Thursday, October 5, 2023

A marketeer and her vision


By Derrick Silimina


Mitech market, home to approximately 2000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is one of Solwezi’s most affordable consumer markets, offering a diverse range of goods and services ranging from fresh and dry foods to clothing and hardware.


For Mary Mbanza Lufupa, 53, Mitech market is her base for most consumer goods that are on demand in the area. 


“I started with a K200 as my capital selling vegetables (tomatoes, onions) and chickens in 2008 after I realized the need to make profit from both business ventures and earn a living,” Lufupa says. 


Upon a further need to sharpen her entrepreneurial skills, Lufupa got recruited for the Kansanshi Mining Plc- sponsored monthly business training project in January 2021. 


“The training has helped me in terms of managing money properly and being able to reinvest in business for sustainability. Due to the training, I was inspired to invest in a fish pond but the fish was washed away by the rains due to poor pond banks which succumbed to pressure,” she narrated. 


She disclosed that her capital has now grown to over K1000 due to good financial practices and that her vision is to enlarge the poultry house to accommodate over 250 birds. 


In 2015, the Kansanshi Foundation used to give her and her colleagues 25 chicks and feed to raise these birds for sale, adding that the capital raised through this grant is in use till this date. 


“I have put the poultry business on hold and will resume later this year with 150 chickens,” Lufupa stated. 


She thanked KMP for the training and the grant which had empowered her permanently as her capital for the poultry business project is now at K3000.


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