Suzana Moreira is one of three Sub-Saharan Finalists of the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards will be joining 17 other inspirational women entrepreneurs selected from over 1700 applications from more than 100 countries in Paris this month to hear the announcement of this year’s Laureates. The Laureates will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on October 15, 2015 in France. In this video she speaks about her experience as an entrepreneur.
Suzana Moreira is the founder of moWoza in Maputo in Mozambique, a company providing informal cross-border traders in Southern Africa with a mobile information service on pricing and access to goods. Originally from South Africa, Suzana Moreira moved to Mozambique 3 years ago to launch a mobile commerce platform, moWoza. MoWoza is the contraction of the word “mobile” and the Zulu word “woza”, meaning “to come” or “to run”. Suzana explains: “The service is about running for our customers”. In addition to its four employees, the company works with delivery men and women operating on a commission basis. Retailers in rural or semi-urban communities in Mozambique usually travel to South Africa to replenish their stock – this requires carrying large amounts of cash. The vast majority of informal cross-border traders are women who leave their families to make this long and risky journey. Many of these ladies manage to spend one or two weekends only with their families because they are always on the road. The moWoza mobile commerce platform offers access to products without having to travel. Store owners order the inventory they need by simply sending an SMS. Suzana and her team then source the goods and deliver them directly to the shops. In the future, moWoza intends to expand its focus to include financial services with the aim of improving access to credit for its customers. Right now, moWoza has between 500 and 800 customers. The majority are supporting around 10 family members so the company is looking at 5,000 to 8,000 people who are benefiting from its service. To find out more about moWoza, visit its website www.mowoza.com