Restaurants and Catering
Young Entrepreneur
Lucinda Emílio Contavida
Lucinda Emilio Contavida is a 24-year-old young entrepreneur. She is a native of Nacala and currently resides in Pemba City, where she runs a small restaurant and catering business. Lucinda entered the business world shortly after nishing her 1st Life Skills Course, preparing for Employment and Entrepreneurship, as part of the Catalisa Youth Program, funded by TotalEnergies and implemented by AZUL Consultoria in partnership with TechnoServe, in Palma, Cabo Delgado. When Lucinda nished her course, she decided to apply for the rst business plan competition (BPC), in which, unfortunately, she did not win any prizes.
But because she had the will to succeed in life, Lucinda didn’t give up on going after her dreams. And when, in July 2019, the Catalisa Jovens project launched a contest for young people interested in providing meals for students, she applied and won, even though she couldn’t a‑ord it, having managed to negotiate an advance of 50% of the amount needed for a month’s supply, with the project. She created LUENA CATERING and from then on, she never stopped, despite the difficulties she faced along the way. With the attack on Palma, for example, she lost everything and went into despair, but managed, amidst great difficulties, to resume her business in Pemba, where she ran a small restaurant in Bairro Natite, competed with her business for the extraordinary BPC contest (e-BPC), created to help displaced youth in Pemba, and became the grand prize winner of $2,000.
When the terrorists attacked the town of Palma on March 24, 2021, Lucinda was in Pemba, where she had gone to purchase goods for her business after a short visit to Nacala Port to visit her family. “At that time the situation in Palma was already worrying, all access roads were blocked by insurgents, increasing the climate of tension and insecurity, and generating an enormous shortage of essential goods and services.
To maintain my business, I had to come to buy products in Pemba, using the sea route.” Along the way, Lucinda experienced a theft worth 51,000.00 with which she wanted to purchase products for its Restaurant and Catering business.
Fiquei desesperada, sem saber o que fazer para continuar e, depois de muita reflexão, decidi aproximar à AZUL para pedir um empréstimo no valor de 65,000.00 MT, o qual me foi prontamente disponibilizado. Mas, 2 dias depois de receber o valor, mesmo antes de gastar sequer um metical, houve o ataque à Vila de Palma e, assustada, não me restava outra alternativa senão devolver o valor à AZUL.
At some point, Lucinda says she had to draw on a small reserve she had been saving for some time to start a small food business in Pemba, with the help of her older brother. “With that amount, I started preparing food and selling it door-to-door at various companies. While I was trying to sell the meals, I also distributed a small lea et about LUENA CATERING’s products and services.” Lucinda also says that at ¬first things didn’t go so well and she couldn’t acquire customers, so she decided to go and work in her brother’s shop, where she now runs her small restaurant. “Luckily, after a long time of waiting, a security company that owed me about 341,000.00 meticais, the fruits of a catering service provided in early 2020, in Palma, decided to settle its debt with me.” With the amount received, Lucinda bought the establishment where she now runs her business from her brother and also took the opportunity to purchase basic equipment (refrigerator, freezer, stoves, tables and chairs, dishes, etc.) to set up a mini restaurant.
“Luckily, after a long time of waiting, a security company that owed me about 341,000.00 meticais, the fruits
of a catering service provided in early 2020, in Palma,
decided to settle its debt with me.” With the amount
received, Lucinda bought the establishment where she
now runs her business from her brother and also took
the opportunity to purchase basic equipment (refrigerator, freezer, stoves, tables and chairs, dishes, etc.) to set
up a mini restaurant.
At this moment, Lucinda is managing a client portfolio that includes the supply of an average of 300 dishes per month to Tiger O shore, a dozen or so permanent individual customers who consume and pay at the end of the month, and several dozen retail customers who frequent her establishment every day.
More interestingly, Lucinda currently employs 5 individuals (4 men and 1 woman) and spends about 21,000.00 meticais monthly on salaries. With a monthly turnover of about 150,000.00 meticais, Lucinda earned a gross pro¬fit of around 66,000 meticais in the months of January and February 2022. And recently, Lucinda won the 1st prize of the latest BPC competition, worth $2,000, with which she hopes to invest to accelerate her expansion project, with the opening of the Alto Gingone branch, also in Pemba. “I already have the space; I just need to build a small shop and buy the necessary equipment. This amount will be enough to do what I want, at least to get started.”
When we sought to know about the possibility of returning to Palma, should the war end, Lucinda was clear and peremptory:
When we sought to know about the possibility of returning to Palma, should the war end, Lucinda was clear and peremptory:
Without a doubt, I would go back, but I would not let my business die here. I would open a branch in Palma, because there is a lot of potential for my business to thrive there.” Lucinda finished by expressing her gratitude for the opportunities she had to make her dreams come true.
