A family is considered a primary agent of socialisation as such it influences children to define and shape their character and social life.
This is true for Jayne Chapomba who ventured into mining business at the age of 19 after she was raised in a family in which her father Hamilton has been doing mineral and mining business.
Her late uncle Charles Chapomba was also a well-known mining trader who went on to serve as Gemstones Association of Malawi president.
Her passion, interest and determination has seen her carving a niche in the trade where she has worked for the past 13 years.
After learning the ropes of the trade, she established her business entrepreneurship registered under El Minerals Jayne Chopomba Gemstones.
Chapomba said: “I have grown up seeing stones and having a father who always travelled to the mines. I took keen interest to know what really happens there. Seeing different types of stones everyday, motivated me to know the source and how it’s done. I always used to ask my father, who has been in the mining industry for 50 years now how they do it. But I wanted to see the exact thing. That’s how I started when I was 19, 13 years ago.”
Being a 32-year-old and venturing into mining which is not only tough business but least expected of a beauty, she says, mining business has made her grow a thick skin.
She said: “Mining business has made me grow a lot as a person. I am very streetwise because of this business. It is not for fainted-hearted individuals. I have gained a lot of knowledge over the years. I normally go to prospect before mining.”
Commenting on what constitutes mining, Chapomba says it involves extracting gems and precious stones from the earth to make jewelry while sometimes other people keep the stones for they believe some stones have properties which are healing powers and chase bad luck.
She disclosed that through mining she has acquired property which she would not have managed. It has also helped her to use earnings to invest in other business ventures.
Apart from her own socio-economic development, the former local tennis star said, it has helped her create job opportunities.
“It is very sophisticated indeed. I am currently operating alone. Of course sometimes under my father’s guidance. In Nsanje alone I have 40 employees, Ntcheu six, Mzimba 12, Lilongwe two and Balaka one,” she said.
The outspoken entrepreneur, who studied business management and marketing, said she has big plans to invest in a mining industry and she is studying gemmology at a South African university.
“I plan to open a big factory one day where we can start processing the stones right in this country so that we can be getting more revenue for the country when exporting the merchandise.
“I have grown up with boys. I have always been into things that boys do. I may look female, but trust me I am tough and resilient. Indeed gemstone business is “considered male-dominated” so my joining the industry was to change the whole narrative that women can also do it. And trust me, I know stones inside out than most of men. I would like to urge ladies that they should not fear doing things that the society deems fit for the other gender.”
Chapomba sums up by urging those who do mining and mineral business to register their firms for them to make more profits.
Publisher in mining issues Marcel Chimwala applauded Chaponda, saying she has made a difference in the industry.
“Mining is male-dominated but we have seen women coming up such as Jayne. The Chapomba family are well known in mining and I am not surprised that Jayne has followed her heart,” he said.
