Cadino Chipanga decided 20 years ago to take up a trade then seen as taboo in Mozambique: a male hairdresser looking after women. He also resolved to focus on dreadlocks – a style unacceptable in some African communities. Now 38, Chipanga has no regrets. He owns Carapinha, a small business that includes three salons in Maputo and a range of hair products. “The idea was to create a salon whose focus was to tend to natural hair at a time when no one cared about it anymore. People were using more and more chemicals and synthetic hair,” Chipanga said in the workshop where he makes his hair products on the outskirts of the capital. “Our mission is to bring back the love for Afro hair. That’s why I embarked on this endeavour.” Chipanga makes his hair products, including shampoo, from a plant called Nlhelho or Devil’s Thorn, which was used by his mother and grandmother.