2015-10-16Staff Report 2 Oshakati What started off as a mere passion for baking at home has grown into a fully-fledged biscuit-making business, producing biscuits flavoured with cassava, palm fruits, as well as dried wild spinach (mutate). The entrepreneur, Veron Munalula, is exhibiting her products – and her business Luhamono Catering and Academy – at the ongoing Annual Youth Enterprise Expo at Oshakati. She says the expo has given her the opportunity to network and expose her business beyond her home region, Zambezi. Her business was driven by her passion to free herself from poverty and become economically independent. “I’m from a poor family, so I had to use what was accessible to me to raise money to sustain myself and the family,” related Munalula. Munalula said besides the cassava, mutete and palm fruits, her biscuits are free of additives, as she only adds water, honey and butter. “This is an easy process. Apart from the flour I just add water and honey, which I often collect myself from the beehives and sometimes butter if I want to have the biscuits soft,” said Munaluna, who has been in the business for three years. To date, Munaluna has expanded her business from baking only to offering other services, such as tutoring English and waitressing. Her company trains people in hygiene, customer care and good behaviour at work. She has also employed one person to assist with the workload. Other exhibitors echoed Munaluna’s sentiment, that the expo is not just an opportunity to raise funds, but provides them a platform to network and market their businesses. Deputy Minister of Finance, Natangwe Ithete at the official opening on Wednesday urged the youth to use the opportunity to network. He also implored the youth to venture into training and mentorship programmes to successfully run and expand their businesses. Each of the 14 regions has eight representatives exhibiting their products at the ongoing expo. The expo ends on Friday. 2015-10-16Staff Report 2
