Diaspora Matters

We would like you to win big tenders! We will be extremely happy  if one of you wins a big tender….this is good growth. But however there is no school of winning tenders!

Noone is also going to come and teach you how to win tenders unless you bump into an article like this, chances are high you will remain in the dark.

I have been fortunate enough to review a huge number of tenders especially in foreign governments and NGOs and in this article will share what I have observed over the past years.

1. Prepare your company to win tenders from day 1
2. Register it, prepare financial statements, pay your taxes and follow good corporate practices
3. Analyse budget allocations by governments. If there is a budget allocation for dam constructions and you are an engineering company, then get prepared from the day of the budget presentations.
4. The Donor community spends hundreds of millions in Zim, do you follow their priorites and budget allocations?
5. Get your PRAZ registration early

Rule No 1: Meet Requirements

I have articulated the basic requirements above….very easy but most of you take them for granted.

Rule No 2: Align your company for tenders

Do a lot of good work, get references and document them

Do great work of neat filing and improving your brand

Buy newspapers on a constant basis and follow the tender winds

Allocate time for tenders; it can be 2% of your time

Rule No 3: Tender Task Force

Who will assist you in tender applications? Will you hire outsiders or use own team?

Do you have sufficient time for application, review and quality control and submission in time?

Common mistakes with tender applications

First stage: Not following the rules resulting in failing at the first stage (Tender references, late entries, wrong marking , no tax clearances, no bank statements, no audit reports etc)

Second stage: Quality review test, value analysis (cost benefit analysis) business models, sustainability, little innovation or considerations of trending issues.

Third Stage: References check. At the end of a long process of review, 3 finalists are short listed and references are checked. Many take this stage for granted and unfortunately pay a heavy price.

My experiences of reviewing tenders

I have concentrated on conducting financial analysis. Compliance issues-registrations, tax compliance, audit reports review, corporate governance, financial ratios analysis, business models reviews, cost benefit reviews and more financial matters reviews.

Biggest regret was disqualifying a Zimbabwean based company tendering for a multi million dollar project. They were on their way to winning but there was one small thing missing…an audit report worth US$4500! And a tender worth more than US$10 million was blown away. Accounting and audits may be a small matter but they can cost you millions of dollars.

Is there corruption in tenders?

Stories abound of corruption in tenders. People who pay brown envelopes to tender committee members and from as early as 2003, I heard of 20% kickbacks but however in the many tenders I have reviewed, everything was done above board. All processes were documented ensuring the best won.

Additional  Tips

Have a checklist of the tender-use it in tender preparation and submission. For first timers, this process is not easy as you may have to spend sleepless nights  with no guarantee of winning. For every tender you fail to win, ask for feedback on why you failed and then work on your weaknesses.

The best case study of how to win tenders is how Dr Strive Masiyiwa won the MASCOM tender in Botswana, search on his Facebook page the experiences he shared.

So prepare your company for winning the next big tender and remember its not an event but a long process. Zimbabwean companies encouraged to also look beyond the borders for tender opportunities and when you apply, make sure you partner with locals.

The oldest university in the country has restructured its programs and came up with some exciting new ones. We give credit to the university administration for creating programs that align to the current and future needs of the country.

We list our top 10 new programs (hoping we have not made a mistake of listing old programs as new).

1. Bsc Honours Value Chain Development and Agricultural Marketing
2. Creative Designs Animation and Motion Graphics
3. Bsc Financial and Accounting Systems Development and Applications
4. Bsc Honours Audit and Risk Management
5. Bsc Honours Digital Banking
6. Bsc Honors Cybersecurity and Forensics Auditing
7. Bsc Honours Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
8. Bsc Honours Cloud Computing and Internet of Things
9. Bsc Drug Discovery and Therapeutics
10. Bsc Data Science and Systems

The future is digital and with 4IR already upon us, we looked at the new curricula with 4IR lenses and the introduction of the Bsc Financial and Accounting Systems Development and Applications shows that the college is moving with the times.

A good number of accounting students are tech savvy and had nowhere to demonstrate and develop their skills. How many accounting softwares in the country were developed by locals?

Creative Designs Animation and Motion Graphics shows that we are aligning with the needs of the 4IR and this is a great addition. The same applies to ICT degrees covering Cybersecurity and Forensics Accounting, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Cloud Computing and Internet of things.

One missing area has been of local drugs! Why do we keep relying on foreign drugs when our forefathers used local solutions to local problems? Why are our local colleges mum on finding a vaccine for Covid-19? What tests have they done to date? Why is Madagascar the only country talking about local solutions?

In our 2020 Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans, we covered a local medicine that helps in the Anti Malaria fight. Its used by locals in the Eastern Highlands and found in abundance. Why cant we use it and help save thousands of lives and help save forex too? We would like to see results from the Bsc Drug Discovery and Therapeutics.

Agricultural degrees from the institute are top notch and we highly recommend them even for foreign students.

Missing is E-Education and hope this can be integrated in the Educational degrees.

Short courses the university can also add include:

1. Digital Marketing
2. Block Chain Technology
3. Big Data
4. Cyber security ( only exists as a full time degree)
5. Network Marketing local products

With most students unable to secure employment, every degree needs courses on creating opportunities for graduates.

A degree in accounting should include courses on how to open an own accounting firm. How do you register companies?  How can your accounting knowledge and skills be of benefit to the small business sector?

 Law students or laboratory students should also follow the same model. If formal employment is not forthcoming, how about creating own ventures and utilising the same skills they obtained from college? Will law degrees include E-Law?

Stakeholders will be analysing the content of what students will be learning-comparing and contrasting with foreign colleges and professional courses too. Will accounting students graduate knowing how to use accounting systems? We get satisfaction that they will now be able to develop own systems too.

The hope is other colleges will not simply copy and paste what UZ has done but to provide better alternatives. The UZ has done a sterling job although there are gaps in developing skills for the informal sector which is absorbing more than 90% of its graduates.

So far so good, well done University of Zimbabwe.

Farming is perhaps the most important profession in the whole world yet the most underrated. One way or the other we all depend on the farmer for survival as most of our food is produced by farmers directly or indirectly. Globally farming is a multi-billion-dollar industry contributing to the GDP’s of many countries. Before we talk about billion-dollar levels let us start at small scale farming level were most farmers are in Zimbabwe.

Emmanuel D.N Dube |ZBIN Agronomy correspondent

A remarkably interesting topic came up last week in one of our ZBIN Agric groups when a farmer was seeking advice on how to grow a certain crop. So many views came up, various schools of thought came up some toxic and some helpful. In this article we shall cover a few basics neededfor one to run a farming enterprise successfully.

1. Have interest.

Nothing as joyous as getting paid to do what you have a passion for. Having a strong interest in farming usually has a positive effect on production and success of the business.

• Farming is a not a get rich quick business

Ask any farmer out there who has made it they will tell you that the rewards take a while to come to fruition for some its months and some years. There are so many variables that can affect your plan resulting in losses. Yes risks are there in farming too hence the need for careful planning. You are not likely to get rich quick in farming.

• Planning

Perhaps one of the most important tasks in farming is planning. Without a solid plan you have planned to fail. Before embarking on any farming venture you need to sit down and look at the numbers and viability. Most small-scale farmers will just grow crop X because their neighbour is doing it and they heard it makes money, “Heard”, is the key word there. It is crucial to carry out your own research before embarking on any farming venture.

• Technical expertise

Very few small-scale farmers appreciate the need to seek the services of a technical expert to help them get the best yield and value from their crop. I have come across a commercial farmer who is growing blue berries for export, he has agronomists fly in from South Africa every fortnight to come and check on his crop because he values his business. Ok maybe you are not a commercial farmer and cannot afford such services, well most seed houses, Agro-dealers and even the government have free extension services which you can put to good use. Locally we do have agronomists who are more than capable to assist at a very affordable price. Perhaps it is important to look at it from a business point of view. In conclusion if you do not know how to do the job employ someone who can and pay them well to get good results.

• Funding

If you do not have adequate resources do not grow it, that is what I tell some of the farmers I come across. It is pointless to labour so hard with inadequate resources and produce 30% of what you should have had the resources been available. Rather you concentrate on growing a small and manageable area and get the best quality and yield and grow from there.

• Do not bite off more than you can chew

Like any business do not commit to growing more than you can manage. This goes back to point number 3 of planning. A lot of companies are now into contracting farming and will offer you seemingly lucrative deals, do not hasten to put pen to paper look at the plan carefully. Ask yourself, Do I have the labour to manage the crop? Do I have the equipment?

• Loans

These come in various shapes and forms and you need to be incredibly careful not to get trapped in these although they can be a good foot stool to get your enterprise up and running. Some organisations are offering tractors and combine harvesters on a long-term loan basis. Honestly, you do not need a combine harvester if you a growing less than 20 ha of grain crop its cheaper to higher the machine every time you need it. Engage a qualified financial expect to help you decide and make an informed decision.

Whether you are growing your crops in your back yard or have an entire farm it is important to look at farming as a business and not just as a hobby. Once this is applied across the board you are on your way to successful farming.

Emmanuel is a qualified Agronomist and development practitionerwith more than a decade’s experience working in the agri-business industry and development sector. You can contact him on edndsep@gmail.com or whatsapp on 0783495396

Following the ban of the kombis, our forum of 66,000 members conducted a survey yesterday and the results are as follows:

Good Move- Provide Adequate Transport System first: 140

Long overdue-Good Move:  69

Bad Decision: 33

Conclusion

There is support for the move provided an efficient mass public transport system is put in place.

Implications

No reliable statistics exist of the number of kombis in the country but this is a big hit on their income. Our estimates are that there could be more than 50,000 kombis supporting more than 3 families (The owner of the kombi, the driver and assistant/hwindi). This means 150, 000 affected and if we factor in an average family of 3, then a minimum of 450,000 people affected by the ban. Of course some few will be incorporated in the ZUPCO franchise but it will be a tiny drop in the ocean.

How did we get to this situation?

Kombis had become outlaws! They flouted all the traffic rules with impunity and in the processes creating nemesis all over. City councils did not like them; the traffic police did not like them either-what is worse? They created an acrimonious relationship with their key stakeholders-passengers!

When you start stepping on the toes of everyone then your days are numbered! Kangoma kakanga koririsa…

The missing link

Given the huge number of kombis, the owners should have formed a strong association like in South Africa. An association that gives the sector a voice so that they can engage key stakeholders such as city councils and the government.

The association would have helped resolve contentious issues such as discipline by the kombis-using designated pick up points, reasonable pricing, tax compliance, road traffic rules compliance and customer service.

Self regulation by kombi owners and keeping members in check would have been an asset for sustainability. This is happening across Limpopo and to a limited extent in Bulawayo. We need order on the roads!

But the kombis decided to operate individually and now look at the results.

Way forward

It is not too late to set up or revive an association during the lockdown. They need a strong voice which can be heard by the government. They need to engage them and come up with proposals. Even in South Africa with one of the best mass public transport systems, there is room for kombis.

One area they can look at is coming up with branded kombis and help schools with school runs. This is a big sector in the country but will need a few disciplined kombis to gain the trust of schools, parents and the government. This will be in addition to the few who will manage to register under the ZUPCO franchise.

Some can even register under the delivery vans brand and help in agriculture produce and groceries deliveries across the towns.

There is need to study the South Africa model too where some associations had even pooled resources to buy service stations and bigger buses.

Our ZBIN Ride is another platform kombi owners can use to find clients and the good thing is that it’s free.

With mshikashikas banned too, opportunities created for the tuk tuks in the CBD and Econet had already done some trial runs. Entrepreneurs need to watch closely this emerging opportunity.

Biggest lesson learnt

When you are not organised, when you do not have a strong voice, the result is often doom. This applies to many other sectors in the country especially the informal sector.

When it comes to financial reports review or analysis, many focus on budget vs actual performance.

Did we make a profit? How does it compare against the budget?

If you are a bit advanced, how is our profit compared to competitors?

The balance sheet growth, the cashflows etc

So financial statements tell you how good you are performing? Do they tell the full picture?

Of course there have been attempts to get a balanced picture such as the use of performance metrics in other areas or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and The Balanced Scorecard.

But how often are these measures used by small businesses?

Welcome to the world of lost business or hidden costs.

Self Assessment

1. How much money did you lose due to the absence of a Digital Strategy?
2. How much did you lose due to non disclosure of prices on your ads?
3. How much money did you lose due to extortionate pricing?
4. How much money did you lose due to bad  customer experiences?
5. How much money did you lose due to customer inconveniences?
6. How much money did you lose due to insistence on USD payments?
7. How much money did you lose by not hiring experts?
8. How much money did you lose due to high employee turnover?
9. How much money did you lose by using obsolete machinery?
10. How much money did you lose due to non registration of your business?
11. How much money did you lose by not partnering with others?

What you don’t know doesn’t hurt right? Well not so true….you will eventually encounter problems and many often regret when it’s too late.

The focus is often times centred on selling, selling, replenishing stock and selling. If the income comes in then we are fine BUT we never think of lost opportunities because most of them are invisible.

If a potential client searches for your business online and they don’t find you…no official record is registered in your books!

If you post an ad with no prices, no one comes to you to complain!

Perhaps you can record the number of clients who inquire about your products and services intending to use Ecocash and when you insist on cash, they walk out of the door?

How do you track the number of clients lost due to your employees being rude to clients?

Difficult world

When reviewing performance, focus on what is measurable –analyse for decision making but also PAUSE and reflect. What is the value of lost business? How do you measure it? What actions are you taking to recover potential lost business?

With most entrepreneurs not fully appreciating the value of financial experts, the results is you have to be a CEO, HR Manager, Marketing Manager, Finance Director, Production Director at the same time! Too many skills demanded at the same time and honestly no one can possess all of these skills at the same time.

This is why most start-ups fold within 6 months and for those that ride the wave, less than 15% remain standing on both feet at the end of 5 years!

So during the extra 2 weeks of the lockdown, take a pen and a paper and calculate the value of lost business—create a corrective plan and implement it as soon as yesterday.

In New York some are relocating to smaller towns, they cannot keep up with the expensive and over crowded life in the mega city! In Harare many failed to get buses to their rural homes before the lockdown. Lets look at the informal sector; Cross borders, Kombis and Mshika Shikas, Vendors and more. These businesses have been hit the hardest. It is going to be 2 months in lockdown in 2 weeks time. Are landlords going to get rental arrears? If you relied on rent as an income, you should not rely on the income coming regularly as it used to.

On a recent BBC feature, economists in SA puts the unemployment rate at 50% up from 30%. One in two South Africans now unemployed. Its understandable why they are coming up with policies and measures to protect their territory. Our diaspora remittances expected to take a huge knock.

In USA, the last statistics I saw during the midweek showed 36.5 million unemployed and these numbers keep increasing each week.

Apologies for less benign news, lets look at the positives

1. Agriculture: Which industry was amongst the first to be allowed to operate during the lockdown? It’s Agriculture and it will remain so for the foreseeable future. I have a lot of inquiries of people interested in starting businesses….and am pointing everyone to this field. Google search the Agriculture Value Chain to appreciate the many opportunities that exist in this sector.
2. Farming land value increase: So you have land in rural areas and you have ignored it over the past years? If New Yorkers are packing their bags and leaving for smaller cities how about us? The value of real estate in urban areas is taking a hit but the value of rural land doing in the opposite direction. Urbanites likely to relocate, some diasporans too. Sabhukus will be receiving tones of inquiries from land seekers and expect them to get busy as they assess idle land. There will be irresistible offers and do not be surprised if your land is parcelled out.
3. Minerals Discoveries: We were once in this situation and we know the Almighty blesses us in times of difficulty. Who remembers the Marange Diamonds? Do not speak loudly about this but in Chihota area there is good news…diamond discoveries some time last year. If its your area find out from locals. In Mhondoro good news too….some rich gold deposits by villagers muminda chaimo. Not sure what Beta Bricks is really doing in Musana area but locals suspect mineral exploration. There are many such stories from across the country. In Mhondoro some relatives are now fighting over the gold discoveries. Mumwe akapihwa munda akati handirime ndoita zvekutown…munda uya wave ne value manje but its too late!

We will continue with discussion. The good thing is we are wired to look down upon rural land, it has little value, does not have title deeds but the value is increasing with each day of the lockdown. We covered rural opportunities in our latest book, look at chapter 8 for inspiration.

The Geography maps you studied at school were a fraud! They hid crucial opportunities information from our minds! Raise your hand if you saw Marange Diamonds on the map?

Stay Blessed

Zim Business Ideas and Network (ZBIN)

One of the trending stories in the country is the hacking of the Youtube Channel of the popular drama series Wadiwa Wepamoyo. Account hacked with the hacker deleting all content and renaming it Dave Ramsey Live. What a loss for the crew and Zimbabwean art and large!

What could have happened?

Bus Stop Tv posted an interesting email exchange of a Chinese company interested in partnering with them. They then placed a link with an offer contract. Your guess as god as mine what would have happened next if they clicked the link.

So we have 2 scenarios:

1. High probability they clicked a phishing link like the one offered to Bus Stop TV
   1. They were reckless and shared pass words to their Google Email Accounts

We do not have the full details of what transpired till we have an official statement from the producers of Wadiwa Wepamoyo but chances are high that they probably fell for the phishing trick.

Phishing Defined

The fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Most Zimbabweans are oblivious of this scam and its worrisome that even a lot of companies are also found wanting.

One phishing email and the company secrets and other resources gone with the website up in flames!

Phishing Case Study

Clicking the link in the email above results in loss of emails and ultimately account.

Why do hackers succeed?

They mostly target inboxes of victims! They never share their links publicly. It is just you and them in your email box, Facebook inbox or your phone. About 3 weeks back a phishing link was widely shared on social media and resulted in a lot of people losing money in their EcoCash accounts.

So be careful, never shared passwords with anyone. Take note of auto saving passwords on your laptops and phones. Phishing scammers use links, before opening a link be wary of the risks of scammers.

Every entrepreneur should be aware of this, every company should also conduct regular trainings of their employees so that they keep abreast of latest tricks.

It is not as advanced as Uber, Taxify or Vaya but it meets the basics. Are you on the forum and interested in sharing rides? If yes then our simplest ride sharing platform maybe the one for you. All you need to do is to post when you intend to travel to a certain place and then link up with those interested.

You also stand to benefit from courier services within cities and inter cities.

Doing school runs? Going for school open days to schools out of town? Then our group maybe of interest to you.

To help improve efficiency, you post before your day of travel and others will link up with you in  advance.

The bonus is  already some are coordinating cross border logistics. To those interested in hiring cars, this is also the platform.

We have just opened 1 Whatsapp group for a forum of 65,000 members and the hope is we will create 50 more before the year.

Whatsapp link

https://chat.whatsapp.com/F7lOIOwEULN7ttNKiX9r7A?fbclid=IwAR0WYzMX1HjbmGUkfbh44W6KSxp-qDVvIvwlcXhPXAxY09NG4XNs1biQsBc

The biggest challenge for start-ups is access to markets! It is not easy to just start a business and get access to markets when you are not known. To help start-ups, Digital Marketing enters the scene and it’s a great way to quickly build a brand name and fight for your share of the market.

Statistics show that Zimbabwe has a total of 9m people connected to the internet, 5m on Whatsapp platforms and 1m on Facebook. Of course these figures are a gross understatement as they exclude the diaspora community where up to 4m are estimated to be domiciled.

So where do you begin when it comes to Digital Marketing?

You can enrol for online trainings or research on the internet

However without appreciation of the Zimbabwe’s culture, you can miss out a lot. What works in South Africa may not work in Zimbabwe and vice versa

In order to plug the gap, we enrolled 700 entrepreneurs for a free Digital Marketing course sharing a lot of useful resources and also capturing a lot of feedback on what works in Zimbabwe

The output is an important handbook which covers:

Appreciation of basics: Whatsapp, Facebook and Youtube Marketing

Appreciation of SEO: Using our local examples and how we have been benefiting from it

The 7 seconds rule: Local illustrations of the use and power of images

Acing regional markets: Practical example of 2 of our successful regional initiatives that went viral

The missing link in Zim Digital Marketing: Seen some lengthy ads? How do many respond to them?

Off the hook techniques: How we linked huge traffic from our combined Facebook platforms of 150,000 to our various online platforms including the development of our email databases

Anchored on experiences: Digital Marketing is all about experiences and we covered local easy to grasp case studies

A short handbook easy to read and helpful to everyone involved in Digital Marketing. It has a record number of images capturing the latest trends and local pace setters.

The book provisionally available as an E-Copy for US$1,00 before being available on Amazon for US$8,00. To those interested in the copy, do contact us through Whatsapp on +263774081808

Fine beans or green beans as they are commonly known in Zimbabwe are a good and easy crop to grow for the local and export market. This is the first of a series of articles in which we shall be chronicling in detail the various crops that you as a farmer can grow for the export market.

By Emmanuel D.N Dube: ZBIN Agronomy correspondent

1.What do I need to be able to export fine beans?

Just like any other export crop you will need your farm to be GGAP and SMETA certified before you export. I strongly encourage that you enlist the services of a reputable consultant to help you with this. You can contact the details below and will refer you to reputable consultants.

2.Do I need a lot of labour to manage this crop?

Well fine beans do not require much labour during the vegetative phase. However more is needed at the harvesting stage. You will need on average a minimum of 60 people per ha at peak harvesting. This should determine how much you should be planting in terms of area.

3.Climatic /Soil requirements?

Without getting too technical fine beans can be grown pretty much through out the year in Zimbabwe. The crops seem to do quite well during the winter April – July season as disease and pest incidence is low. A summer crop also thrives but rain seems to bring along with it a lot of fungal diseases which affects quality tremendously, greater care needs to be taken here in terms of management. Well drained soils are the best soils for fine beans, as a universal rule we encourage farmers to plant on raised ridges. Fertiliser requirements should be determined by soil analysis avoid using blanket fertilisers applications.

4.Market and Quality

There is a huge market for fine beans locally and on the export market. The trick is you must meet the export quality requirements. Depending on the market things such as length, width, size, colour have a very slim margin to which your crop should conform to.

5.Management and harvesting

Harvesting – great care needs to be taken at this stage. I have seen several farmers loose it all at this stage. There is an old Shona adage which says “kuputsahariwasvika”, loosely translated it means failing at the last hurdle. Missing one day of picking this crop when the crop has matured means the entire harvest of that day will be out of spec. What this means is that the crop will be out of the required export quality required range. Fine beans are fast growers and overnight they can be ready for harvesting. This goes back to the fact mentioned earlier on the need to have adequate labour to harvest the crop.

6.How much do I need to invest?

Just for arguments sake we will assume this new farmer does not have anything and is starting from scratch. He/she will need to invest approximately 4 800 USD/ha.

7.How much do I expect in return?

Perhaps I need to emphasize that quality is everything in the export business. If you do not meet the quality requirements you will run a loss. Most contractors will pay between 1.20 – 1.35/kg exported. Farmer will produce on average 8 t/ha but with good management 15t/ha is achievable. The profit margins are quite reasonable at a minimum of 22 % profit.If you invest 5 000 you get back about 1 100 USD Profit/ha. Note this has taken into consideration all running costs. It may seem like it is not much but remember this is in the much-needed USD currency.

8.Considering the costs attached with getting GGAP/SMETA certification is it still viable?

Yes, it is viable but ……. I would strongly urge the farmer to grow other export crops as well. The certificate can cover several export crops at once. This ensures continuous production and kind of spreads the costs amongst the crops.

9.How do I get contracted?

A good reference point is Zimtrade, they can easily direct you to several companies in the fresh produce export business in Zimbabwe. Most markets in the EU will not want to deal directly with a producer for various reasons. I also urge would be export farmers to be cautious when choosing a company to deal with, fresh produce export is big business and a lot of con artists are out there, deal with reputable organisations only. Short cuts are always wrong cuts.

10. How long does it take to grow

All things held constant it will take on average 7 -10 weeks to mature depending on the variety.

Emmanuel is an Agronomist and Development practitionerwith more than a decade’s experience working in the agri-business industry and development sector. You can contact him on edndsep@gmail.com or whatsapp on 0783495396