The report below is essential for all entrepreneurs, scholars, practitioners and policy makers.
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Diaspora Matters
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The vending machine remains 100% owned by the investor. No franchise fees, advertising fees or marketing fees are payable and all profits are for the benefit of the owner of the machine. Machines carry warranties of up to five years from PK Vending and site / location assistance is provided.
Own from one to 1000 machines depending on your investment ability. The vending business is unique in that you can start this venture part time and expand as you wish. The concept is easy; one buys for cash and sells for cash. That way you don’t have any debtors or creditors or are never waiting for someone to pay you. The vending industry has proven to be recession resistant and a typical return on investment is in the region of 36% per annum. Machines have a long life span of between 12 and 18 years. This is the perfect business for someone not wanting to risk too much or leave the safety of their existing job, yet still requires additional income.
Landline Number:+27 11 656 0550
Contact Name:Jean-Dre
Mobile Number:+27 72 319 3042
Investment (excl.VAT):From R 55 000
Our organisation recently partnered with Swazi Nationals and formed a company some weeks back. Registered in Swaziland, the company will be spearheading empowerment initiatives in the Kingdom of Swaziland. The Kingdom becomes our second home and we are planning to put Swaziland on the world map in terms of entrepreneurship. The country has 1.2 million people which is roughly the size of the combined population of Bulawayo and Chitungwiza.
Today we share with you the top opportunities in the Agriculture Sector .
- Peanut Butter Production
- Processed Meat
- Baby vegetables
- Vegetable drying
- Frozen vegetables
- Tomato sauce production
- Cassava Processing and Starch
- Tobacco Growing
- Fruit, vegetable preservation and bottling
- Bottling (preservation) of pickles and chutneys
- Bottling of jams and jellies
- Processing of beans and other legumes
- Dairy products (e.g. Yoghurts, custards) and ice bottling of spring-water and flavoured spring water
- Juice squeezing (fresh juice from oranges, grapefruits
Official statistics put the figure at 1,000,000 as of July 2017 but this is a gross understatement as it excludes the diaspora where more than 3 million are estimated to be living.
Just to show that the figure of 1 m is wrong, The popular Dembare Dotcom Facebook Page has 200k members. Some Zim Wome Groups have more than 500,000 members and yet not everyone is on those pages. So the million figure has to be for locally registered numbers. Our total figure may potentially be 4 million active Facebook users across the globe!
What does this mean for business?
Huge market to sell products and services. The numbers are also increasing meaning that in future expect 70% of the population to be on Facebook! Feasible? Yes as internet spreads to all corners of the country, as smart phones become cheaper and data charges going down.
When the economy picks up expect a surge in numbers too. All my kids are being taught IT at school right from primary school…..all of these kids will eventually find themselves joining social media. You want to know the percentage of young people in the country? It is almost 70% meaning a ready market for social media.
When Strive Masiyiwa says the internet of things is the future he really means it. If you are doing business and you have no social media strategy then you risk falling by the way side! If your competitors master and develop strategies that appeal to social media users then trouble for you!
Facebook Boosting Opportunities
So what’s the market share of ZBIN on local social media users? At 32,000 our share is roughly 3% not bad for a small forum. The target is to reach 50% reach of the estimated 4 million users by end of next year.
What is Facebook Boosting?
Open your Facebook page and u will see posts written Sponsored, from Strive Masiyiwa, from Stanbic, from all over the world. Facebook just forces these adverts onto your page whether you like it or not. You have no option but to view- if it’s good enough u can read and join.
Implications
The implication of these stats is that the future is Digital! Whilst some are old school and concentrating on Fabook as a place for socialisation, some are eying money and markets!
For some who see the big picture like Strive Masiyiwa, he is leveraging Facebook to promote entrepreneurship and his Kwese TV project! He has amassed 3 million viewers in a few months. By end of next year expect the numbers to reach more than 20 million
This is what helped to shape the direction of the forum when we formed it back in 2015. If you would like to find information about business opportunities in Zimbabwe, where are you going to go? If you would like to download information or resources on small businesses in the country-which site or forum do you visit? If you do not have sufficient funds for consultancy fees, where will you get free information?
The questions became tougher for instance if you are i the diaspora and would like to invest back home, who is going to give you up to date information on opportunities? So an attempt to answer the questions above gave rise to a fledging digital platform which helps to assist small businesses in Zimbabwe-The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network!
A community and a platform that constantly discuss business –a close community that networks and share information on opportunities. A capacity building platform where members access information and resources to help improve their businesses.
Our model is structured as follows:
Website: Our website is our central place for filing information and resources. Contains a lot of downloads and articles that helps small businesses. It helps with free and easily accessible information. The website established at the end of November 2016 has been viewed more than 250,000 and is linked to our Facebook Page.
Facebook Platform: Acts as a link between the website and our popular whatsapp groups. Information flows from the Facebook page of 32,000 to the website or vice versa. Information is cascaded to the Whatspp platform or comes from the Whatsapp platform.
The Whatsapp Platform: With over 8,000 members and managed by trained Whatsapp Admins, the forums include Poultry, Mining, Bitcoin, Online Forex, Agriculture, Rabbits, Mozambique Opportunities, Baking, Entrepreneurship, Tapestry etc. It also has business forums for regional countries such as Lesotho, Zambia, Swaziland, Zambia, Botswana and Malawi. Information flows from the Whatsapp platforms to Facebook or straight to the website.
So with information flowing from different directions on our platforms-the result is a closely knit and well informed community of 32,000 and more. The model ensures that at any given point in time there are tens of people on our website. Every minute a discussion is going on in the more than 20 groups that we have on our platforms.
When we investigated whether such a model exists in the world, we realised that a similar model model exists in Japan and its called Mirasapo. Whilst the Mirasapo does not exactly follow the Whatsapp and Facebook linkages it however achieves one major objective and that is to support the needs of the SME sector in Japan.
Out is the traditional class type of capacity building and workshops and in is the future with use of IT in creating engaging platforms where members can access information from experts. This has worked well in Japan as it enables everyone from all the corners of the country to access information at the click of a button. This is what we are using as we connect the Diaspora and locals-connect entrepreneurs in remote areas with others in cities. The message is the same-access to information and resources at little cost.
Model Adjustment
The existing model has worked well for us in creating a solid and closely knit community. The next stage is expanding the model by ensuring that it reaches to members beyond the current 32,000 to more than a million members as we expand beyond Southern Africa. We will be sharing with you more information as we have already done a test which reached out to hundred thousands members.
The Good News
By now you must have received the good news of our project in a Southern Africa country. More to come as we prepare for an innovative program that we hope will be used as a model for entrepreneurship in Africa. Current models of business hubs which have been introduced are fine but need to be refined so that they can suit local conditions-what do locals want? If they enjoy singing whilst they do their job, are you incorporating that into your business models? If locals enjoy handiwork are you incorporating that into business models or you are just bringing business school environment to rural area based entrepreneurs? Lets wait and see what comes out from pilot phase coming up in the next few weeks.
Bitcoin and More Bitcoin
Last week we formed groups-India-Zim group for collaboration between Zim and Indian entrepreneurs. A great platform where information is freely shared between Zimbos and Indian entrepreneurs. We however failed to create a Bitcoin group due to time constraints-we promise to create it this week.
Office Closure
The ZBIN offices will be closed for renovations as from Monday to Tuesday this week-we reopen on Wednesday.
So wishing you all a fabulous week-do not forget to go and register to vote.
Wa Mdala
Our policy is that of encouraging individuals to form companies or NGOs. Get registered and grow! Get registered and be taken seriously!
We have been preaching about Company registrations in all of our programs- and trainings! Now we are proud to have influenced the formation of this company based in Nelspruit… excellent stuff.
Currently doing training in Maseru and they are building references for corporate sponsored trainings in the region.
So congrats to Mpumalanga, hoping to see more provinces in SA joining in. In Zim do not be left out- tikuimba zuva nezuva fomai fomai makambani.
Our future plans for the Nelspruit based company is to create a digital women empowerment platform for South Africa. We will update you in January, should strategically position this company as the most influential women owned company in SA.
We encourage our members to uphold high ethical values in business. Ethics help in the sustainability of your business. Try and cut corners, try and engage in corruption and your business will only survive in the short run.
Below we showcase some of the high profile cases of Fraud and Corruption and what happened.
Case 1.
In the UK in 2014, a small limited company
specialising in printing security documents,
together with its chairman and its sales and
marketing manager, were convicted of corruptly
agreeing to make payments totalling nearly half
a million pounds. These payments were used to
influence the award of business contracts in
Kenya and Mauritania. This was the first Serious
Fraud Office (SFO) trial resulting in conviction
of a corporate for foreign bribery.
Case 2
In 2011, Japanese giant Olympus became engulfed
in a $1.7 billion accounting scandal after its former
Chief Executive was dismissed for questioning
company accounts and brought the issue to global
attention. As a result of the scandal, the Board
resigned and the company together with three
former executives pleaded guilty in Japan to
charges related to a cover-up. The scandal had a
devastating impact on the value of the company at
the time and the company was fined ¥700 million
(£3.8 million).
Case 3
In South Africa in 2016, a businessman was
sentenced for 20 years for using a multimillion
South African rand fishing business as a front
for false VAT returns, using the proceeds to fund
an excessive luxury lifestyle and losing the
country’s revenue service over R250 million.
Case 4
Satyam Computer Services, an Indian global IT
company, was brought down and joined the ranks
of Enron and WorldCom on the scale of fraudulent
financial activity, after the CEO in 2009 admitted
the company had misrepresented its accounts
to its board, the stock exchanges, the regulators,
its investors and all other stakeholders. The
company’s revenues and profits were overstated,
and it also reported a cash holding of
approximately $1.04 billion that simply did not
exist. The CEO, together with others involved in
the fraud, were convicted in 2015.
Case 5
Volkswagen (VW) Diesel Fraud:Running on empty
In 2015, the United States’ Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in
America had a “defeat device” – or software – in diesel
engines that could detect when they were being tested,
changing the performance accordingly to improve
results. At the time, VW was positioning its diesel cars in
the markets, backed by a huge marketing campaign,
highlighting its cars low emissions. The resultant scandal
impacted on VW globally at every level of the company.
In early 2017, several VW executives were charged over
their alleged roles in the emissions scandal.
The US Attorney General stated that “These individuals all held
positions of significant responsibility at VW, including
overseeing the company’s engine development division
and serving on the company’s management board.
Over the course of a conspiracy that lasted for nearly
a decade, they seriously abused those positions,
and today, they are being charged with a range of
crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the United
States, violations of the Clean Air Act, and wire fraud.”
Investigations into their conduct are ongoing and followed
a requirement concluded in 2016 for VW to pay $4.3
billion in criminal and civil penalties and to take specific
measures to prevent future violations. These sanctions
are in addition to more than $15 billion in settlements with
VW that have previously announced and do not take
into account other worldwide actions, including civil class
actions, against the company.
One of our mandate is to ensure that our members are well informed. A well informed member is an empowered member who has a competitive advantage over those without enough information! So for our members in Lesotho, the hope is that you do not miss any opportunities especially those that are publicly known.
Below we feature an advert from the Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (BEDCO).
In an attempt to facilitate establishment and development of Basotho owned businesses by locals who posses technical and operational skills in textile and aspire to improve their businesses but lack the necessary entrepreneurial and business management skills, the Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (BEDCO), calls for applications from interested people to join our business incubation programme Qhotsiso project. The project is intended to assist young people who are self -employed in the textile industry to become employers and drivers of economic growth. The project will assist by providing working space, necessary machinery, technical advisor and business advisor to the beneficiaries. The incubation centre is based at BEDCO TY and each intake takes 12 months.
Who is eligible?
The project targets young Basotho Aged 18-35 years who posses operational skills in textile, whose small businesses struggle to access machines and workspace, and those who are in the process of starting business. Companies owned by more than one person have an added advantage.
Candidates will only be selected based on viability of the business and its potential to create new jobs for other people. All qualifying individuals in all ten districts of the country are eligible to submit their completed application forms. However all candidates should note that BEDCO will not cater for their travel and living expenses for the duration of the incubation in TY. They should be able to sustain themselves financially.
Selection and adjudication process
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview. Interview will consist of oral and practial tests.
Submission and deadline
Application forms are available at all BEDCO offices and can be submitted there.
FINAL DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION FORMS IS ON THE 10TH NOVEMBER, 2017. Enquiries can be made via telephone on the following numbers: +266 2221 6100 contact person ‘M’ e Koronti Ntsasa Masiloane
The number of Zimbos in Dubai has been increasing over the past few years. A lot of professionals have been finding jobs in the oil rich Gulf Region. A number of the people who emigrated are looking for opportunities to invest in back home and ZBIN would like to assist them in decision making.
One of the areas to invest in is the Information and Technology sector; buying and selling IT equipment such as laptops, printers, cellphones etc. Demand in this sector is growing, the number of young adults in Zimbabwe is estimated at 67% and this generation represents a huge market for the products. Most of the products sourced from the region are sold at more than thrice the cost in Dubai. The products can be sourced cheaply in bulk in the Middle East Region.
How to do it?
Partner with locals who put in 50% stake in the business ‘never partner with anyone who is not putting in an equal share especially in the current environment’. Get a formal partnership and ship in these goods for sale in the country. Be of course wary of the fluctuations in the forex exchange and price your products accordingly.
Do not just plunge into the business without enough market surveys and business researches especially on the import duties charged.
We wish our hard working cousins in the Gulf States success as they analyse investment options back home.
Our forum is India friendly as we have a lot of members and followers in India. We often get a lot of inquiries from the country especially about opportunities in South Africa. Below is an article about opportunities in the IT sector of South Africa, hoping that it helps in understanding the sector better.
South Africa – Information Technology
This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.
Last Published: 8/2/2017
Overview
Unit: ZAR billions
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total Market Size
|
67
|
74.2
|
78.8
|
83.3
|
|
Hardware sales
|
26.1
|
29.1
|
29.5
|
29.2
|
|
Software sales
|
16
|
16.7
|
18
|
19.7
|
|
Services sales
|
25.8
|
28.2
|
31.2
|
34.3
|
*BMI Industry Report 2017 Q1 Sales
Data Sources: Above figures are unofficial estimates obtained from industry sources.
Data Sources: Above figures are unofficial estimates obtained from industry sources.
South Africa has one of the largest information technology markets in Africa by value. It shows technological leadership in the mobile software field, security software as well as electronic banking services. As an increasingly important contributor to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP), the country’s ICT and electronics sector is both sophisticated and developing. Several international corporates operate subsidiaries from South Africa, including IBM, Unisys, Microsoft, Intel, Systems Application Protocol (SAP), Dell, Novell and Compaq. It is seen as a regional hub and a supply base for neighboring countries.
South Africa’s ICT products and services industry is penetrating the fast-growing African market. South African companies and locally based subsidiaries of international companies have supplied most of the new fixed and wireless telecoms networks established across the continent in recent years.
The South African Government and the Financial sector continue to be the largest player when it comes to IT spending. Private consumption will rise, but the strong growth of smartphones is likely to offset PC and laptop usage. The depreciated rand could also be responsible for tablets outselling notebooks, a less expensive piece of hardware. It is a strongly regionalized market, due to a lack of inter-city connectivity and infrastructure in parts of the country (rural areas) and it is very price sensitive. However, improvements to network infrastructure and adoption of cloud services and smart infrastructure will see this changing. There is a trend towards greater innovation in applications used for HR and payroll to increase operational efficiencies.
Leading U.S. companies such as Microsoft are elevating South Africa into the lead group of countries for new product releases reflecting the growing importance of the market and the region. Intel launched its Software and Services Group in South Africa in 2015. In March 2016, IBM announced that they were opening a new IBM Cloud Data Centre in Johannesburg. IBM will provide clients with a complete portfolio of cloud services. This is the result of close collaboration with South African, 100% black owned firm Gijima and Vodacom and is designed to support cloud adoption and customer demand across the continent.
This again demonstrates the willingness of foreign companies to invest in this market and use the local skills force to penetrate the market and the region.
Sub-Sector Best Prospects
The major worldwide trend of moving toward cloud based systems is one that has gained momentum in South Africa. The strong entrepreneurial drive within the local IT sector is creating larger demand for cloud based services.
Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and the Internet of Things otherwise known as the smart market is forecast to grow and is a fairly new development globally and not just in South Africa.
In South Africa, the focus of projects relating to the IoT mainly concentrates on connecting all South African citizens to the internet. Many metropolitans are creating free Wi-Fi hubs enabling access to the internet, especially in the townships, enabling those citizens that cannot afford the high data costs to improve their connectivity via free Wi-Fi hotspots. The demand for wireless connectivity has grown by roughly 19% within a year as there are now about 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the country. Research released by iPass, a global WiFi company indicated that there was one Wi-Fi hotspot for every 6160 South Africans, far below the global average of one per 150 people. As this smart technology market is fairly new, it is forecast to grow bringing with it opportunities to connect via the requisite hardware, software and security systems.
Software
Business software spending may be driven by customer-centric industries such as retail, financial and telecoms, where businesses are recognizing that solutions can be a competitive differentiator. Cloud-based software products are expected to drive growth. This sub-sector is still hampered by piracy and it is estimated by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) that around 35% of installed software in SA is illegal. The need for security products is growing with company spends increasing to about 8% of the total IT budget. The higher end of South Africa’s software market has matured and companies are price sensitive and cautious about investing in new technologies.
E-commerce and related software is showing growth with South African online stores showing the number of online shoppers increased significantly year-on-year.
Broadband access continues to improve due to investments in submarine and terrestrial fiber-optic networks which have increased capacity and coverage. This will continue to be an important factor for spending in this sector.
Smart Cities
South Africa is the leader when it comes to smart city technology in Africa. South African cities recognize that the benefits of smart cities are wide ranging, affecting a broad spectrum of industries and making life easier for residents in a multitude of ways. South African cities: Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban are taking the lead with various smart city initiatives and have put into operation some variants of smart city solutions. These cities are open to explore innovative technologies and best practices that are currently been implemented in first world countries.
South Africa understands the need for smart cities and the benefits of thereof relating to country-wide improvements. Quality of life expectations and implementation of best practices across different industries is a fervent goal that pushes for private and public sector cooperation. The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) promotes Innovation in Local Government and encourages a mindset of innovation in municipalities nationwide. SALGA’s role is to collect and disseminate knowledge on innovation, to encourage learning, and facilitate the replication of successful practices in different municipalities. Innovation creates connections among communities, government, the private sector and civil society seeking innovative ways to meet social needs. The SALGA captures the essence of South Africa’s country-wide effort.
A number of challenges still stand in the way of smart cities becoming a reality in South Africa. Along with underdeveloped infrastructure, an even more troubling obstacle is the skills deficit. This is a particularly vexing hindrance to the advancement of smart cities nationally, requiring well-trained, tech-savvy individuals who understand and can use IT systemsThe City of Cape Town has made some notable progress with a digital integrated Transport system, implementing a SAP-ERP system which was globally recognized for a visionary use of IT by Computer World Honors 21 Century Achievement Award. Another critical component of making the City of Cape Town Smart City ready, was the decision to build a fibre optic network to connect City buildings and the citizens of the City. The ongoing roll out has connected 300 buildings with over 800km of fibre and a target of 600 buildings and 1300km of fibre to be reached by 2021. This enables the City to share information across departments and capture data to prioritize services.
The City Johannesburg enables residents to digitally report any infrastructure faults and encourages use of smart metering to eliminate non-collection electricity bills.
Cybersecurity
As the Internet of Things (IoT) or connected devices grows in popularity so the threat of cyber hacks/attacks increases and with this comes opportunity for cybersecurity related to these products. According to PWC, March 2016, 32% of respondent organizations in South Africa were victims of cybercrime with 16% not knowing if they were victims or not. Only 35% had a cyber incidence response plan. If only 35% had cyber incidence response plans there may be opportunity to consult for the other 65%.
Opportunities
There are opportunities within organizations looking for assistance in utilizing efficiencies from cloud computing such as Software as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service. Cloud computing is becoming more important due to improved bandwidth availability, security and lowered cost of broadband, as well as additional internet providers competing in the market. According to Business Monitor International, areas of opportunity for cloud computing include banking and retailing. Cloud computing growth has also resulted in increased investments in data centers and related infrastructure.
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There have been high profile cyber-attacks and hacks on financial, utility and even political parties. Due to the increase in Web traffic there will be increased demand for IT security products and software within most sectors.
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As the Internet of Things (IoT) or connected devices grows in popularity so the threat of cyber hacks/attacks increases and with this comes opportunity for cybersecurity related to these products. According to PWC, March 2016, 32% of (reported) organisations in South Africa were victims of cybercrime with 16% not knowing if they were victims or not. Only 35% had a cyber incidence response plan.
Web Resources
For More Information, the U.S. Commercial Service, South Africa can be contacted via email:
Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.