Diaspora Matters

Little is known of Angola by Zimbabweans, the only contact we have with Angola is on the soccer field when our teams square up. Very little in terms of other spheres particularly business. Add the past civil war (1975-2002) and language barriers and Angola has practically been a no go area.

Angola Statistics

• Population: 30 million
• Currency: Kwanza
• GDP:$302 Billion
• Inflation: 15%
• Trade Stats: 2017 Figures (Exports $33 billion and Imports $19.5 billion)
• Exports: Crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum, coffee, sisal, fish, timber and cotton
• Imports: Machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles and spares, medicines, food, textiles and military goods
• Current account: -$1.2 Billion
• Unemployment: 6.77%
• Main industries: Petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, feldspar, uranium, gold, fish processing, food processing, brewing, tobacco product, sugar textiles and others
• Foreign reserves: $17 Billion

So we held a weekend long ZBIN Premium Chat with Rui Matata and he shared great insights into opportunities in Angola,

Open for business: Like Zimbabwe, they had a new administration coming in 2017, in Angola President Joao Lorenco  took over from Dos Santos and he is pursuing radical economic policies of opening up the economy, diversification and ramping up production,

No Visa for Zimbabweans:  You do not need visas to visit Angola for 30 days,

Online Company Registration: You can open a company online within 30 days,

No need for local partnerships: The requirement to partner locals by foreign investors was waived meaning you can fully open and run your own business operations,

No minimum investment: You can invest from as low as $1000 or $5000, there is no limit to what you can invest in Angola,

In terms of opportunities Zimbabweans can pursue in Angola, the focus is on aligning to government priorities of local production and creating local opportunities such as employment and also earning export receipts. The country for long had relied on oil export receipts but due to unstable prices, they are diversifying the economy.

Textile Industry: A Zimbabwean investment group Baobab has made history by opening 3 large textile companies with the second one commissioned on Monday 15 March 2021. This shows the trust and confidence in Zimbabwean expertise. Multi million dollar investments which will shape the future of the textile industry in Angola. Opportunities for training locals in sewing and clothes making, carpet making and others.

Agriculture: Zimbabweans may need to study various Agricultural value chains and analyse opportunity gaps especially agro processing.

Fintech: Strive Masiyiwa recently posted about a data cable being constructed that connects Angola with the rest of the Central and East Africa region such as Congo, DRC, Rwanda and Kenya. The country previously had no bureau de changes facilitating forex changing and remittances of funds. Mr Rui Matata is working with a Zimbo IT expert to resolve the issue. With Zimtrade having urged Zimbabweans to export Fintech expertise, Angola should be a key investment destination.

Colleges: There is a push for the country to fully integrate into English Speaking communities for access to global opportunities with English being vigorously pushed as a language of choice. Therefore English being taught from primary school. So opportunities to set up English speaking colleges and even online platforms.

Mining: If you read our 2018 Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans book, then you should have noted one of the start investments on Angolan Diamond Mining Partnerships. Liberalisation of mining empowered local communities to own diamond deposits but some had access to mining equipment constraints. Of course there are a lot of other minerals that abound in the country.

Exports: Zimtrade website has a list of export opportunities to Angola that include a lot of farming produce. All the land in Angola is government owned with some available for lease.

Way forward for ZBIN

We have formed a steering committee which will register a separate ZBIN Angola Opportunities forum which will spearhead investment in Angola. It will carry out detailed researches and develop business plans. The committee will also arrange for a forum visit to Angola later during the year.

Our forum is anchored on building and maintaining solid relationships. Strong relationships unlock opportunities in terms of access to markets, access to capital and other resources.

A well networked business person never struggles when it comes to markets, but its an uphill struggle for one with no network.

The good news is we have tonnes of forum contacts across the globe and we are selfless in connecting you to our database of contacts. In our 2020 Business Opportunities Book, we have the last page with regional contacts all available for your business use.

We have hosted a lot of premium chats from last year and this coming Friday, we have a big one: Business Opportunities in Angola and the chat is hosted by an Angolan national involved in Trade and Investment Promotion. This is a rare opportunity to listen to an Angolan national talk about business. What is more? You get a crucial forum contact for future reference!

This is our biggest chat to date and although earmarked for subscribed members, we have created more room for others as the opportunities are in the public interest for the rest of the forum and the nation at large.

We will have 2 groups for the chat and the time is 6:00pm -7:00pm Zimbabwe time. The Whatsapp links will be shared on Friday afternoon, so look out for them on the forum.

The greatest weakness organisations face is when supervisors are engaged in illicit affairs with subordinates! For risk professionals its tricky how to find this out—this is why even in risk registers this area does not often appear. It is difficult to rely on hearsay as one needs evidence. In most cases the evidence is hidden as parties engage in entanglements in privacy.

However there is an unwritten rule of matters of the heart –as soon as parties engage themselves in between the sheets, respect is instantly lost!

This is how third parties get wind of an affair between parties. A boss commanding respect by everyone at a company may have that one subordinate with little respect and everyone is bound to find out.

What are the implications of office romance?

• As soon as the rest of the employees find out—respect is lost by everyone.
• Zimbabwe is still a culturally sensitive country and some will take matters into their own hands and report. If they fail to report within, they are bound to engage tabloids, use social media or other platforms.
• If the boss is a man, then his wife is bound to find out,
• If the boss is dating a married woman, then the husband of the woman is bound to find out,
• Company secrets are as good as gone once bosses engage in illicit workplace affairs,
• Internal controls are the first victim due to office romance. The fastest way to losses is office entanglements,
• Poor morale is inevitable once other employees find out that hard work is not enough for promotion and benefits,
• If a supervisor engages is a couple of affairs, the company becomes a jungle as the affected parties can start open fights or even creating tag teams fighting each other,

Therefore the greatest risk facing any business entity if office romance!

Whereas at established companies, many fear human resources policies sanctions and hide affairs, for small businesses, founders can openly engage in affairs fearing no one,

This means competitors and other employees can quickly spread word of shenanigans to others,

Once you get entangled to a junior as an entrepreneur, that junior is instantly elevated to the position of business partner.

• You now need to pay the junior extra salary and benefits,
• You also need to share profits,
• You also need to factor in losses due to the junior stealing or misusing resources,
• You face reputational losses when things go sour or even law suits,

As soon as you put on clothes after sleeping with a junior, just remember the business is gone! All the hard work flies through the window….

So where does the problem starts from?

Researchers say during recruitment, bosses especially men recruit those they like and by default those they are attracted to! Bosses in most cases have final say of who they hire and this is the source of problems from day 1.

Managing office entanglements

• Companies should have solid policies for protection against losses from office entanglements,
• There should be regular awareness programmes of office romance risks,
• There should be internal mechanisms for managing reported cases of office romance,
• Failure of reporting internally will lead to information leaking outside where its impossible to control and comes with heavy costs,
• Conduct anonymous surveys (audits) where employees report whether they suspect there are illicit affairs at the company and present the reports at selected intervals. This can be used as a deterrent to involved parties. If 90% employees suspect there is office romance then there is need to take corrective action. This is a recommendation auditors can factor in reports to management especially for big companies that stand to lose out big by sex scandals.

As for start-up, just remember you are on your own and all the work can be up in smoke due to entanglement with a subordinate and in some cases can be with clients. So tread carefully in this area. Read more about ethics and practise them, for unethical practices=heavy losses!

A man sells a top of the range vehicle at a car garage along Prince Edward Avenue, deal concluded, he collects his cash and heads home to Madokero. Before he reaches home, he is robbed and US$40k is lost in the process!

In Waterfalls, armed robbers got away with US$56k and R28k after raiding a home 3 weeks back. Last week on Thursday, a family was attacked by robbers around 7:00pm with the robbers getting away with an undisclosed amount of money.

Another private school was mobilising funds for the purchase of a school bus, they held several meetings with parents who paid various amounts in cash. When they had accumulated enough resources—robbers pounced and they demanded the exact amount in the possession. One of the parents definitely involved!

In Norton, robbers followed a popular business man, they masqueraded as builders next door at an open space and started small work inorder to mask their monitoring project. They were patient for a good 30 days before pouncing on his home and disappearing with more than US$40k.

We wrote about this some few months ago that we were entering a dollarization period and this meant most transactions conducted in US Dollars cash. With our economy highly informalised, this means billions of dollars circulating in the informal sector with homes and offices used for safe keeping!

Transportation of cash=vehicles,

Safe keep=homes or offices,

High value transactions mostly involve sell and purchase of vehicles, residential stands and properties, school fees, company purchases and others.

Time of home robberies: Between 7:00pm and 9:00pm

How are robbers getting access to information of cash stored?

• Those involved in gold mining or trading are at High risk,
• If you are a business person with operations in the area of residence=High Risk,
• If you are conducting business at home—with clients visiting your premises=High Risk,
• If you withdraw large amounts of money from banks=High Risk,
• Private or other schools that receipt greenbacks =High Risk,
• If you disclose information on intention to purchase or sell high value items=High Risk,
• If where you stay is known or your movements known=High Risk,
• Driving top of the range vehicles or vehicles with foreign plates=High Risk,
• Driving late at night or your travelling habits predictable=High Risk,

Mitigatory Measures

Do a risk analysis on the cash that you handle. What if it’s stolen? Should you keep all cash in hand or bank it?

What information are you disclosing to the public about your location, movements, amount of wealth you possess and welfare? Times are different—these are high risk times—review your security plan especially information recklessly dished out.

Are your employees complaining about low salaries or non payment of salaries whilst you collect huge amounts of money from sales? Pay them market or reasonable salaries. Most robberies are coming from inside information and in most cases from disgruntled employees.

Conducting business operations from home? Even poultry farmers are getting robbed of their chickens. Do not allow clients on your premises—rather meet clients some safe distance away from your premises.

Buying or selling vehicles? First do not do this at your home, secondly if you intend to bank it, then better do so near bank and immediately enter the banking hall and safely deposit funds. If it’s a cash transaction then better visit a police station to reduce risks. Our advice is try by all means necessary to avoid carrying huge amounts. Do not move from car sale to the next with the intention of buying vehicles—you send a signal to robbers!

Consider engaging security companies in case of huge funds transactions. Yes its costly but saves you the headache of losing all of your funds.

We expect the economy to slowly open up as Covid-19 cases plateau but this could mark a high risk period for entrepreneurs as evening movements will increase and it is the period preferred by robbers.

Schools should avoid at all costs receipting and keeping cash on their premises as they may not have enough security. They need to be aware that receipting cash in public increases risks just like the case study of the school bus purchase covered above.

On a parting shot—avoid travelling long distances in order to effect a payment or collect cash. This will be like walking into a lion’s den—you don’t know the area enough, you are meeting strangers and it’s anybody’s guess what will happen next.

Our forum has toured Melfort several times and also made a lot of noise about developing the area into a major city. We have also submitted our proposals to relevant policy makers.

Located 41 kilometres on a dual carriageway from the capital, this is a key strategic area for the country as it is the last gateway to the East.

The area is also blessed with a railway line and thousands of hectares of land which can all be turned into a beautiful modern city that can accommodate more than 100,000 residents and thereby reducing the housing backlog and creating numerous opportunities for various sectors.

Residential stands of up to 50,000,

Commercial stands, shopping malls, universities, tech hubs and more,

Agri plots for those interested in farming,

Great opportunity for the new administration to create a legacy!

Modalities

• Proper survey of the area and developing an innovative plan. Engage foreign town planners especially from China where more than 300 new cities are cropping up every year,
• Chinese planners to work alongside local experts,
• Invite real estate developers, financial institutions and other investors to invest in the project by developing the area in terms of infrastructure in return for stands for sale,
• Once infrastructure is in place—invite members of the public to participate in purchasing residential and commercial stands,
• Minimise corruption! Only those with no other homes should have access to reasonably priced residential stands. Speculators should only be allowed access to pricey residential or commercial stands.

Current developments

Unscrupulous land barons already on the ground parcelling out land to unsuspecting members of the public,

If land barons allowed free play then a HUGE OPPORTUNITY LOST FOR HARARE as the place risks going the unplanned settlement way of slums! We may end up with a Kibera Slum situation which only benefits a few at the expense of the whole nation.

Melfort Opportunities

• Unlocking construction industry value chain opportunities,
• Harnessing diaspora investment,
• Area can be converted into an Export Processing Zone attracting foreign and diaspora investors,
• Beira Imports Warehouse Facilities: With a significant amount of our imports being imported from Beira, the area can be used by importers for processing, packaging and shipment

The list of opportunities is long but for opportunities to be unlocked, engage leading experts and above all—remove corruption!

China is developing futuristic cities every year –we can learn from them.

Resources Required

Most of the land in the area is lying idle and the government can acquire it for town development purposes,

The role of the government should be provision of an enabling environment and coordinating development,

This is a self financing business model and therefore not much budgetary support required—harness resources from financial institutions, diasporans, locals and others.

So no excuse to say financial resources limitation—ma investors anoda nzvimbo iyi akawandisa, the housing backlog keeps expanding. The wetlands fiasco should be a wakeup call—Harare has run out of land.

It’s our hope that we won’t witness housing cooperatives setting up and dishing out residential stands in a haphazard way. Develop a futuristic city using private sector funds with the government taking the credit for the development.

Entrepreneurship is made up of 2 sectors namely the science aspect which is what we learnt at school and colleges—accounting, human resources, management, medicine, engineering, law, risk management and more. This is fairly simple as its standardised for instance in accounting, we have accounting standards for guidance—the same for human resources or project management. There are basics followed throughout the world and there are tonnes of material from continuous researches. In Zimbabwe, we do not have a shortage of the science aspect of entrepreneurship as the college system produces surplus of talent in this regard.

The other side of entrepreneurship is the arts side and here anything goes. It is the art of making money! Although there are attempts to apply science to it but still the formula is not clear cut for if it was simple, then everyone would be a multi millionaire or even billionaire!

Which formula did Elon Musk use? Which formula did Strive Masiyiwa use? Some of the secrets are publicly known but this is half the story, there is a whole lot which the public will never know! How do you explain the timing, the grace or even luck and try to create a formula for it? How do you explain that 2 men go fishing, same place, same fishing tools but one gets more than the other? What formula results in big fish biting on Fisherman X and not Fisherman Y? Why do 2 ladies go to Mupedzanhamo, same time, same second hand clothing bales but one quickly sells and the other struggles?

There are continuous researches on the arts side with a lot of material coming up but still we have half the story of outliers. Why has Zimbabwe struggled to produce another Kirsty Coventry? Why have we taken decades to produce another Peter Ndlovu?

The thrust of this post however is on developing strong systems and it’s an area of deep concern as it involves a lot of dynamics.

Without strong systems, losses are the end result!

You can make a lot of sales but without strong systems=losses!

Major Components of Systems

• Procurement: Getting the best value for money from procurement
• Storage: Ensuring the best storage for goods limiting losses and ensuring less inconveniences for clients and staff
• Sales: Maximising sales ensuring efficient revenue collection
• Financial Management: Getting the best return on funds invested
• Your Strategy: Strategy that incorporates the business model that will ensure maximum return on funds invested.

It looks simple on paper but in reality it’s not! The systems depend on a team recruited, how they gel, the culture developed, experience in the field, ethics, motivation and more. How the team responds to market dynamics—speed of decision making and goal congruency. What if the team is not working with the same goal with those who invested funds? In the Zimbabwean context, most employees are interested in starting own business ventures. Some will just be buying time to mobilise resources and getting experience and access to business secrets. As soon as they get enough capital, they are out and go on to set rival entities!

Some kombi drivers have gone to buy own kombis using resources from others. How do you protect your business from such employees?

If you are running a bottle store and you are absent, employees can use your own premises during your absence to sell own stuff and getting profits without paying rent. What systems can you implement to safeguard losses?

If you are into farming, employees can sell inputs, sell farm produce or even work at nearby farms. How do you put in controls to protect your capital?

The formula is the simpler the operations, the better controls you can put,

• For instance if you sell buses, it’s easy to know 10 buses sold, how much profit realised,
• If running a supermarket with thousands of products handled, the more complex your controls,
• If you are running an entity for the first time, the bigger the red flag on your controls,
• If you are running an entity remotely, the higher the possibilities of losses,

Conclusion

Little attention given to systems by many start-ups as they have to overcome many challenges to set up businesses. The first hurdle is access to capital, when overcome, the second hurdle is access to markets, when overcome, next is system losses and most of these hurdles are not budgeted for.

Each hurdle comes at a cost and may even take one’s time and the worst part is you can have many hurdles need your time and focus at the same time. A vehicle engine problem, suspension problem and electronic problem right in the middle of Hwange National Park with lions and hyenas lurking nearby.

So last message—do a lot of researches, get inspired by those already in the field you intend to venture in, outsource system development and monitoring. Do not invest 100% of your funds in a business you have little knowledge and experience in how systems operate—invest gradually and continuously monitor where systems have leaks, plug them and upscale!

Last year around this time, few people around the world knew of the novel pandemic Covid-19. Only China was doing its best tying to manage the pandemic that broke out in the Wuhan Province but failed to contain it leading to a viral infection across the globe that has claimed nearly 2 million people with more than 90 million infected.

What will the situation look like in a years time? With an average of 500,000 new infactions on a daily basis worldwide, its anybody’s guess how many millions would be infected. We are obviously looking at more than 500m infected in 2 years time.

The good news is the discovery of several vaccines from the leading pharmaceutical companies but its still early days yet as the impact is still to be felt with infection numbers infact skyrocketing instead of stagnating.

What happens before the vaccines effectively manage the spread of Covid-19?

We have to keep to WHO guidelines of social distancing, masking up and other hyegiene practices!

The biggest question mark of the pandemic is how have millions of people infected been recovering? Why are there no headlines coverage of recoveries? Why is the world speaking in hushed tones when it comes to recoveries?

If we stick to Zimbabwe, we are going to find underground use of local herbs—Zumbani, Mufandichimuka, Garlic, Onions,  Guava leaves and more.

A new value chain has been created of managing Covid-19 infections with local herbs all of a sudden finding immense value.

Some are packaging the freely available Zumbani and Mufandichimukas and selling them at premium prices! Some entrepreneurs quick to the game have found a way to package and sell them in retail shops. For a packet of 100g of Zumbani team, prices started at US$2 rising to US$6 in some selected retail giants.

Mind you no one has a farm of growing these herbs! Noone is incurring planting, fertilising, labour and herbicide costs. Only collecting and transportation costs…dear reader, welcome to the most profitable agricultural opportunity in the country!

Despite just plucking the herbs from forests, demand keeps spiralling upwards with supplies unable to match the excess demand!

Are authorities going to come and wield an axe over Zumbani, Mufandichimuka and related products like what happened with the quail birds? In the middle of the pandemic—looks highly unlikely unless there is an accident of herbs use that kills many people.

So till vaccines effectively deal with the pandemic  which is going to take several years, then advantage to local herbs!

Our forum members have also been monitoring developments and have created a group which will lead to the formation of a Zumbani Crowdfunding Company.

We wish them the best in helping solve the pandemic and also unlocking opportunities for themselves.

The year just ended 2020 was horrible year in many aspects—millions of lives lost, millions infected, many businesses in the grave yard and the few which survived still struggling to get back on feet. However there are a few exceptions like local manufacturers who enjoyed brisk business as borders were closed leading to focus and support of locally manufactured products!

For our forum, we can safely say this is the year members came to the party!

We witnessed a great spirit of support with well attended meetings and events. All the behind the scenes hard work finally paid off in 2020 with the forum also witnessing rapid growth from 50,000 members in January 2020 to 92,000 in December 2020.

The number of views for our Facebook Forum also shot up from a monthly 400k to end at 700k providing a rich market place for entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe.

This is also the year Crowdfunding peaked in Zimbabwe with a record 6 companies registered (Agri-volution, Nutricio, Big Ideas Galore, Patsime, Global Runners and Ziglobal Runner). We are looking at adding a record 10 more companies in 2021 starting with a Stock Exchange Consortium.

The performance record of the ZSE in 2020 is featured below:

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2019 Closing Value=US$1.8 Billion

2020 Closing Value =US$3.8 Billion

Net gain +115%

Using Parallel Market Rates

2019 value $1.17 Billion

2020 value $2.7 Billion

Net gain +130%

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Stock Exchange Investment literacy is very low in the country leading to many easily falling prey to ponzi schemes. We witnessed the collapse of many ponzi schemes in 2020 which is really regrettable. A lot of our members also lost out despite an avalanche of advice we posted interminably.

So in 2021 we are looking at pooling resources into a trust and then exploring opportunities on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and the Victoria Falls Stock Exchanges. This is a trial run and only for those who are patient enough to invest small amounts—watch closely performance and make decisions to withdraw, remain or invest more.

The forum will engage a reputable stock broker who will assist with all logistics so that we get professional advice. We sold the idea to the forum yesterday (last year) and there has been an overwhelming response—we would like to thank everyone for the interest and input.

To those with little or no financial knowledge on stock exchange investment—this is your perfect learning platform and the knowledge will assist you to invest on your own.

We are going to form the Whatsapp group on the 15^th of January 2021 and we will widely share the group links on the forum for those interested in the initiative.

So mark 15 January 2021 on your calendar.

We would like to thank you all for the support in 2020. This could be termed the year the forum made the greatest impact since formation 6 years ago. We had well attended events starting in February and March before lockdown–our online trainings also had record attendants, our Seke Tour probably the biggest tour by locals and we wrapped the year with a well attended Awards Ceremony.

Our list of winners;

Youth Entrepreneur : Davidzo Chizhengeni

Crowd funding: Nutricio

Diaspora: BIG (Big Ideas Galore)

Green company: Odilo Linzi

Farming: Arthur Garande

Overall Company of Year: Solar Power Systems

Rural Entrepreneur: Reliance Hamandishe

Woman Entrepreneur: Blessing Machiya

Selfless: Archie Musonza

Suburb: Chitungwiza

Client Service: Charity Mabika

Brand of Year: Solar Power Systems

Correspondent: Emmanuel Dube

Admin of Year: Catherine Shava

Networking: Pastor Webster Gatsi

Company Registration: Kudzi Mafuta

Manufacturer: Obey Nzira Diaspora Impact: Pmb

Community Leadership: Gwendoline Chikofi

Fintech: Cornelius Chibvongodze

Promising brand: Ultrabrite

Arts & Crafts: Burts Consortium

Runner of Year: Mai Munya

Special Recognition: Mr Low (Peter Machakwa)

Digital Marketing: Tofara Online

Business Partner: Capitalk FM

Credit goes to our sponsors: Solar Power Systems, Amplivolt, Agro Aid Trust, Major Murombedzi & Fadzai Katandika

With financial literacy missing from the formal educational system, the missing link creates a rich platform for ponzi fraudsters! Apart from a few who study finance and risk management, how do you explain the proliferation of ponzi schemes in the country?

We have compiled a very short handbook on ponzi schemes which we hope will help a few people. We have witnessed a lot of ponzi schemes landing on our shores–warning people against them but with the advice falling on deaf ears.

We hope to do more researches and add depth to the book and formally publish a full book late next year. For now do read the short handbook compiled by the forum.