Nhluvuko da Mozal has provided $3.9 million in funding to 17 young people since February 2024 – Fact

Nhluvuko, a programme funded by Mozal and managed by Gapi, has provided 3.9 million meticais in funding to 17 youth microenterprises in less than six months. The financing was obtained after training and assistance in business formalization and management for 82 candidates selected from a list of about 3,000 registered.

Edwina Ferro, the central coordinator of the Nhluvuko project, who shared the data, clarified that the project started in September 2023, “but before the financing began, a meticulous information work was carried out, covering more than 15 communities in the area. Boen and Matola, this disclosure was carried out with the participation of local authorities. We carried out many hours of patient work on the ground.”

The methodology used to implement the project is part of the agreement approved by Mozal and Gapi management based on Gapi’s experience accumulated over three decades as a development finance institution. “In order to promote young people as entrepreneurs, efforts must be made to identify those with an entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to persevere. These individual skills are complemented by management knowledge and assistance in formalizing projects that demonstrate the technical and financial viability of the enterprises that apply for financing.”

“We prefer to say that at the moment there are only 17 new businesses. Is that less? We are still in the early stages. Even so, we support these initiatives with professionalism, providing sustainable investments in young companies and creating a hundred jobs. Moreover, making these dozen new companies rise and grow in less than six months with only 3.9 million meticais is more important and honest than those advertisements that circulate millions in cash, benefiting or distributing them to thousands of young people. There is a lack of knowledge or preparation to manage such resources. As a manager of Gapi, I know that our agency will not participate in or accept participation in such activities, although we know that this has become a trend.” – he added.

Edwina Ferro assures that once the preparatory work is completed, including the installation and operation of digital channels for communication, training and even processing of financing dossiers, the pace of participation of more young people will be able to accelerate: “And, with the fact that although we have achieved good results in the participation of young women, since they have reached around 30%, I am sure that we can still improve this part of inclusion and gender equality”.

In response to the question “What are the main lessons learned from this project?”, Edwina Ferro commented: “The partnership between Mozal and Gapi is an example of sustainable social responsibility in large projects. So-called social responsibility cannot be accomplished through public welfare activities, there is no sustainability. Unfortunately, unlike Mozal, some managers of large companies have not yet accepted or understood that they should and can use the resources dedicated to corporate social responsibility to obtain more lasting results.”