Diaspora Matters

What is the key question that helped to form this forum back in 2015? We struggled with answering the question ‘How do you identify business opportunities in Zimbabwe?’ Reference to school and college studies did not help much as this material was previously not well covered.

So a journey started with more focus on opportunities and in 2018 we compiled our debut book which unfortunately leaked and going viral. We followed with the 2020 and 2022 editions and now on our 4th book on business opportunities.

Not easy to compile and helps explain why the books come at 2 year intervals. So its a pleasure to present to you our 2024 edition and we hope its going to inspire you and help in improving your business operations. The book is available in print copy at $20 and soft copy at $5 and for inquiries do get in touch on +263 773 055 063.

Table of Contents

Our Madagascar Lima Beans farming trials will turn a year old next month and how has been progress?

From less than 20 plants, I have managed to fill up a 20litre bucket with the Madagascar Lima Beans which should be the highest in the country. I accidentally bumped into the beans around August 2023 and at first ignored them but only taking interest during November when the first beans became ripe. I was still oblivious to the immense value of the beans and had to seek help on the type of beans in my backyard garden—and eating the first beans took a leap of faith.

So it’s almost a year now and I have shared the beans with hundreds of others with the first distribution in December 2023. Amazing results from the trials showing great potential for those interested in going commercial.

For home consumption—you just need at most 5 good plants and this is what a few Zimbabweans have been doing for decades. Going commercial is an unpatented idea from ZBIN and hundreds of farmers are getting ready for the 2024/5 Agricultural Season.

Winter farming—Winter has proved to be what is already written by researchers—a difficult period with reduced growth due to frost. However with continued watering, the impact is reduced. Only old plants are mildly impacted but plants from March and April are doing well.

The verdict? Great potential for Zimbabwean farmers to grow Madagascar Lima Beans which have an explosive growth rate and cost effective as there is no need for fertilizers and pesticides.

It could well be Harare’s greatest hidden gem—A Great Zimbabwe miniature of historical importance. It should be attracting thousands of visitors that include tourists, locals, archaeologists and school children on trips.

It should be a tourists magnet generating millions of dollars in revenue per year. But this magnificent place lies hidden and buried despite close proximity to Harare. A place of historical significance as it shows ancient civilization. Before touring Great Zimbabwe monuments from the capital—the first place should be Chisvingo Ruins.

Of course not really located exactly in Harare but from the capital, its a distance of 87km in an area called Masembura a Bindura South District. The desolate place could be spruced up—with lodges, theme parks and other tourism infrastructure built around it.

However the million dollar question is why has this place remained neglected and hidden? Perhaps there is a cultural spin to it? If not then relevant authorities have home work to visit the site and develop a master plan to turn it into a key tourism site. There are a lot of opportunities to be unlocked from it.

Zimbabwe is home to one of the world’s largest informal economies, where about three-quarters of all employment is informal (World Bank). And the size of Zimbabwe’s informal economy is estimated to be 64.1%. Despite the enormous size of the sector, financial inclusion remains a drop in the ocean due to a plethora of reasons. The main one being lack of trust in all matters formal, and others including lack of engagement and literacy from key stakeholders.

Despite high risk exposures, the sector is under insured and the good news is our forum partnered with Champions Insurance to launch a special package for small businesses. The launch took place on the 16th of March 2024 at a colourful event at Mcintosh Gardens, Hatfield Harare.

Our members turned out in huge numbers and warmly embraced Champions Insurance with a lot of engagement and of course the bonus of signing up to insurance packages. This confirmed that indeed a market exists for insurance products on the informal sector! What is only needed are strategies of penetrating into the sector especially through well networked business forums.

Small business owners rarely have time to leave their busy operations and find time for business meetings or events. Its extremely difficult to lure them away from their businesses as most often calculate the opportunity cost. However with Champions Insurance, close to 100 members attended and endorsed their affordable insurance packages.

There is still more work to be done for our members to appreciate the risk management peace of mind that come from insurance. From a strong forum of 110,000 Active Membership, we believe with time, more of our members will sign up. In addition, Champions Insurance also shared opportunities for those interested in being agents.

We would like to thank Champions Insurance and forum members for the support during the launch and the continued interest in signing up. For members interested in insuring their businesses-the forum contact is Sheena on +263 777 909 139

Our forum is anchored on strong business relations and to this end, we have invested heavily in networking of members over the past 9 years. We have various chapter meetings across the country such as in Mutare and Bulawayo—we also extend to South Africa with strong networks in Johannesburg and Western Cape.

Sports Days, Market Days, Admin Visits, Forum Tours, End of Year Parties and other events. On tours, we have conducted several tours to Mozambique (Tete x3) and Beira. We have also conducted various trainings across SADC in countries and created Whatsapp Groups of our trainees.

Now at 180,000 members on Facebook and 20,000 on Whatsapp—we recently reached a huge milestone of 100,000 Active Members on Facebook thereby making us the largest Business Forum in Zimbabwe. A significant number of the 100k members do know each other through networking and business transactions. Interactions amongst members do happen 24/7 as our forum is open for business.

Our main competitive advantages have therefore become;

Product Launches: We managed to successfully  launch 2 products across SADC in 2017 and 2018. Rugmaking(Tapestry) went viral as it blew up in Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Lesotho, and South Africa. It attracted thousands of trainees and resulted in us being honoured by the Zulu Kingdom.

In 2018 we made a follow up with a training on Sinamay Hat Training and the results were almost similar in uptake with an additional country of Namibia added to our list of coverage.

Therefore for corporates interested in launching new products across the region—we have the regional channel for engagement. From Durban to Mzuzu, Gaborone to Windhoek, Lilongwe to Cape Town.

Local Distribution Channel: Our well networked members have been pushing their products using the forum network with one of the trending product being Rabbit Bites from J&J Rabbits. From Bulawayo, more than 2000 rabbit bites are pushed throughout the country including to markets as far as Mutare and Kariba.

Therefore do you have launch headaches? If yes, then you may need to get in touch with us.

Have you done your 2024 Strategic Planning yet? Chances are very high that you did—now it’s time for you to review what you planned versus the latest results from the Households Welfare Monitoring Survey for Zimbabwe.

The latest Round 10 survey shows access to basic food necessities shocks due to various factors, chief of which is inflation and affordability. It also shows the currency use by households and the main sources of income at household level.

The economy is now almost full dollarized and this will bring in new opportunities and risks. Neighbouring countries likely to be lured by the greenback and flood our streets with their products. Enterprising Zimbabweans to also venture more into import opportunities. Will there be currency reforms to reverse the dollarization? There are already plans in place if we are to go by recent currency reforms. However once a country crosses the Rubicon of Dollarization—almost impossible to reverse.

Anyway some o f the highlights include the following;

The main source of income for households are 1.Farming, followed by 2.Salaries and 3. Non farming Enterprises. In your business plan—you should have captured the above 3 income line items. For instance if you have a vehicle servicing business—are you capturing farmers in targeted marketing? If you are an NGO—do you have farming as one of your programs?

Farming and Non Farming Enterprises account for 42% of income for households in Zimbabwe which is twice the income coming from salaries. This shows the rise in impact of the small businesses in the country.

Formal and informal diaspora remittances account for 8% of households income. Therefore for every dollar circulating in the economy, at least 10 cents is officially from outside the country. A very important benchmark for business planning as some of the decision makers at household level are based outside the country. Are you targeting the diaspora in your marketing campaigns?

The country doesn’t have unemployment benefits—which is worrisome as NGOs are contributing a paltry 2% to household income and 5% is coming from the government. However the gap is being filled by family members assistance which is at 13%0. There is a gap for insurance companies and banks to create pensions and small businesses.

Not much coming from property income and therefore projections from the wealth taxes not expected to significantly contribute to the fiscus.

Perhaps time to tweak your focused outputs in 2024 and worryingly, the nation continues to experience inflation shocks despite significant dollarization moves.

Advanced Level results are out and many parents and students are looking at college study options. One of the options is studying in the United States of America and we share below a presentation done over the weekend on USA College Admission processes and requirements.

Hello and good afternoon everyone, wonderful to have such a diverse audience. My name is Bevan Hungwe EducationUSA Adviser in Zimbabwe.

So, Today we will be focusing on undergraduate study.

Will close the group to allow smooth flow of the presentation, will take questions after.

Today, we will be discussing the steps that you should take if you want to study in the US. I have prepared slides that I will share. Please go through each slide/page and feel free to ask questions and just let me know if you need clarification on anything. I will also put additional notes. Above is our agenda for today.

PLEASE NOTE: EducationUSA is not a scholarship provider but rather an advising service that promotes U.S. higher education to students around the world by offering accurate, comprehensive, and current information about opportunities to study at accredited postsecondary institutions in the United States We offer a variety of advising sessions and other services to help qualified Zimbabwean students learn more about educational opportunities in the United States. Our advising sessions focus on the Five Steps to U.S. Study to help students navigate the admissions process.

We offer a variety of advising sessions and other services to help qualified Zimbabwean students learn more about educational opportunities in the United States. Our advising sessions focus on the Five Steps to U.S. Study to help students navigate the admissions process.

Why study in the United States? 4000+ institutions of higher education and 600+ fields of study Freedom and responsibility to design studies, flexibility to combine fields, and do more than one major. Robust extracurriculars: clubs, athletics Varied learning: Study abroad, internships More opportunities, externships, undergraduate,

Where do you want to study? Here are a few things to consider when deciding where you want to study. Size, Student-faculty Ratio, Average Class Size, College Vs. University, Community College, Liberal Arts College, Location, Climate, Near Friends or Relatives? Big City Vs. Small City Vs, Town Vs. Rural Area, School Character, Single Sex or Coed, Athletics, Technology, Reputation, Public vs. Private, Religious Affiliation? Cost, Tuition and Fees, Cost of Living, Financial Aid Awarded to Intl Students?

Step 1: Research your Options. The first step to studying in the United States is researching your options to find a college or university that best fits your needs. You shouldn’t try to match yourself to the school, but rather find the school that matches you and your priorities and long-term goals. Remember that no official ranking system exists for colleges and universities in the United States. The best college or university is the one that is best for you and meets your requirements—academic, financial, and personal. At least 12 to 18 months prior to the academic year in which you hope to attend a U.S. college or university, you should begin your research. Start by answering these basic questions below: Why do you want to study in the United States? Where will you fit in best? Which colleges or universities will meet your needs? Will you need financial assistance? What are the application and financial aid deadlines? Where do you want to live in the United States?

STEP 2: Financing your studies. Colleges in the US are expensive and can cost up to $80,000 per year. When it comes to financing your studies, think of it this way, investing in your education is investing in yourself. There are many different ways of financing your studies. If you are not able to finance your own studies, you can get help from businesses or churches. Most schools offer some form of financial aid. You can get need-based aid, merit-based aid or, if you are an athlete, you can get an athletic scholarship. So, what does it really take to get funding from a school? International students who get financial aid are highly competitive. They have high grades (A and O level or university), high SAT/GRE/GMAT/TOEFL scores, evidence of leadership, intellectual,

STEP 3: Complete your application To request information from schools, join college mailing lists early whenever you find a school you are interested in. Use “request information” online form on the admissions page of college websites. Before you apply, study and take standardized tests i.e SATs. You can take the SAT Reasoning Exam which measures reasoning skills in math, critical reading, and writing. SAT Subject Exams are offered in physics, biology, chemistry, math’s, lit, history, German, French. Different schools have different application requirements. The general requirements are transcripts, certificates, school forms, recommendation letters, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, essays, application forms/fees, and financial aid forms.

Some general application requirements:

Educational credentials: This is typically your secondary/high school results and transcripts, as well as O and A level results Transcripts are certified copies of your educational record, courses, and grades. An original transcript or certified copy sent by your secondary/high school is generally required for each institution you apply to for admission,

Standardized test scores: Scores may be required to assess your academic ability and English proficiency level.

Recommendation letters: The head or principal of your school, your school counselor, your personal tutor, teachers, coaches, or supervisors from professional experiences may write recommendation letters. Your recommenders must be able to write about your work and be able to assess your potential to do well pursuing a higher education degree. Be sure to choose someone who knows you well.

Essay/personal statement: This is your chance to write about your interests, long-term goals, and strengths – one of the most important aspects of your application.

These are the platforms we use to apply to various institutions

https://www.commonapp.org/

https://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/

Specific university/college websites

STEP 4: Apply for your student visa Apply for your visa only after you have all documentation and are fully prepared. Gather everything you will need for your visa application and apply for your visa at least four weeks before your departure. Note that you can only apply for a visa after being offered admission to a school. Do your research and find out what the requirements for applying for a student visa are.

It is important to note that two separate U.S. government agencies are involved with international student arrival and status while studying in the United States. The State Department is responsible for the visa application process and issuing the visa. Once a visa holder arrives in the United States, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security then takes over as the responsible agency for entry into the country, as well as issuing and enforcing international student regulations.

Step 5: Prepare for your Departure This step involves a number of activities to get you prepared for life in the U.S as a student. Know what to expect when you arrive, ease into your new academic environment, adjust well to U.S. culture and your new community. EducationUSA Zimbabwe every year hold a Predeparture orientation for students

[20/01, 14:43] +263 77 330 5188: For those interested in learning about institutions that offer funding to international students. Here is the resource

https://globalscholars.yale.edu/tuition/financial-aid

Medical education in the United States is provided differently than in Zimbabwe. In the United States, students wishing to become doctors study first for four years, generally in programs referred to as “pre-medical study”. These “pre-med” programs are offered by over 500 colleges and universities. At the end of the four years, they receive the Bachelor degree which allows them to apply to medical school. The medical school program lasts four years: the two first years are devoted to the basic medical sciences and the last two years concentrate on clinical training including practical training in hospitals (clerkships). While there are hundreds of universities providing pre-medical education (for the first four-year cycle), there are only 124 medical schools (for the second four-year cycle).

 Below are the links with information related to SATs

To register, kindly follow the link below. All registration and payment are done online via the link below

https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/…/int…/dates-deadlines

*Test fee is $103

The link for testing preparations

https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/…/practice…/bluebook

I am sometimes engaged by small to medium scale businesses to help them conduct strategic planning especially towards the end of the financial years or at the beginning of the financial year.

A great opportunity to get insight into various strategies employed to survive in the difficult and very fluid environment. Unlike in the past where strategic planning would involve looking far into the horizon and craft strategies that span several years ahead, in the prevailing environment—planning beyond 6 months extremely challenging.

Nobody knows with confidence how the operating environment will be like come June 2024. First we had an Elnino drought threat but fortunately some rains have managed to come—this could help reduce the adverse impact. Economic headwinds expected to be part of us in 2024.

So what are the general trends I observed from various financial statements during strategic planning sessions?

The Profit and Loss Statements: Some recorded good sales meeting targets but it’s the costs that dragged profits down and in some instances into losses. Statutory Instrument Changes impacted many as most of the changes resulted in losses. Statutory Instruments of note are foreign currency related; statutory tax currency changes—and those with exposure to value chains where local currency is used also felt the heat. Late payments and when received, the value of payment diminished. A difficult period for Finance Teams in ensuring set targets are met.

Strong competition from the informal sector, dealing with inflationary pressures, and power outage challenges.

Balance Sheet Analysis: Whilst the world has moved on from Covid-19, the impact is still very much active on balance sheet especially Debtors and Creditors. Employees who were supposed to be paid salaries during Covid-19 still have not received them—and they are carried forward to future years.

This also applies to debtors –with some classified as bad as those who owe either closed business or have kept on promising to settle debts. This has led in most cases to high gearing.

ZIMRA Garnishes: Noted in several entities where failure to abide by tax rules and regulations has resulted in the long axe of tax authorities and other statutory bodies taking drastic action of garnishes. Big impact on working capital and business operations.

Hail those who survived 2023 and the question is—who will be the last man standing by December 2024? Will companies be able to clear Covid-19 impact balances, be able to ride Statutory Instrument Swings, meet tax obligations, pay inflation adjusted salaries, and make profits?

Will they be able to retain skilled staff, and face off with stiff competition? Of course some are tweaking their business models—including going informal to survive. Diversification on the lips of everyone and more business partnerships including with forums such as ZBIN in order to tap into the informal sector.

Every Friday evening, we bring various Zbnites to share their experiences in various businesses an this evening we hosted a Premium Chat on Cattle Ranching by South African based Mr Bond. This is a project that commenced in 2016 and has grown in leaps and bounds.

Greetings ladies and gentlemen. I am humbled to be speaking on this forum. My name is Blessing, many of you know me as Bond. I am a Digital Transformation Specialist, born and bred in Manicaland. I am currently based in Joburg, but I am speaking about a Cattle Ranching Business that my partners and I run in Zimbabwe.

History

This venture came to me by accident. I was working in Zimbabwe when a Diaspora returnee approached me to start a Cattle project. I was not very fond of cattle, I preferred small livestock like chickens and goats which are quick to grow. He convinced me to look at it objectively and I was sold. A few weeks later we were looking for partners to work with. 10 people showed interest, but eventually only 4 people committed to put funds in.

Requirements to start

The business is quite capital intensive and requires the following key things

1. Land (obviously)

2. knowledge and skills (oops)

3. Cash (capital)

4. Time

5. Commitment

6. Passion for learning

We got a small piece of land (20ha) in Chiweshe, our founding partner’s rural home – land questions solve (temporarily)

Knowledge and skills

All of the 4 partners had a subsistence background to agriculture, and we needed to convert our mindsets to commercial farming. We allocated each other responsibilities according to where we are based and availability.

1. Operations – our founding partner took charge of this. He needed to learn skills related to operating a cattle business – and managing people.

2. Strategic Planning – road map for the future – basically what needs to be done to make the vision a reality

3. Finance – yes, we needed this

4. Transport and logistics – the most expensive part of running the business

Choosing the Breed

There are several breeds in Zimbabwe, and the choice of the breed is influenced by a number of reasons

1. Your goals – are you doing beef or milk? We were going beef so we needed a fast growing breed that responds well to feed

2. Climate – Chiweshe is in the Sour veld, so certain breeds would struggle

3. Hardiness – resistance to disease and drought

4. Many other factors including size of calves.

We chose to go with the Boran breed. Fast growing, hardy and docile/friendly. Smaller calves to reduce calving complications.

Growing the numbers

Obviously a Breed like Boran will have yuo forking out at least $1500 for a heifer, $2000 for a cow and $5000 for a bull. We did not have the funds to do this right away. So we bought a very good bull for a registered Boran Breeder. All our bulls now have birth certificates and health cards (more on this later).

Then we started buying cows from our neighbourhoods.

One important thing to know is, the quality of your bull matters – a lot. if you have 50 cows, and they all give you one calf per year, the bull has given you 50 cows in one year. So your bull is worth at least half your herd.

Choose your bull right.

Raising capital as a group

Yooh, this is a complex on – but we were fortunate that all 4 of us are still committed to the business. Sometimes one would lag behind in contributions, and we would negotiate, strategize and come up with a catch up plan for them. As we speak, we are all up to date, the total hert we have is over 500 cows, with differing ownership models.

Find people who are committed, and who can afford the cost of running the business.

Cattle is a 5 year to profit business, so for 5 years you will be sinking money into a blackhole – agree on this vision first before moving.

Operations

This is the hard part of the business – and it involves the following

1. Herd management – Kraals, hygiene, feeding, watering, tagging

2. Breeding – managing bull/cow ration, controlling breeding, record keeping (heat, pregnancy, abortions, hits&misses, birth weights etc), maternity ward, bull and cow performance metrics, culling, weaning – you name it.

3. Health – dipping, vaccination, dosing, treatment wards, quarantine of new arrivals, monitoring

Its complex work, and to help us with our herd, we have 14 staff members, including a resident “VET”

All these things are managed on a calendar, strictly maintained by the operations team.

Challenges & Solutions

1. Land – we rent neighbouring farms to grow maize for our feeds. Our Ops team has fostered excellent relations with the community through various engagement programs, now we have support and collaboration from the community.

2. Water – clean water for drinking and dipping – we had to raise money to drill a commercial borehole, and build a spray race for our cattle

3. Supplementary Feed – we have to buy hay, but we are working on a plan to get a baller and a tractor to do our own hay

4. Diseases – January Disease, Foot & Mouth, Contagious abortion, Lumpyskin are some of the big ones. They are mainly managed by proper calendarised vaccination, dipping with chemical rotation, quarantine, monitoring and rapid response (hence a resident vet)

5. Deaths – a death-rate of 5% pa is expected, but we have managed to keep it under 1% through excellent operations.

Collaborations

One key think I have learnt from cattle business is, never view other cattle farmers as competition, they are your partners and acquaintances. Hard to believe, but when times are hard, you exchange bulls, you exchange vaccines, you share a truck to and from the auction, and you exchange feed, and you call each other for consultation. You even exchange steers for heifers!!! Collaboration is key to success.

You can even hire a vet together and cut costs.

Pamombe hapana chinoraswa.

Manure mudanga is fertliser for crops, dehwe rinotengeswa, nyanga dzinotengwa, even yafa yega inotengwa nevema crocodile feeds.

Opportunities in Beef Cattle

1. Commercial beef breeding – you just need a large herd and you can sell your steers twice every year. You can also cull the older and now performing cows. Fun fact, a Mashona cow can give you up to 14 claves in 18 years!!

2. Pen Fattening – hehe, this one is the popular kid on the block, many want to venture into it but it requires its own premium chat. We have started doing it, its fun but intense. Basically, you identify nice steers, you put them in a pen with little movement, feed them like broilers and sell for super quality meat.

3. Stud Breeding – this is the money league. This is where you track animal genes and make those expensive bulls. Remember that bull that sold for USD26k at the auction? Yes, thats a stud Brahman Bull from one lecturer/farmer from Mat South. Mat South is sweet veld, suitable for Brahman. This also requires its own premium chat – because the operations is at a different level of discipline.

Feeding

There are many options, grass via normal grazing is the most common, but there are concentrates, fodder crops and custom mixes (including chicken droppings) that can be done.

Care must be taken to make sure the feed is appropriate for the growth stage and breeding stage.

Growth stages

1. Calf – youngling below 6 months of age, feeds on milk from the mother. You may need milk supplements if the mother is struggling. You need to monitor the health of the mother during the first 2 months, otherwise both mother and calf will suffer malnutrition.

2. Weaner – between 6 and 12 months – weaned from the mother, protein and calcium are critical at this stage, as both bone and muscle are actively growing

3. Steer – male, above 12 months and castrated – suitable for pen fattening at 24 months of age

4. Heifer – female, between 12 months and 24 months, may have given birth once or twice depending on breed

5. Bulling Heifer – ready to mate, 18 t0 30 months in age – keep away from grandfathers

6. Juvenile Bull – young mischievous bull, between 18 and 30 months. Keep away from breeding stock if you dont want it to mess with genes

7. Cow – 36+months old, female, at least 2 calves. Fully grown

8. Bull – 36+ months old, male fully grown

Each requires its own specialized feed where necessary

Bull to Cow Ratios

A juvenile bull can score between 10 to 13 cows in 90 days.

A grown up bull will hit 25 to 40 cows in 60 days – depending on breed, condition and feeding.

Never overwork your bull, after breeding season, give it two months to rest.

Don’t give a big bull to heifers – please…

Profitability

Depends on your model;

Commercial – you need at least 70 cows and two bulls to make profit, with an average weaning rate of 80%

Stud – here each beast is profitable, but you need at least 40 cows and an excellent bull. This is an extremely profitable venture.

Pen fattening – quick, 90 days return. if you are good at it, you can make 70% to 120% profit per carcass

Little is known of how the E-creator story was resolved  at the courts, but this is the biggest ponzi scheme in Zimbabwe this year. Crafted in Nigeria at the end of the year 2022 and introduced in Zimbabwe in February 2023 running for a good 6 months before busting. In Nigeria it was known as Amita and in Zimbabwe launched as E-Creator. More than US$2m was lost in the process despite warnings that the ponzi scheme had short legs.

Meanwhile on the forum we also witnessed one of the most sophisticated scams from a member called Charmz but popularly known as Mai Tawana. She advertised widely across social media including ZBIN. Her modus operandi was as follows;

• Invite unsuspecting members of the public to partner in a fish deal.
• He business model involved buying fish from Kariba and selling to Holiday Inn Hotel.
• The first deal would go perfectly well—cash invested coming back with 100% profits.
• Victims excited by high profits bait, would reinvest in the dubious fish project.
• Victims asked to keep paper trail of fish procurement receipts—and Holiday Inn invoices. In summary running a Profit and Loss Statement showing huge paper profits.

Attempts to verify the existence of the Holiday Inn Buyer were not successful as she said he preferred remaining anonymous. And no one really verified whether there was any purchase of Kariba Fish. Therefore Mai Tawana involved in procurement …and also selling fish to Holiday Inn. Investors keeping profit statements and records.

Easy for students of finance to sniff out anomalies, but then ignorance is a multi- billion dollar business. By the time Mai Tawana was outted as a scammer—a total of $3000 had been lost by forum members. Outside the forum—Mai Tawana had fleeced investors of US$25,000.

Recovery attempts by victims did not yield much as she went underground.

Doing business in 2024 especially partnering with anyone? Think carefully and engage professionals before putting paper to pen and parting with your hard earned monies. Not all that glitters is gold. We expect more sophisticated scams to visit Zimbabwe in 2024 with most of them imported from high crime regions.