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| "SANKALP brought an added value to my business and to the way we (at Luteari) look at partnerships and opportunities to strengthen our business, from access to financing to the technical capacity building component. To participate in this edition of SANKALP was an honour because I could represent the Mozambican businessmen that are in the food production area. One of the biggest gains, for me, was to have been able to close a deal, through which my company will participate in a business development process, for a period of 6 months, with the possibility of applying for investment funds. With this mentoring assured and by the data presented by the company, I am sure it will prepare my company to compete for international funds and generate more impact in my business". Celia Ribeiro, General Manager of Luteari. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), about 40% of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries, such as Mozambique, have an unmet financing need of approximately US$5.2 trillion per year. This gap exacerbates the already precarious market situation for SMEs in developing countries. These companies are forced to increasingly embrace innovation as a solution to solve their problems while responding to market needs. Celia Ribeiro, General Manager of the agribusiness company Luteari - Insumos e Serviços Agricolas, Lda., based in Manica province, is an entrepreneur who, like many others, is looking for solutions to consolidate her business. Luteari participated and won the 3rd Edition of NutriDeal, an initiative of Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network in Mozambique (SBNMOZ), held between September and November 2022, an initiative aimed at the development of national MSMEs in food systems, which incorporates components of training in business management, design and presentation of business models to investors, and business room. The 2023 edition had the collaboration of the Institute for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (IPEME), Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique (CTA) and representatives of the investment / financing sector, with emphasis on the Investment Bank of Mozambique (BCI) and had the participation of entrepreneurs from the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Manica, Nampula and Zambézia. The value proposition presented by Luteari had as an innovative factor a proposal for the industrial processing of pigeon peas into lentils, making this product a rich source of protein accessible to local communities. For its participation and victory in NutriDeal, Luteari had the opportunity to attend the SANKALP 2023 Summit in Nairobi, March 1-2. This is a global initiative that brings together more than 2,000 stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, businesspeople, governments, investors, donors, development agencies, academia, and other stakeholders from diverse sectors, with a focus on food systems and renewable energy. |
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| The SANKALP Africa 2023 summit, was held under the theme Transforming Impact and aimed to catalyse collaborations among the business ecosystem in order to solve global challenges in a sustainable way. It was during this summit that the Mozambican company managed to increase its network of contacts and partners and was integrated into a 6-month international mentoring program, in which it will have specific and targeted support to prepare the company for international funding opportunities. Rafael Nzucule, coordinator of SBNMOZ, defended during this summit that technical capacity and knowledge also play a key role in ensuring the growth of companies, and added that strategic partnerships are likely to generate greater impact. For Rafael Nzucule "events like SANKALP come to bring together diverse partners to together transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem by nurturing, through strengthening partnerships, access to technical assistance and funding, to accelerate the development of companies." More Innovation, Greater Impact During the SANKALP Summit, GAIN and SBNMOZ hosted a breakout session on sustainable solutions for accelerating food systems transformation for nutrition in Africa through business support. In this session, Luteari presented its innovation and its vision on how it can help, not only in the nutritional issue of communities, but also in its transformation into a source of income for the producing communities, since, despite the high production of pigeon peas in the country, this is not a product whose marketing, processing and consumption are not massified in the country. Through its innovation proposal, Luteari believes to have identified a solution that will contribute to increase the availability, processing, distribution, and consumption of this crop, also resulting in the diversification of income sources for small local farmers. Through this initiative, SBNMOZ reinforces its commitment to improve and strengthen the contribution of the Private Sector, in the improvement of Nutrition. SBNMOZ is an initiative implemented by GAIN and the World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with CTA and with funding from the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. |
