Diaspora Matters

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.

Our forum is well known for innovations and this year we brought you the submarine locator innovation after the unfortunate disappearance of the Titan Submarine. The ‘invention’ attracted a lot of interest across the globe and it’s our hope it will contribute to the field of science and researches. https://zbinworld.com/zimbabwean-invention-submarine-chute/

Our biggest innovation to date however has to be Tapestry (Rugmaking) which saw us going viral across SADC in 2017 and getting an honour from the Zulu King in KwaZulu Natal. On agriculture we helped to introduce and promote hybrid Paw Paws or Papaya.

In 2022 we championed cruise ship jobs access by Zimbabweans with more than 5000 benefiting.And this includes a chartered plane ferrying successful candidates from Harare to Hawaii free of charge. So what is in store in 2024? We have started a new initiative of Madagascan Lima Beans.

The author bumped into what seemed like wild beans in his back yard and weeded out a lot of them but 2 survived and managed to grow at an exponential pace with the first plant producing more than 4000 bean seeds. I had serious reservations whether the beans were edible given the fast and furious growth rate and took to social media to inquire about the weird beans.

Zbinite Pepukai Chato carried out a research and finally got to the bottom of it—Its’ Madagascan Lima Beans!

And this is what he has to say;

That is actually a be-speckled lima bean from Madagascar. It grows for 7years.One plant can feed a whole family. I researched it because to me it was out of this world.

I later on had the beans cooked and really regretted why I had not paid serious attention to the tasty beans. Very fast to cook and therefore takes less energy. Zimbabwe needs more of Madagascan beans for food security as we face drought. The biggest advantage is that it does not need constant watering and can technically grow in the wild.

Official Definition: A vigorous climbing bean that has attractive white and purple speckled seeds if left to dry out on the vine, otherwise they can be eaten raw while still white.

On Australian websites such as www.boondieseeds.com.au/and https://www.localseeds.com.au/they are sold for US$1 for an average of 6-8 bean seeds.

According to forum discussions, a few people have the beans although grown mostly as a backyard plant. It has little maintenance costs as it grows like a wild plant with added benefits of continuous growth and harvesting up to 3-7 years.

So 30 Subscribed Zbinites will take part in trials this coming season with a target of producing 50,000 seeds by April 2024. Full commercial scale farming expected to commence in the second half of 2024.

So expect a lot of noise around Madagascan Lima Beans in Harare towards end of next year going into the 2025 Agricultural Season.

The youngest population across the globe is found in Africa and in Zimbabwe youths constitute more than 65% of the population. On our forum, youths are more than 75% and the forum essentially implying that ZBIN is a youths forum.

Despite being in the majority, youths have few viable business forums they lead and champion their causes. They face a plethora of challenges such as Access to Capital, Access to Markets, Access to workspaces and a supportive environment. How many business forums from youths are you aware of? So to assist youths empowerment, on the 25^th of November at Rokpa Centre, an interim committee was elected to lead Young Zbinites.

It is led by James Mupudzi and seeks to help youths to solve the challenges they face in business. Currently the Young Zbinites Forum has 667 members but expected to increase to 5000 members by the end of 2024. The first project the youths will work on is acquisition of a small piece of land in the peri-urban areas of Harare.

The place will then be used for small businesses events. ZBIN which holds tens of events such as Business Showers, Mumpreneurs Market Fairs, Chapter Meetings and End of Year parties—will be the first client of the Young Zbinites. This way we help in the growth of the initiative before they scale up.

The good news about the Young Zbinites is that they will leverage on the existing solid digital infrastructure ZBIN has built over the past 9 years. Therefore congratulations to the young ones in business and we are looking forward to your success in 2024 and beyond.

Generally Zimbabweans avoid boarding empty public transport especially unbranded buses, kombis or the mshikashikas. They just hang outside waiting for alternate transport or for the bus to fill up and be the last to join. Perhaps herd mentality of safety in numbers?

You have obviously witnessed this, or possibly experienced it. Getting into an empty bus comes with many risks of time wasted as it could take quite some time to fill up. When you take your time waiting outside—you have many options.

To rig the system-touts introduced an insidious Bus Full Strategy whereby touts hoodwink passengers that the bus is almost full and therefore triggering a rush. Once you get into the bus and comfortably take a seat, you will have one shock waiting for you as the touts will disembark leaving you alone or with a few other passengers cheated the same way.

A very frustrating experience especially those travelling long distance especially Harare-Bulawayo, Harare to Mutare or Harare to Beitbridge. You board the bus thinking its leaving, only for it to make a u-turn a few hundred meters and start picking passengers for the umpteenth time using the same strategy. Even in musical concerts, most fans are now preferring hanging outside venues till main artists come onto the stage.

Dear Zbinites, the same strategy used by touts is used across the board. The take- over of Twitter by Elon Musk was involved in a prolonged negotiations process  for a revised takeover price due to a record number of ghost accounts. Every Social Media site has had to secretly use ghost accounts to boost numbers which acts as a bait for unsuspecting new members.

What are the factors you use to view a musical video on Youtube? Are others following the video? How many views? Is it trending? The lesser the views, the more likely for it to remain so. Helps explain why fake views are now a big industry with artists parting with huge sums in-order to boost views.

Before joining a Whatsapp Forum, many first check out the numbers—the more the numbers the better. The same strategy is also used by Ponzi Schemers with the last one being E-Creator.

Of course this brings a lot of questions on ethics—where do you draw the line? To what extend can one use purchased views or ghost accounts? No wonder why this topic is best handled away from the finance professionals. But for start-ups—when considering launching a new product or service, you could use the Empty Kombi Strategy to overcome resistance. Zimbabweans view all new products with suspicion—they need numbers to build and boost confidence!

Balancing budgets post the Covid-19 pandemic has been a delicate and complex matter for many countries around the globe and Zimbabwe has not been spared. Many countries have been exposed to climate change shocks, the Ukraine/Russia War and the volatile global mineral prices.

Looking at the 2023 National Budget, a number of new taxes have been proposed to augment the budget and have drawn sharp criticism from analysts on social media. The proposed wealth tax on residential properties above $100k that now attract 1% in taxes has been a hot topic.

For balance—wealth distribution not bad especially in a country with a widening gap between the rich and poor. Therefore on paper, a welcome move—the wealthy should pay their share in national development. However this will automatically increase the cost of doing business and impacting on the nation’s competitive advantage on the investment front.

Increased rentals and a determining factor on those choosing whether to invest in real estate in Zimbabwe versus other countries in the region. We could witness capital flight on the real estate sector. We hope a thorough cost benefit analysis survey has been conducted.

Increasing tollgate fees helps in revenue collection but increments of 100% and above do send wrong signals on inflation—we are fast depreciating the greenback and the economy will follow suit and increasing the cost of doing business. Perhaps staggered increases? But then this depends on the urgency of plugging the budget deficit.

Our main concern is how have we performed over the past 11 months? A simple budget versus actual performance so as to get a clearer picture for analysis and planning purposes.

Anyway it is what it is, and comply Zimbabweans have to do with local laws and regulations.

We have a few areas we think should be considered in future as alternatives for raising revenue.

Peri-urban Land: There is need to regularize state land around urban areas so that the government is involved in the sale of the land and provision of amenities. A lot of state land is being illegally sold in what has become known as Sabhuku Deals. Millions of dollars exchanging hands between Sabhukus, land barons and buyers. Nothing gets into the coffers of government in areas such as Seke, Goromonzi and Domboshava. There is need for a comprehensive survey on the value of the land sold, and still to be sold.

Melfort Smart City: We have previously covered the boundless opportunities that exist in Melfot especially when it’s converted as a smart city. Our proposal was to invite land developers who can service up to 10,000 residential stands and then sell them to decongest Harare. Most diasporans are in need of land and would have been the first to pay cash up-front. Follow the model around the country and service up to 100,000 residential and commercial stands. A good cash cow where the government simply avails land and coordinate organised development.

Of course our 2 main proposals are land based but we also add strong engagement with the diaspora who are expected to remit a total of $2.4 billion by the end of 2024. What have we done to engage and attract investment? What incentives have we crafted for them to consider home investment?

The major objectives of the Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network forum are 1) Access to Opportunities Information, 2) Access to Markets, 3) Access to Capital and 4) Promotion of Networking. We have done exceedingly well on the rest of the objectives except Access to Capital.

Access To Capital is a universal problem for start-ups but we have introduced innovations such as Crowdfunding which has had limited impact but remains a viable option. But our best innovation has to be championing the access to capital through working on cruise ships.

Before the Covid-19 period—Access to Cruise ships was restricted to a tiny few but floodgates opened in late 2021 when the cruise ships industry started revving the engines once more with cruise liners back on the high seas.

The cruise ships had been the hotbed of Covid-19 infections with some employees unfortunately passing on and others moving on to other jobs. Recruitment policies were therefore relaxed allowing mass recruitment across the globe. This presented Zimbabweans with a rare opportunity to apply and get recruited.

Our forum was fortunate to have a member (Sherz) who had 9 years working experience on cruise ships. We sat down and brainstormed on how to get forum members on cruise ships by streamlining the process from developing legit links, design of relevant resumes and interview coaching.

And the result? More than 1000 have directly benefited from the advice shared and our estimate is a total of 5000 Zimbabweans managed to land cruise ships jobs. Most of them recruited for lower level positions such as Housekeeping, Galley Attendants, Youth Camp Staff, Assistant Photographers, Waitresses, Bar Attendants and others. Some got high level positions such as engineers, casino dealers, HR Managers, Pursers, ICT Managers, Entertainment Managers and others.

Recruitment was done online with some through job fairs conducted in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. Top destinations being Carnival Cruise, Princess Cruise, Msc Cruis, Royal Carribean and others. Salary ranges from $800 per month to +$5000in addition to benefits such as tips for selected professions and cruiseliners.

The estimated benefit to Zimbabwe being 5000 estimated employees x an average salary of $16,000 per annum or $80m per year minus living expenses. The biggest advantage of working on cruise liners is that most of the basic needs are provided such as food and accommodation—and no transport costs. Therefore one can save more than 90% of salaries earned and bring it home.

These Zbinites got a once in a life time opportunity to fly for free on a chartered plane from RGM Airport to Hawaii for visas en route to Carnival Cruise ships in July 2022.

Those migrating to other nations such as care workers to UK cannot afford to save above 30% of their income as most of their incomes eaten by living expenses.

Dear Reader, This is how we managed to partially solve access to capital for our members. Of course these workers have other pressing needs to sort back home, but the belief is after supporting relatives and building own homes—businesses will be the top priority!

Of course it’s not all smooth sailing on cruiseships as one has to adjust mentally, emotionally and physically to an environment of hard work through long hours.

The Future of Cruiseship Jobs: In 2021 and 2022, cruise ships were desperate for employees with potential candidates wary of human trafficking or recruitment scams. However when the word quickly spread that indeed the jobs were bonafide—most of the low level jobs were filled. Jobs still exist but one has to be fast in applications, and also know the correct procedures of applications.

For first timers—Be wary of scams, and no funds required upfront by agencies. You do the whole process by yourself—from applications, interviews, medical clearances and visa applications.

The small businesses sector dominates the economy in Zimbabwe and therefore its natural that the biggest forums in the country will come from this sector. However is it easy to form a well networked forum in Zimbabwe?

This is complex science as networking total strangers in business takes ages. It is easy to form a Facebook Page and Whatsapp too and these pages can fill up within a few months to years. However most of those who join have a focus on selling—any other business is not material.

Therefore finding a small business forum that attracts at least 50 members on a regular basis is almost impossible. For a start, most small business owners are busy and weigh the costs of attendance of a meeting especially where no monetary incentives such as perdiems are offered.

To hustle and earn an extra dollar or the opportunity cost of attending a business seminar or event?

With more than 70% of the economy dominated by small businesses or informal sector or 10 million people. Zimbabwe should have at least 10 strong small businesses forums with membership of above 200,000 each. Strong well funded forums with presence in all the 10 provinces.

It should not be difficult to pick random members from the street and ask them to name at least 3 forums. But this is not the case due to a plethora of reasons.

The good news is that The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network has been trying its best to network members over the past decade. We have made considerable progress in this area through leveraging on digital platforms where we now have an active 90,000 members on Facebook and 20,000 members on Whatsapp.

In 2023 we made great progress with meetings in new areas such as Mutare, Bulawayo and Cape Town. Although we recommend self sustenance of chapters—however members still expect the Harare Office to come and give support. As soon as we leave, no meaningful meetings or events take place.

Looking at the 2023 ZBIN Events, we believe the great work and support from members make us the biggest forum in the land although there is still great improvement required in many areas. Our members need access to capital as a top priority.

Our Mumpreneurs Forum launch in April attended by 150 members and showing the power of women in networking.

Women entrepreneurs support has been phenomenal.

Our third Mumpreneurs Markets on 25 November 2023.

Our first chapter meeting in Cape Town held in August 2023 and attended by 20 members.

Our biggest ever Bulawayo meeting held in June 2023

Introducing new initiatives always a challenge but the Sports Day was a success.

Again women entrepreneurs helped to contribute to the success of the Sports Day.

We conducted 3 Sports Days in 2023 with the first one in March, second one in June and third one in October.

Our ZBIN SA Chapter has been holding regular forum events for the past 5 years.