The beginning of Silvia’s entrepreneurial journey

In many African nations, there’s a prevailing myth that women lack the skills needed for wage labor. But that 58% of Africa’s entrepreneurial self-employed population are women proves that it’s not a lack of skills, but opportunity keeping women from reaching their full potential. 

In Mozambique, the government recognizes that the economic development of their country depends on the economic empowerment of their women. Silvia Ferreira is proudly counted among the group of empowered women as founder of the construction company, Cosini. She credits much of her success to her MBA from Vlerick Business School.

Finding her place at Vlerick

Originally, Silvia was looking to take her career handling logistics in the mining industry to the next level. That’s when she started exploring several MBA programs across continents and ultimately chose Vlerick in Brussels.

The city of Brussels with connections to global business and a vibrant international community made Vlerick very attractive. Apart from the school’s international networking opportunities, Silvia was impressed by their admission process. She says, “They want to hear your story, what’s your experience, how you’re going to add to the team or the class that they’re putting together for that year.” (02:48)

The personal touch continued into the instructional phase too. “They try to match, as much as possible, during the classes and the experiences that they give you to meet your expectations,” Silvia explains. “This is something that I was not really expecting, and I think Vlerick is doing quite well.” (03:01)

Deciding to go her own way

Silvia moved back to Mozambique after a fulfilling year in Brussels. Returning to the same mining company as before, but thanks to the MBA, she gained a more senior position. However, she was ultimately driven to do something on her own. 

Silvia credits doing the MBA at Vlerick with pushing her to get out of her comfort zone. She says, “It really does challenge [us] not only professionally but also personally.” (04:15) 

Her entrepreneurial journey was truly kicked-off by building a house for her mother. Putting her leadership skills to the test, Sylvia decided to do it herself with a small group of people. She put together a team of bricklayers, carpenters, and electricians for the task. In the end, everyone was so satisfied with the outcome she thought, “Why not do this for other people?” (08:24)

Thus, she started her construction company, Cosini.

Confronting the challenges of entrepreneurship

Within Africa, there are several impediments to offering a new product or services like the lack of government transparency, and poor infrastructure. The problem-solving skills that she acquired through her MBA at Vlerick helped Silvia to face these challenges.

Of course, Silvia realizes that each continent is different, and the lessons learned in a European business school can’t apply back home without context. With positivity she says, “global solutions need to consider local problems. It’s not necessarily that everything that is working perfectly well in Europe will be applied exactly the same way in Africa or Mozambique.” (04:42) 

Still, she is bold enough to take up the known and the unknown challenges. According to her, it is the “learning experience” at Vlerick Business School that has empowered her to face and challenge these impediments.

Surviving a hard start for a new business

Silvia’s initial days were chaotic, and she had to arrange all parts of the puzzle to give it a concrete shape. Just the way she and her team would arrange all the bricks to lay the foundation of a house. 

Silvia fondly remembers the entrepreneurship classes at Vlerick where she had learned about the “death valley” new ventures face. (09:21) There is a steep learning curve when starting a small business, and it’s not likely to be profitable at the start. It requires the skill to manage people, time, and day-to-day operations to make it out of the valley.  

She explains that starting a business is like planting a sapling. You keep on watering your plant without getting any benefit. But when the business blossoms, your patience, and hard work pay off.

Mastering the soft skills needed for leadership

Patience, perseverance, and the willingness to do something different are the key elements in an entrepreneurial journey, and so too is being a leader.

Becoming a leader doesn’t mean that you only have great decision-making skills, it also means you would possess the wisdom to understand vital team dynamics and be aware of your own limitations.

Although Silvia is the business owner and “the face of the company”, she owes her success to her teammates. Each individual brings their experience and technical expertise to the opinions they express. As she puts it, “Most of the time I try to hear them, try to be humble. Sometimes I let my arguments fall down.” (08:42)

Expanding the place for women in the construction industry

Though the construction industry is male-dominated, many of the managers in Silvia’s company are women. Talking about the gender dynamic, Silvia says, “I believe when we have women and also men in the team, it’s going to enrich the perspective for any problem.” (11:49)  Where men are good at the big picture, women really “care for details” and according to Silvia this eye for details is a key element in the construction industry.

“I see this problem on-site and I think it has to be done now, and my teammates, who are most of the time men, would say, it’s more strategic if we leave this problem for tomorrow,” she says. (20:03) When Silvia listens to the advice of men, she realizes that there’s “more synergy” on her work floor.

Silvia has made her mark as an African woman entrepreneur. Her team won the top prize at the Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton Mozambique 2022 hosted by Access Bank Mozambique. Let us hope that Silvia’s enthralling story will inspire others to invest in themselves.

Curious to hear more about the Vlerick Business School MBA experience? Reach out to Vlerick student ambassadors!