Maputo, Sept. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - In the midst of the typical frenzy of the Xipamanine market, Maputo's largest informal square, Olinda Matule sells used clothes. It supports her children on her own, in a vivid portrait of an activity that generates income and opportunities for thousands of Mozambicans.
"[By selling clothes] I was able to build my house and raise my children, because I'm a separated mum and a widow at the same time. I've managed to do a lot," Olinda Matule told Lusa on another visit to the warehouses of the international non-governmental organisation ADPP, where she has been buying bales for at least three years.
Selling for more than 30 years in the Xipamanine Market, one of the largest in the Mozambican capital, leaning against one of the many infrastructures in that square, Olinda, 59, explains that she has never suffered prejudice for her business, mainly because she always has ‘clean and beautiful clothes’ on her stall.
According to Olinda, the most popular clothes are swimsuits and Indian clothes, and sometimes you can find clothes from famous brands inside the bales.
Saquina Davide, 27, also decided to get into the second-hand clothes business a few months ago, despite having frequented the ADPP shop in the Machava neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Maputo, for at least two years, where there are ‘several benefits’, especially the price, quality and exclusivity of the pieces.
"I started [the business] this very year (...), for example, today, [clothes] are 25 meticais [€0.30]. I can buy twenty pieces, but when I go to resell them, of course, the price won't be 25 meticais, but 100 meticais [€1.30]," Saquina tells Lusa, her eyes still on the hangers full of colourful fabrics, looking for the most unique pieces to satisfy her clientele.
Vasco Muchamo, 36, also shops in the same shop and scours the clothes in search of mainly men's T-shirts.
Focussing on the children's section, Muchamo explains that he has forgotten the year he started his business, saying only that ‘it's been a long time’.
"You have to be patient, even to choose; it's not easy. It takes a lot of patience," he emphasised.
For Vasco, shops selling this type of clothing really help people with fewer resources to dress well, since there are those who ‘can't afford to go into shops and buy at a high price’.
Stories like these are repeated in ADPP's shops and wholesale outlets throughout the country, where, in addition to clothes, hope and opportunities are offered to more than 200,000 people who benefit directly and indirectly from this business, according to Damião Mabote, Programme Officer at ADPP Mozambique.
"With this income, they educate their children. We have success stories of even young graduates (...) based on the sale of second-hand clothes," he explained.
According to Mabote, the clothes sales project, introduced in the country more than 30 years ago, serves to support social and educational projects.
"ADPP is operating 11 teacher training colleges, which therefore also depend on the income from the sale of second-hand clothes. But it also has other projects in the field of education, which also depend on funds generated from the sale of second-hand clothes," he said.
For the representative, the ‘reuse’ of second-hand clothes also has a big impact on the environment.
"We know that the production of new clothes requires a lot of resources. In particular, it uses a lot of water. So when we reuse second-hand clothes, we avoid producing new clothes and damaging the environment," he concluded.
LYCE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
