Mateus Tembe

Mateus Tembe (born January 05, 1974) is a Mozambican born actor and businessman living and working in Helsinki, Finland.

Early life

Tembe was born in Maputo, to Roman Catholic parents Mateus M. A. Magassela and Celeste da Conceiçao Monteiro. The Tembe family is mainly of Tsonga descent. He and his six siblings, Magassela, Alberto, Francisco, Simão, Ilda, and Antonio, grew up in Chamanculo, Maputo where the family moved shortly before his birth. Tembe's mother and three siblings Magassela, Antonio and Ilda still live in Maputo. Three other siblings live abroad. Alberto lives in the Portuguese city of Porto, Francisco and Simão in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Early Education

Tembe attended the Lhanguene Primary School, today Princess Sofia Primary School. His secondary education was completed at the Lhanguene Secondary School, Estrela Vermelha Seconday School, and Franciso Manyanga Secondary School all of them located in the Mozambican capital city of Maputo. Tembe is a drop out student of electronic engineering at Eduardo Mondlane University (named after the first president of the Mozambican FRELIMO party), where he registered in 1995. During his time at this university he was involved in sports, debating, student government, and school entertainment activities.

Theatre career

At the age of 16 he was a founding member of the M’Beu theatre group, a group of young theatre makers under the direction of Evaristo Abreu. For several years M’Beu (which is the Tsonga word for seed) acted as a junior theatre group for Mutumbela Gogo in Teatro Avenida. Mutumbela Gogo is one of the first national theatre groups to emerge in Mozambique after the country's independence from Portugal. Today, Mutumbela Gogo works in direct collaboration with great names of literature such as the Mozambican Mia Couto and the Swedish Henning Mankell. Tembe has worked for more than seven years as the music director for both M’Beu and Mutumbela Gogo.

Moving On

Tembe had acted as a guest actor in several shows, but never really revealed a desire to act professionally. With no real experience behind him as a theatre director, he left Teatro Avenida in 1996 in his Yamaha 50CC (left behind by his brother who was now living in Portugal) and with almost no money in his pocket, took off for Patrice Lumumba, a town located about 100 km from Chamanculo. "As I saw it", he later said "It was time to move on". Arriving in Patrice Lumumba, Tembe knew a young man called Jorge Mabombo who helped him set Mutxeko Dance and Theatre Group, which later won most of the theatre festivals in which it participated.

The Director

Having already gathered enough actors (seven, the traditional number learned from Mutumbela Gogo and M’Beu), he then moved into a class room in the Patrice Lumumba Primary School and begun directing. His first play was a satirical play under the name "The Bread Bit by the Supervisor" which was a criticism of corruption. The play went on to win the Casa da Cultura do Alto-Maé theatre festival in 1996.

Political Activity

When Mozambican government regime moved from communism into democracy Tembe worked aside STAE, the national secretariat for elections, to educate rural populations about the advantages of the new system.

The Turn Around

After being involved in theatre and music for most part of his life, Tembe decided that he was more of an entrepreneur than an engineer or artist. And as he made his decision he also quit his engineering university studies in Mozambique in 2000 and started his business studies at the Helsinki School of Economics Mikkeli Business Campus in Finland. Now, he lives, studies and works in Helsinki. Acting as a business bridge between these two countries Mateus Tembe connects Mozambican business with Finnish market as well as he does connect Finnish Businesses with Mozambican and African Markets.

Present

Today Mateus Tembe works with business individuals and entrepreneurs in Finland who aspire expansion into African markets. Tembe's best capital as he recalls, is “my love for Finland and Finnish people to which, luckily, both Finland and Finnish people respond positively”. However, apart of his endeavor to leave behind his artistic career (what he calls "moving the boy out of the village"), Tembe as an actor won a part in the TV serial "Mogadishu Avenue" where he plays one of the main characters. “How long does it take to move the village out of the boy?” he asks] .