Local Team, Global Vision

How did Intellica first get started in Mozambique?

Intellica is a consulting firm established in 2006 by a group of Mozambican consultants and incubated in a global audit and consulting firm. Due to the conflict of interest between auditors and consultants, the global firm had to discontinue consultation and focus its activities exclusively on the auditing market. In so doing, Intellica became a spin-off company of Ernst & Young Moçambique Advisory and Corporate Finance Services.

What services does Intellica provide to businesses in Mozambique?

Currently, we have five main service lines: corporate finance, investment and structured finance advisory, IT consultancy, management consultancy, and strategy advisory. In management consultancy, we also offer human resources consultation.

Who are your main clients in Mozambique?

Intellica is the first choice in the market for consultancy services in Mozambique, and our major clients are key national Mozambican entities from both the private and public sectors. These include Hidroeléctrica de Cahorra Bassa (HCB), Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), Petromo, Banco de Moçambique, Aeroportos de Moçambique (ADM), Instituto de Gestío de Participaçíµes do Estado (IGEPE), Fundo de Energia (FUNAE), Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarboneto (ENH), and Portos e Caminhos de Ferrro de Moçambique (CFM). We basically work with all of the major players in the market.

What has made Intellica the lead player in Mozambique?

Essentially, we never lose sight of our focus to create value for our customers. The client’s interests always come first in our approach to the market. Then, there are many factors underpinning our success. First of all, most Intellica consultants are Mozambican and boast extensive experience gained at global auditing and consulting firms, having amassed experience in project management methodologies based on international practices. Therefore, Intellica is able to bet on local knowledge and capacity with a global vision. Our staff meets the highest standards required to provide supreme service. Secondly, we know the markets extremely well; this makes a difference. Additionally, the government prefers to promote local companies, and has a preference for contracting their services. Almost all of us at Intellica are Mozambican, meaning that our advantage is that we have local knowledge with a global vision.

How does Intellica ensure that its clients still have access to the full range of global expertise?

In some cases, we establish partnerships with international companies to acquire know-how on how to provide superior services to our clients. For one of our projects, we partnered with a global consultancy company. Back in 2009, we were providing management and strategy consultancy to the Program to Support Public Sector Reform (PARESP) by advising the government on the operation and consolidation of service desks in Matola, Maputo City, Quelimane, Nampula, Pemba, and Tete. We partnered with the Public Administration Brazilian Institute (IBAP) to provide consultancy and expertise in this particular service. Then, in 2010, we evaluated EDM’s basic assets, such as its transmission lines, power plants, and dams. Internally lacking in engineering expertise, we established a partnership with Portuguese company ENSULMECI, a specialist in the electricity sector. We combined our financial and engineering expertise to provide EDM with an asset evaluation, underlining our key objective of creating value for our clients.

What kind of corporate finance services do you provide?

If a company wants to develop a new project, we can help it to do so through feasibility studies, or else help structure funding or fundraising efforts. We can develop specific financial products enabling a company to be listed on the stock exchange, either locally or internationally. And when a company wants to find a local partner, we can help by evaluating and recommending local companies we know. Currently, we have a large financial advisory project, whereby we are structuring $200 million in a sugar business investment. We look to international markets for investors to raise capital, as well as for investors to become equity shareholders. This is our main service as financial advisors. In regard to corporate finance, we help our clients to obtain loans from the banking system, and also perform feasibility studies, create business plans, and advise clients on the risk and potential of their respective markets.

Would you say there is a lack of depth to Mozambique’s domestic capital markets?

Yes, this is the prime challenge we have in Mozambique: how to finance our companies and projects. Our financial institutions are still not very experienced at providing investment capital or private equity. If you want to invest more than $100 million, you have to go to the international market. There are some local banks that can provide this; however, they have to create a syndicate to provide the money. Relying on just one bank is not possible. We, therefore, need to develop our financial and capital markets. In terms of private equity, you also have to go to the international market. There is little expertise in local companies when dealing with the international market. In our case, as Intellica, we have a partnership with certain international financial institutions, such as investment banks. When we identify an opportunity, or a project that requires financing, we consult with international partners, and use their network to raise the capital.

Do you think that getting international companies to list on the Bolsa de Valores de Moçambique (BVM) could be effective?

Today, we are still not developed enough to attract major international companies. Perhaps by 2020 or 2025 we will be, but currently our market is very small. And as the government is the main provider, our private sector remains weak in comparison. I do believe that over the next decade this will change. We need to develop our private sector, and the state needs to let the private sector enjoy a free hand in the market and the broader economy.

What areas offer the best opportunity for foreign investors considering entering Mozambique?

The first area is infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure and logistics. We face many challenges on this front. Mozambique urgently needs an effective mechanism that facilitates the investment process, and one that allows investors to export their production. We currently lack infrastructure in the central regions of the country, for example, which is limiting our ability to export minerals, and investment to rectify this obstacle is essential. We also need greater investment in professional education. The government has actually adopted a good policy in its program to reform and improve education potential, but more is still required. We urgently need investment in these areas because we still lack the technicians needed to respond to demand from new investment, and must be prepared for the growing demand of tomorrow.