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Salimo Abdula had a simple message for the young entrepreneurs packed into the Nexus One launch event this week: believe in yourself before you expect anyone else to.
Abdula, one of Mozambique's most prominent businessmen, took the stage at the event, which was designed as a forum for sharing experiences and building up the country's youth entrepreneurship ecosystem. He used the moment to lay out what he called five "non-negotiable" principles for anyone serious about building something that lasts.
The first, he said, starts inside. "The first 'yes' has to come from the entrepreneur themselves," Abdula told the audience, pushing back against the habit of seeking outside validation before believing in one's own potential.
From there, he moved to preparation. Opportunity, in his telling, is not random. It tends to find the people who have already done the work, who have stayed ready and who approach problems with a proactive mindset rather than waiting to be rescued by circumstance.
Relationships came next. Abdula was direct about this one: financial resources matter, but they are not the whole story. The ability to build and maintain strategic connections, he argued, is often what actually opens doors. Relational capital, as he put it, is a growth asset in its own right.
He also pushed hard on continuous learning, describing it as the one asset that does not depreciate over time. In an economy changing as fast as Mozambique's, he said, staying current is not optional. It is the difference between competing and being left behind.
The last principle was about fear. Abdula did not tell the audience to ignore it. He told them to use it. Fear, he said, is a natural part of building anything meaningful, and entrepreneurs who let it stop them are making a choice. Those who treat it as fuel tend to be the ones still standing.
The Nexus One initiative was pitched at the launch as a new permanent space for idea exchange, collaboration and skills development aimed specifically at young entrepreneurs working to get their projects off the ground. Abdula said efforts like this one matter because they help create a generation of business leaders equipped to take on Mozambique's economic and social challenges.
Success, he reminded the room, rarely arrives quickly. It is mostly the product of persistence, discipline and a long-term view.
