Diaspora Matters

The biggest disruptive news of the year has to be the launch of Amazon on African soil and choosing Capetown as a home for its headquarters! Of course there are fights by the indigenous Khoisan group over the historical land taken but this will be sorted in the nearby future.

Fact is Amazon is now next door and the E-commerce giant means business. They are not the only one with Twitter, Facebook and Google already on the continent with preferred regions being West Africa and South Africa.

What are the implications of Amazon setting up next door?

Sophisticated Logistics: Amazon has well established logistical systems for shipment and transportation of goods. This may mean products ordered today on Amazon may reach a Zimbabwean customer in 2-3 days! They are likely to set up warehouses and advanced value chains in several regions across the continent with South Africa having the lion’s share. Presence on the continent likely to boost confidence in the world’s largest online shop. With Africa having the largest youth population on earth of +600m with most of them having access to smart phones—It all looks bright for Amazon on the continent.

Opportunities for the region: To those who strategically position themselves, good times beckons for listing of various products and services. The logistical value chains will also create plenty of opportunities for warehouses, cargo and also jobs.

Trouble for local E-commerce sites: Unfortunately Africa prefers foreign products—quite regrettable as the continent will continue to be a consumer of foreign products. All local e-commerce sites likely to fold as most Africans will rush for the world giant.

Global outreach of African products: Another big plus for the continent is that Amazon has a world reach and this means stone sculptors in Guruve will list and showcase their products, arts and crafts from Zomba in Malawi will also have a fair chance of market access.

Trouble for local industries: When our forum toured Malawi, we found out the craze on importing from China with some entrepreneurs even ordering wedding gowns, shoes and hats. This of course coming at the expense of local industry capacitation. Amazon likely to push more South African products than other nations and this is where Zimbabweans need to strategically place themselves to push own products.

Goodbye to profiteering: With Amazon right next door and able to efficiently deliver products in a matter of days—its going to be a tough battle for businesses used to extortionist pricing. Consumers will be able to compare prices of goods available locally against those on foreign soil. Profits margins of 300% are likely to be whittled away.

Of course Amazon just acquired a piece of land and are likely to take 2-5 years before commencing full operations but their presence signifies serious intentions on the continent. The future of retail business on the continent therefore headed for interesting times. Its inevitable there will be losers and gainers from their presence.

We also expect Alibaba to follow suit in the coming years as the fight for Africa’s E-commerce opportunities intensify. So study more on the rise of E-commerce in the developed world, impact on small businesses and related opportunities and risks.

The future looks bright for innovative youngsters in Zimbabwe. Traditional ways of making money are on their way out as they make way to tech opportunities. Is this one of the motivational post of starting a poultry with one feather?lol Well not really, lets look at the latest post from our wealthiest national—Dr Strive Masiyiwa,

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There are now more than 400m Smartphones in Africa. Within 18 months there will be more Africans who have Smartphones in their hands than there are Europeans or Americans!

That means they are all connected to the Internet.

What possibilities does this open for you as an entrepreneur?

All Apps work only on Smartphones and other Internet enabled devices.

400m is one heck of a market size!

This is why the likes of Twitter are scrambling to open offices in Africa, and more are coming. Problem is; if our own entrepreneurs don’t get in the game, our continent will be just consumers, whilst the wealth goes elsewhere to The USA and probably China!

WAKE UP PLEASE!!!

If you create a Product [an App enabled service in any sector] that captures just 25m customers, it is already valued at a Billion Dollars!

There is nothing else out there that can create wealth at that pace, even if you got all your country’s goldmines, and oil fields.

Think about it!

What do you want me to do with you, my child?!

Whatever it is you are doing just find a way to offer it using the Digital Platforms.

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Key takeaways,

Be globally minded: Develop mobile apps that cater for the needs of the continent in general. Zimbabwe is not enough–our population just 16 million. Look at SADC, look at the Swahili market, consider West Africa too.

Test Pilot in Zimbabwe: Polish your app in Zimbabwe and then cascade it across the continent.

It takes time: Getting 25 million downloads does not happen in 3 years, look at the long haul with a horizon of 5-10 years.

Solve Problems: What are the top 10 problems on the continent? Develop a mobile app that solves the problem and in a decade or so, billion dollar industry created.

The return on investment for real estate is very low at the moment with a lot of vacant homes and commercial buildings in Harare CBD. The international average return of investment of 10% per annum is difficult to reach for many due Covid-19.

One of the questions our forum tackled over the past few weeks was whether in Zimbabwe mansions are assets? If you fail to complete the mansion then it’s a total waste of resources as those with funds to buy mansions generally to prefer to build own homes.

A look at most of the wealthy Zimbabweans shows that they all live in homes they would have built! Few are buying incomplete mansions, complete them and move in,

Mansions are also difficult to rent out—few tenants are interested in renting +8 bedroomed homes as they also come with the extra burden of maintenance costs.

If you are thinking of building a mansion, then consider alternative uses for commercial purposes such as converting them into hotel and lodges, schools, colleges or offices. A lot of mansions for sale have been on the market for long with some risking being on the market for decades.

In the current environment, a mansion is a liability unless you are staying in it. In future banks may even refuse surety of mansions as they may not find buyers!

For rentals in the leafy suburbs of Harare, the cap is normally $3,000 per month for properties in areas such as Mt Pleasant, Avondale, Milton Park, Borrowdale, Chisipite and Highlands. The biggest spenders are diplomats and NGO expats who prefer living close to schools and other amenities. These areas also house many embassies and headquarters of NGOs and financial institutions. If you are considering investing in a rental property—this is the prime location for high returns provided the property is well maintained and also having good security.

High density areas have few vacant houses but rental income returns have nosedived from a high of US$400 per 7 roomed house in 2014 to US$200 in areas such as Warren Park, Kuwadzana, Kambuzuma and Glenview.

Student Accommodation

Sometime last year Prof Murwira mentioned on StarFm that the country had a student accommodation of deficit of more than 150,000! This includes all colleges such as UZ, NUST, MSU, CUT, BUSE and others. Investment in accommodation require huge capital outlays with low and relatively stable returns. However Zimbabwean investors do not have much patience as most prefer investing funds today, spin it around and getting +300% profit in a few days.

Therefore the student accommodation housing backlog is going to be a permanent problem and to those interested in this area—do a mapping exercise of all the colleges in the country and also include high schools as there is a rise in demand for boarding houses.

One of the advantages we enjoy as a forum is the ability to carry out researches and getting assistance from thousands of our members. We paused the following question;

Is mining success a spiritual matter?

We cover unedited responses from our members below;

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This is a big question because everyone who is doing gold nowadays have to do the rituals to get the metal, but it defies science because when you do an assay report it will state that your place have 0.75g per tonne but once you do the spiritual you can get as much as a kg from a tonne, saka izvi zvinhu zvine chivanhu chakasimba ,in chegutu we hear they is a woman there who is helping the gold miners but her condition is you suck her breasts and the results are overwhelming but the repo effect is that at a certain time the pit will curve in and kill someone then the process starts again. Gold is spiritual for us blacks but for our white investors they put in a lot of millions and they achieve their desired targets

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This is real chief I once encountered a similar case wr someone had a dream was forewarned and coached on what to.say to the snake he will encounter but being human as he was after retrieving +/-2kilos a huge snake appeared as he ran for dear life he dropped the loot and it was picked up by a small boy.

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Yaaa after doing all that sango rine varidzi. Kana kuMasvingo harurwa chaidzo tinototenda kuvadzimu. Kkkkkkk

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Isusu we were(and still) doing explorations mumakomo. One funny thing is when we were growing up taitombopinda muninga pasina chataisangana nacho but izvezvi when we are doing explorations togona kusangana nemapere kana nyoka but were just advised kuti tisadziuraye kana kudzinga mapere. Leave them in peace . I am Christian handiiti zvekukumbirira more so the problem with kwaNyashanu these days is most of the elders who knew about kukumbirira varidzi venzvimbo kwacho they are now Christian’s so totoshaya kuti unokumbirira uchitii…

I was relieved when one of our elders said wagara uri Nyashanu so there is nothing too spiritual that may deter you to explore or mine. Ndagara ndiri muridzi wenzvimbo

. So I think it depends nekuti ndirikupi…I can’t do the same in Dotito or Nyanga though. So my point is gold is spiritual reason being you move a tone of dirt to extract something precious which is the opposite with quarry or limestone

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Even the prophets who are into mining are doing the rituals, they just sponsor the bira and they wont attend the ceremonies but in my view sponsoring those ceremonies you are also partaking in the rituals

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Gold is very spiritual.. kune chinonzi chibhachi in mining… Kune vanhu vekutoti mukashanda navo hamubati kana cent, i have had such encounters

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Minerals have always been spiritual. Was at Murowa Diamonds at some time. Kuchiitwa Bira ne the mines because mvura yanga isisaperi. Whites invest millions but chivanhu kana chapindira they take the traditional route

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Brian MathonsiKuti ma China nevarungu vanofunga kudaro futi?

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There is a very big misconception with rituals or traditional practices associated with mining which are regarded as kuromba…Im sure we are all zimbabweans and growing up there are things done which we still do not understand to this day in age, however those things are done anyways and they have no biblical meaning to them or rather a christian pass in their conduct.Kunorohwa makuva, chenura, nyaradzo, vamwe vanoperekwa, mwana anokweshwa nhova, kurapa buka nekuisa mwana nepamusoro pembariro dzepamukova etc…Hausi hurombwa uhu. Sometimes zvinhu kuti zvikufambire unonzwa kuti enda unotsika pachivanze chekumba kwenyu, meaning just go home…The so called rituals or mabira and the like that are attributed mukuromba can be fruitful or not

… Sometimes mines collapse pasina kana ritual, at times mines make money pasina ritual… Its all about what you as an individual believe when you go forth. Chero ukaita mukristu unogona kutova murombo well because as christians you lack nothing in christ saka thats another debate for another day.Chamunomboti kuromba chiii chaizvo? Ndikaenda kubira ndaromba? Tikabika doro remvura taromba here? Tikasuma varidzi venzvimbo taromba here? Hameno

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I will comment on this from a Christian perspective . Wealth on its own is very spiritual. Chanetsa manje with our modern day Christian anoita zvinhu at average kkk not full throttle . Kana wafunga zvegold or making money in general kana uchinamata unotogara uchipisa . And then vaya vanoita zvemushonga zvinhu zvacho zviri organised that yu continues coming back to renew power. It’s never a once off deal. ZvemaAncestors I might not be very informed about it and I wouldnt want to call my forefathers demons but zvemari in general zvine maspirit behind. That’s why as Christians before going into a new market yu need to pray so you r dominant in that territory coz ukasvika imomo nyangwe wakarongeka sei asi mune madominant spirits unoshamisika business richitadza kufire .whatever yu do do it well 

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Kerita Tawana ChogaJust be a buyer simple you don’t need that

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Tendai Shumba MhaziI will write in Shona so I can best express myself. Nyaya ye mining inotoda kukumbirira varidzi venzvimbo. Some go to the extent yekubika doro rekuzodira pa mine pacho kuti mukwanise kuchera nekuwana zvicherwa. Izvo zvekuyamwana mazamu zvave zvemushonga yakaipa.Pazvicherwa panosangana vanhu vakasiyana. Kune vanongo decider kuti ndave kuda kuita zve gold because ndine mari yekutenga equipment etc plus zviri kuunza mari. Kozoita vane mashavi avo echivanhu anosanganisira mashavi euvhimi etc, mashavi awa anotori pavari kuti avashavire gold vagare zvakanaka. Ava strictly follow zvarehwa nevashavi vavo saka munoona vanototenga zvechivanhu zvinoenderana nenzvimbo yacho yavari kunoshandira eg chambwa chavo, fodya etc voenda kunotaura nevaridzi venzvimbo kuti ndini nhingi ndauyawo munzvimbo menyu kuzochera zvicherwa. Vanenge vachitokumbirira kuti zvavafambira zviitike nekuti dzimwe nzvimbo dzamunosvika dzine mweyayakaipa inoda kusudurudzwa or varidzi venzvimbo vanodawo respect. Haungosvike pa yard pemunhu woita madiro ka, unototaura kuti ndiwe ani uye wavingei. Ava vanoita izvi hauvawani mu class yemashurugwi nekuti zve violence nekuurayana havaite izvozvo nekuti vanotevedzera magariro echivanhu chavanenge vave kuita panzvimbo iyoyo. Ndine hama yangu ari kuita mari kuma mines kwake simply by following mitemo yechivanhu zvisina mushonga mukati. Imi munogona kuenda kunotsvaga gold asi mugokundwa kuita mari neane mashavi ake anongomuudza kuti chera apa unoriwana gold. Imi muchingochera pese pese blindly. Munokundwa nekuti pane vane chipo chacho chinovaudza kuti apa pane gold saka chera ipapo. You are right when you say it’s spiritual even though most will deny that simple fact. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes and know what I’m talking about. Hazvina kuromba mukati, just simple chivanhu back to basics.

Millions of dollars are lost every year by first time buyers of residential stands! In the category of those who lose resources are medical doctors, accountants, engineers, teachers, diasporans, lawyers and others.

You cannot even trust real estate agents 100% as some have been de-registered for malpractices by the Real Estate Council.

You cannot trust relatives and friends either as this category is the highest risk!

Title deeds verifications? A lot of people have lost funds after visiting the deeds office with their lawyers. A friend of mine did visit the offices with a lawyer but still lost funds when he wanted to buy his first residential stand in Marlborough in 2006.

Number 1 Redflag: Just avoid stands in built up areas. A residential stand in Mt Pleasant, Braeside, Sentosa, Greencroft, Warren Park etc. Why is it still vacant decades later when others completed their homes or got structures with tenants? These infil stands have all the papers in order but disaster unfolds when you deliver bricks to the stand site –the owner of the place suddenly emerges and produces authentic deeds. My estimate is more than US$10 million was lost this way from 2000-2020 in Harare alone.

Kungowona pakanzi INFILL Stand, run with your money.

So how do you ensure your funds are safe and the stand you are buying is bonafide?

Golden Rule: Deal with companies with huge balance sheets. If a company has US$500m in its books, its unlikely to disappear with a residential stand worth $200k. It just doesnt make sense!

To prove this; No local bank has been taken to the courts accused of selling fraudulent stands. Noone has taken CABS/Old Mutual, FBC, Steward Bank or Fidelity Insurance.

However a lot of individuals have been taken to court with some on the run. Most have nothing to lose and disappear as soon as thy get funds in their hands.

Yes its expensive to buy from reputable financial houses but you are 100% guaranteed of genuine properties and related documents.

A lot of forex is circulating in the informal sectors with experts putting the figure at US$5 billion. This is hard currency not finding its way to the formal banking sector and this is a huge opportunity cost.

What is worrisome is the lack of appetite to attract formal banking through incentives such as interest and other benefits such as overdrafts and loans for the informal sector. Add to this punitive bank charges which means if you bank US$1000, the money will be eaten by bank charges.

And the implications? Banks are becoming a no go area for many informal businesses with most  preferring the mattresses banking system! A look at media reports of robberies and scams shows that many are losing hard earned monies with cases rising on a daily basis.

Some time back we advocated for the establishment of bureau de changes but the proliferation of money changers on the streets has adversely impacted their operations. Money changers have no overheads such as office rentals, security, employment costs and others.

As a result many bureau de changes are closing shop with some converting to money lenders.

Of note is the increased risks of changing your funds from the streets. There are instances of bank transfer reversals or being handed fake currencies. You exchange US$10k on the street, get a bank transfer of ZWDL 130,000 and happily leave after confirmation of funds in your account.

Is all Ok? Not really as the bank can reverse the amount deposited in your account and when you try to get in touch with the money changer—his phone now unreachable! Because the transaction is illegal, there are no avenues for recourse and as they say on the streets—zvavharana!

You change your money and get an Ecocash deposit and like in the case above—similar loss results.

Be wary of money changers thronging most Whatsapp groups, this has become a haven for scammers who offer too good to be true rates. They are taking advantage of the fact that one cannot report to the police for recourse.

Do not click any send to your Facebook Inbox account—your inbox is now a high risk area as criminals prefer to lure you in the privacy of your inbox. Phishing normally happens away from the public glare although of late our Facebook forum has been struggling with scammers who publicly post their Telegram links.

Secure your accounts with 2 pin codes –that is requirement to log in to your accounts using an sms send to your phone. However this is not enough as scammers seem to be finding ways to break through the 2 pin code system.

Keep following the public media which is doing a sterling job in highlighting and exposing cash related risks.

Formed in 2014 by 10 board members—the forum has grown to 100k members as at the end of March 2021—the numbers growing organically. The forum has the following 4 objectives,

• Facilitating access to opportunities to information,
• Facilitating access to markets,
• Facilitating access to capital,
• Unlocking opportunities through networking

How does our scorecard look like 7 years later?

Access to opportunities information: A website with more than 740 posts with more than a million views. A facebook group with more than 100 posts per month since 2015. A vibrant Whatsapp forum with tonnes of resources shared and ongoing discussions. To date we have compiled 5 books with our debut book going viral in 2018.

Access to markets: A million views per month with 40% dedicated to members selling products and services. Forum meetings promoting marketing of products and services.

Access to capital: We do not have funds to give members but that has not been an excuse as we have promoted crowdfunding with more than 5 companies formed and more coming.

Unlocking opportunities through networking: We have actively promoted members networking on the forum including holding premium chats, awards, mentorship and forum tours and trainings.

Regional Impact: Although we never had global ambitions from the onset but our major impact has not been in Zimbabwe but outside with thousands of trainees in Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana and South Africa.

The whole concept was creating a well knit forum of entrepreneurs which is well informed on opportunities—a forum that supports members in various aspects such as access to resources

Future focus

• Solid networking: We no longer have any appetite to keep adding more members, we have our limit and we are therefore focusing more on a solid family of entrepreneurs who know each other name!We hope to introduce mobile apps that links our members through a database. Members should be able to search and locate members who sell products and be able to seamlessly process payments at a click of a button. Forum events are well attended and we hope to scale them up beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.
• ZBIN Radio & TV Show: Coming in the not too distant future are television and radio shows that scale up the experiences we have had with entrepreneurs over the past 7 years focusing on opportunities and practical experiences in running businesses,
• Entrepreneurship Centre: In order to cultivate and cement networking relationships, we are going to have an entrepreneurship centre which working spaces, libraries and networking events. Events will be beamed on television, radios and online.

For now we can only say a BIG THUMPS UP to you all for a well networked and supported forum! We are not just numbers but got an active constituency, the biggest in the country and keep on keeping on.

So as we feed the internet with everything, what are the implications?

The internet ends up projecting our every move and sometimes with inch perfect precision.

1. DSTV Account: It knows when dad is around right due to sports or news channels? It also knows when kids are around by the movie channels they tune to. It knows the dad of the house is away from home when he misses 3 crucial matches featuring his favourite teams.
2. Tollgates: They know when you pass through certain tollgates, who you will be travelling with and also know your average travelling speed. They can predict your next likely tollgate pass given your history over the past few years.
3. Bank Card: Ichi chikwapuro—it knows amounts in, out, times, places—whether you are likely to be involved in illicit deals. The bank card helps track your health status—why are drugs featuring prominently? Do we have pregnancy in the home? Lol The bank card can help predict where you are likely to be say on Xmas Day in 2021.
4. Ecocash: Just like the bank card above, helps track transactions and predict future movements, inflows and outflows etc
5. Your Computer or phone IP Address: Helps track your online activity—all sites you are visiting, for how long, unusual activity, all new email addresses you have opened etc
6. Your Whatsapp Account: Perhaps the best information it gives out is what is on your mind–your status updates! Your safe space for venting—so it can track your thoughts—timing and regularity.
7. Your other social media accounts: They help track  everything about you including your inbox messages, deleted messages, contacts and more.
8. Dashcam: At a certain financial organisation, top managers refused dash cameras coz it meant tracking evidence when they go to small houses lol
9. Edgars and Clicks Cards: Helps track your shopping habits, what you buy, when, how—even amount of time you spend in a shop, the colours and other specifications of what you buy. The card already knows what you are likely to buy during winter and the amount you will spent.
10. Your Passport: Although not fully computerised but each time you exit the border, the scanner captures your details—together with the air ticket, may help track where you are headed, how long you will take before returning etc. The passport can be used to predict your future movements.

More gadgets coming: There are more gadgets coming that will add more data about you to the digital platform—workplace keys or cards, scanners, vehicles and more. The computer simply wants more information about you—it is not satisfied by the current data we are uploading.

Can you fake the digital capture?: No you cannot, if you go offline now—your history will sell you out, why the change? Why is your home the only one with no pay per view channel subscription out of 3000 homes? Why are all mercs using swipe cards at tollgates but yours the only one paying cash?

In the past, your passport was stamped out 4 times a month, why none for the past 3 years? You are border jumping?

Positive Impact: Helps process large swathes of data faster—remember computers are technically faster than human beings. So computers are summarising data in record times for us, this allows faster decision making as we have accurate data on our fingure tips,

Positive Impact: Helps us predict the future better. When we talk about the future, there is an element of guess work—but if we use a lot of past data, study patterns—then its going to enable us to come up with near perfect predictions.

Negative Impact: If you are ethical, no need to worry about digital footprints but if your information falls into the wrong hands such as scammers then it can be disastrous.

As a rule, assume everything you do on the internet is being watched by good cops as well as bad cops.

For finance professionals, getting Big Data certifications crucially important as this has an impact on decision making and cyber security as well. Not many professionals on the topic in Zimbabwe so you have to rely on professional accounting bodies CPDs for now.

For entrepreneurs, this area provides tonnes of opportunities as well as risks—read widely about the topic with a focus on unlocking opportunities and minimizing risks.

Zimbabwe is projected to have a population of 23million by 2023 and that is 9 years away from now. The rate of population growth is ranges from 2.4-3% so good folks, the country is going to have more citizens than we currently have!

The current proportion of youths is estimated at 67.7% but by 2030 they may well be above 80%. Now here are some important considerations;

• The land size is not going to expand but will remain CONSTANT,
• The housing backlog will continue to increase until it becomes a security risk,
• In rural areas most of the idle land will be occupied with more pressure for resettlement,
• The NDS projects the internet penetration rate of 75% by 2025 so by 2030 could well be above 80%,

This helps explain why Strive Masiyiwa is constantly talking about the future with the youth in mind. If you are not talking about the future of opportunities that include an increased population where technology plays an influential role, then you are offside!

Opportunity wise, what does it mean to be around 2030?

Food Opportunities: Its common sense, we need to improve our efficiency in food production to cater for increased population. Our farms should ramp up production by mechanisation and effective use.

Tech Opportunities: Tech revolution already underway with 4IR and will affect every sphere of life from food, health, transport, education, entertainment, employment and more.

Green Opportunities: Climatic change is the driver of green energy—reduction of carbon dioxide emissions at the core of priorities. Already most Western countries have banned fuel powered vehicles production beyond 2030. This sector has catapulted Elon Musk to the top of the billionaires table. We are going to have our own African billionaires too connected to this area. As we have witnessed over the past few years–climatic change is real—3 cyclones in the 2021 rain season (Chalane, Eloise and Guambe), this is unprecedented and in future expect even 10 cyclones in one season, or a cyclone in June? Expect prolonged drought seasons too. Later during the year expect some earth movements as the earth crust adjust to the increased water levels. So to those in the Eastern region, small earth tremors are automatic this year and over the years they could increase in intensity. Do carry out a Green Opportunities Value Chain that looks at alternative energy, new housing models and more

Housing Opportunities: The current housing backlog estimated at 1,5 million. What is it likely to be in 2030? Obviously bigger and the question is will Harare accommodate more than 2 million residents? Will the city have enough land for double its population size? There is going to be a movement of urban to rural migration which is why it’s extremely important to guard and protect your current rural area land—there are going to be serious conflicts related to land in the coming years. On a construction tip, who is going to be constructing homes for the extra population? Who is going to provide inputs?

Global Opportunities: We doubt whether many countries are having this discourse on the future of opportunities, therefore to those fortunate to bump into this, consider cheap land in Zambia and Malawi for farming purposes as an investment for future generations, consider the new opportunities brought by an increased globalised world. Cheap internet charges, all rural areas with access to the internet. The question is who will provide the 4IR gadgets? Shops that sell cellphones, laptops, ipads are not closing anytime soon—infact will be expanding! Fintech opportunities to expand, the online population to expand too with probably 15 million Zimbabweans connected to the internet. Online schools from as far as Japan could well be providing lessons to Zimbabweans through robots. Our forum which reached 1 million views in February could well be attracting 10 million views with a community of over a million members. Crypto currencies could be the norm—finally accepted across the globe as a currency of choice.

So dear Zbinite, pause for a while and think about how the world will look like in 2030, look back at how the world looked like in 2010 and the changes you have seen. The rate of change in the next 5-10 years will even be faster with everything centred around technology and an increased young population.

Of course we do not often have the luxury of looking far into the future but in the developed world, they do and this is why we highly recommend following developments in the developed world and for Africans, Strive Masiyiwa is the mouth piece of the future, young populations, technology and opportunities—ignore him at your own peril.

The world has 7, 3 billion people with Africa having +1,3 billion citizens and a fast growing young population. Nigeria has 200million citizens, South Africa at 56 million and where does Zim stand? Just 16 million, so a small country and small population.

What is it that we do that over 7 billion people across the globe pause and gives us a thumps up?

1. Arts and Crafts(Mbira): Noone beats us when it comes to our Mbira Sound—Absolutely no one across the globe! Sadly we are sitting on this golden gem and one day we will wake up with most of our traditional folklore songs copy righted. How many Mbira instrumentals are for sale on Youtube? How many Mbira tutorials for sale by Zimbos? How many Mbira books for sale on Amazon? How many Mbira instrumentals featured on major films? At major musical festivals across the globe—they don’t invite our Zimdancehall artists—they strictly invite Zimbo sounds with a Mbira touch.
2. Arts and Crafts(Stone Sculptures): The Atlanta Airport in USA has a long walkway full of Zimbo stone art! The African Museum in Capetown has 3 floors full of African art but a whole floor is dedicated to Zim art with the rest reserved for more than 53 countries.  Our stone art traced to Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Khami Ruins and other historical areas made of stone

We used to be top of the totem pole when it comes to literacy across the continent but other countries are fast catching up and rankings of African colleges do not show favourable results for Zimbabwe. Our English accent still good but over the past decades, many have closed the gap.

So there is no any other area where Zimbabwe comes tops in the world apart from the above 2 areas. Therefore our focus as a country should be to innovate, invest and support the above 2 areas.