the parent carries the exposure.
Fits when
the work is an extension of an existing foreign entity and you want to avoid a separate corporate layer.
A shared vehicle with a Mozambican partner. Access and local knowledge in exchange for shared control and economics.
Fits when
local relationships, land, or sector access matter more than full control — test the partner terms early.
A non-trading presence for market study, liaison, and relationship-building before committing to operate.
Fits when
you are still validating and do not yet need to invoice or hold licences locally.
No local entity of your own — you reach the market through a local partner who already holds the licences.
Fits when
you want revenue without infrastructure, and can accept less control over the customer and the margin.
A purpose-built entity for a single contract, concession, or build — wound down when the project ends.
Fits when
the work is finite and you want its risk, financing, and compliance ring-fenced from the group.
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
Mozambique licenses economic activity through a single-window service (the Balcão de Atendimento Único, or one-stop shop), operated electronically and present in every provincial capital. Applications are submitted once and routed to the authority that actually decides them.
How the single window actually works
You submit an application at the one-stop shop; it is registered electronically, given a reference, and forwarded to the competent authority for approval. You are notified when the licence is ready to collect. The window is a routing and verification layer — the decision still sits with a ministry, a provincial governor, or a district service depending on your activity and size.
Who decides depends on size. Large industrial and commercial entities (and foreign trade representation) are approved centrally; small and medium ones at provincial level; and where there is no municipality, at district economic-affairs services.
The window does not remove sector permits. A restaurant still needs food and premises clearance; a factory still needs an operating licence for its electrical installation; a regulated sector still answers to its regulator.
What the one-stop shop does and does not do for you
It does: give you one submission point, a tracked reference, and a defined verification, payment, approval, and collection flow.
It does not: choose your entry structure, reserve your company name, issue your tax number, secure your land rights, clear your environmental obligations, or apply for your sector permits. Those are separate workstreams that you sequence around the licence.
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
Nearly every business falls into one of three tracks. Knowing yours — before you apply — is the single most useful thing this guide can give you.
TRACK A
Manufacturing and industrial establishments. Classified micro / small / medium / large by investment, installed power, and headcount.
Small and medium establishments are generally exempt from prior industrial-project approval; large-scale ones are not.
Decided provincially for small and medium; centrally for large.
Expect site and installation plans, a project memory, an electrical-operation licence at inspection, and — for medium and up — a fire-safety assessment.
TRACK B
Trade, stores, services, business establishments, foreign commercial representation, and foreign trade operators.
Core documents: identity (or foreigner residence document), tax number, name-reservation certificate, and proof of company registration.
Inspection fees apply to sensitive categories such as food and chemical products.
The usual track for retail, hospitality, professional services, and trading operations.
TRACK C
Small and micro activities with negligible environmental impact — so no environmental impact assessment is required.
Issued by the one-stop shop (or the district government where there is none), and valid for an indefinite period.
Covers defined bands — small-scale retail, micro and small manufacturing (excluding food, pharmaceutical, and beverages), and agriculture and livestock within set limits.
The fastest route — if your activity and size genuinely qualify.
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
A starting orientation, not a ruling. Your exact classification depends on thresholds and the specifics of your activity — confirm it before you commit a timeline.
Existing orientation — confirm every classification with BAU and the relevant authority.
Existing orientation — confirm every classification with BAU and the relevant authority.
Existing orientation — confirm every classification with BAU and the relevant authority.
Existing orientation — confirm every classification with BAU and the relevant authority.
Existing orientation — confirm every classification with BAU and the relevant authority.
Existing orientation — confirm every classification with BAU and the relevant authority.
Existing orientation — confirm every classification with BAU and the relevant authority.
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
Treating setup as one long queue is the most common way to lose months. Some steps genuinely block others; many do not, and should be moving at the same time.
Critical path (must be in order)
Confirm entry model Commercial decision first
Reserve company name Blocks registration
Register the company Articles & publication
Tax number (NUIT) Needed to license & bank
Licensing track Industrial / Commercial / Simplified
Collect licence & operate Legal revenue begins
Run in parallel (start early)
Secure premises / land (DUAT)
Environmental screening If your footprint needs it
Bank account & FX setup
Social security (INSS) & payroll
Residence permits (DIRE) for foreign staff
Sector permits & inspections
Accounting & reporting routines
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
You will not deal with one office. You will deal with a set of them, in a sequence. Knowing the map early is how you keep the critical path short.
Licensing
Single window that receives, verifies, and routes your operating licence to the deciding authority.
On the critical path
Company
Name reservation, registration of the company, articles of association, and publication.
Blocks tax & licensing
Tax
Issues the tax number (NUIT) and sets your ongoing filing obligations.
Needed to license & bank
Labour
Employer and employee registration, and the statutory contributions that follow.
Before first payroll
Land
Land-use and benefit rights (DUAT) — the right to use the land your operation sits on.
Can be a long pole
Environment
Environmental screening, terms of reference, and impact assessment for relevant projects.
Often the critical path
People
Confirm residence documentation and, separately, work authorisation for foreign staff with the competent immigration and labour authorities. A residence document should not be assumed to authorise work.
Start early for expats
Local
Local premises, signage, and operating requirements that vary by city and district.
Varies by location
Sector
The regulator for your field — finance, communications, energy, health, fisheries, and others.
Depends on activity
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
Assembled early, this list keeps the critical path moving. Exact requirements vary by track, activity, and whether owners and staff are foreign.
Identity documents ID / passport for nationals; residence document (DIRE) or business visa for foreigners
Tax number (NUIT) For the company and, where relevant, for owners
Name-reservation certificate If you are using a commercial denomination
Registration certificate & articles Proof of company registration; articles published in the official bulletin
Power of attorney Where the signatory is not named as administrator in the registration
Site & installation plans Topographic and industrial-complex plans for industrial applications
Project memory Process, equipment, capacity, utilities, safety — for industrial establishments
Environmental terms of reference Submitted where an assessment is required; licence follows at inspection
Electrical-operation licence Presented at inspection or issuance for premises with electrical installations
Land-use rights (DUAT) Where your operation occupies land you do not already control
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
The structure decision is commercial. Lock the model first, then let it drive the paperwork.
Branch, JV, representative, or distributor may reach revenue faster or cheaper — test the alternatives.
It routes and verifies. Your food, premises, electrical, and sector approvals still stand behind it.
Industrial, commercial, or simplified — and the size band that drives it — changes your authority, documents, and timeline.
For a real footprint, screening and assessment can be the longest pole. Discover it first, not last.
Account opening, capital inflow, and cross-border payment arrangements take longer than teams expect.
NUIT, INSS, and payroll routines are launch infrastructure — not back-office details for later.
Legal, tax, accounting, and sector specialists are distinct roles. One person rarely performs all of them.
Documents stall without someone on the ground chasing them and running a weekly coordination rhythm.
Enter the first operating quarter with a management reporting pack already defined, not improvised.
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
The right measure is not “how long does registration take” but “how long to legal, invoiced revenue.” These are the levers that move it.
Compresses time
A qualifying activity that fits the simplified track
Small or micro size — decided at district or provincial level
A light environmental footprint with no assessment required
Premises and land rights already secured
Parallel workstreams started before the licence is issued
A local owner and adviser team already in place
Extends time
Large-scale industry needing central, prior project approval
A footprint that triggers full environmental assessment
Land rights (DUAT) still to be secured
Foreign staff needing residence and work authorisation
A regulated sector with its own licensing regime
Sequential, one-thing-at-a-time administration
Planning reference: confirm the requirements described in this section with the relevant institution.
The guide gives you the structure. An engagement turns it into a plan you can execute — specific to your activity, size, ownership, and timeline.
Every entry we support is built the same disciplined way: decision first, then structure, then a sequenced plan that keeps the critical path short and everything else moving in parallel. It is the difference between a stack of requirements and a plan with owners, dependencies, and dates.
01Entry structure recommendation The right vehicle for your model, ownership, and timeline — with the trade-offs made explicit.
02Licensing route Your track, size classification, and the authorities that will actually decide your case.
03Authority map Every touchpoint you will deal with, what each issues, and where it sits on the critical path.
04Sequenced plan What runs sequentially, what runs in parallel, with owners and dependencies made visible.
05Documentation pack The exact documents your track and activity require, assembled before the clock starts.
06Critical path & launch routines The realistic path to legal revenue, and the reporting cadence for your first operating quarter.
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