Mutare’s entrepreneurs crave funding and credibility. A seminar offers both—for the price of two cappuccinos.
by BERNARD CHIKETO
FOR the ambitious business owner in Mutare, two problems loom large: access to capital and access to each other.
Banks lend grudgingly. Angel investors are scarcer than rain in August. And the useful sort of peer-to-peer advice—the kind that saves you from a bad hire or a worse partnership—tends to travel by whisper.
Enter the Mutare Entrepreneurial Exchange Networking Seminar, scheduled for June 26th at Cafe Alana on Taylor Avenue, Morningside.
The theme—“Financial Literacy & Business Funding”—is hardly novel in Harare or major cities across the continent. But in Mutare, where serious networking events are rarer than a quiet morning at the border post, it qualifies as an occasion.
The line-up is a mixed portfolio.
Brighton Sibanda, founder of Infinity Quo and a published author, represents the self-made track. Costa Tavanzume, a regional manager at Empower Bank, brings institutional heft. Michelle Mtetwa, CEO of Niallah Foods, offers gritty food-science startup experience. And Shingai Zhumu, a “dynamic marketing pro” who also coaches wellness, suggests that even hustlers need a stretch break.
The real innovation, however, is the price. At $10 (limited seats), the investment fee is deliberately low—low enough to attract the curious, high enough to discourage the casual.
Tickets are sold not online but at Cafe Alana, Essentials Centre and Crown Pharmacy. Old-school distribution for a new-school ambition.
Whether the seminar yields actual deals or just selfies with regional managers, one thing is clear: Mutare’s entrepreneurial class is tired of working in silos.
For the price of lunch, they might just build a network worth keeping.
“The room you need to be in,” say the organisers. At ten dollars, it is also the room you can afford.
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