Maputo, April 13, 2026 (Lusa) - Rute Manhica transformed sacks of charcoal into food, schooling and a future for four children in Maputo’s Benfica, Mozambique, since 1991.
This effort helped her children graduate, but gas now threatens the business.
Black dust covers the floor of the narrow street where four stalls sell charcoal in plastic bags.
In front of a busy road and surrounded by small businesses, Rute Manhiça, 60, told Lusa she began selling charcoal after friends invited her.
Selling charcoal remains a domestic energy source for most people and is one of many activities in Mozambique’s informal economy.
Official estimates show that this sector employs over 13 million people in trade and agriculture, accounting for more than a quarter of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
These figures mean little to Rute, who saw the street business 35 years ago as a way to feed her family.
"Friends invited me to sell here to support my children because my husband worked but earned little," she said, recalling the difficulty of starting the trade due to a lack of funds.
Every day, Rute opens the stall at 7:30 a.m. and collects the charcoal bags at 7:00 p.m. She has repeated this routine since 1991, marked by early starts and long hours in the street bustle.
When her husband died in 2001, the small business became the family's sole means of survival, providing daily food and allowing her to invest in education.
"I managed to send my children to school. They studied, and some even earned doctorates," she said.
Despite the low income and several times thinking about quitting, she remembers the past with nostalgia.
"The most important thing I did with charcoal was building my house. It was a reed house (a traditional dwelling made of local plant materials), but now it is a concrete-block house. It is not big, but it is made of blocks, and I built a bathroom," she said proudly.
Rute said the present is different, as daily effort does not always result in sales.
"Now people do not buy because they use gas and electric stoves," she said on Monday. She noted that she had not sold even 300 meticais (approx. €4) since arriving in the morning. In the past, she could make 2,000 meticais (€26.80) a day, but now she is grateful to return home with about 500 meticais (€6).
She said she sees no alternatives and would leave if another opportunity arose.
"It is very difficult. I only manage to eat. Sometimes I go to sleep hungry because people do not buy things," she said.
Lina Manhica, 64, maintains a similar routine next to Rute's stall. She began in 1992 as a way to survive and has followed the changes in the Benfica neighbourhood.
"The war led me to sell charcoal here. I left Marracuene and came to stay," she explained. Other women selling charcoal in the area helped her adapt.
Lina, also a widow and mother of four, found charcoal to be the only support to build and maintain a home.
"When we sell and make a profit, we teach our children so they can study," she told Lusa. She added that charcoal money remains essential for food and for the house she built herself.
Lina noted the impact of rising costs.
"We do not give up; we are here. Now charcoal is expensive, 2,200 meticais (nearly €30) to buy stock, but we are here to get money for bathing and eating," she said.
She explained that she can no longer save money because a single bag takes days to sell, and daily expenses consume her small income.
LCE/LYT // ADB.
Lusa
