Diaspora Matters

We had a fabulous training in Maseru over the weekend and this must rank as one of our best Tapestry Training to date. The Basotho are serious about business and did not disappoint. It was interesting to note that knitwork is done during primary school and this gives them a competitive edge when it comes to making carpets. The country also exports wool to countries such as China. In future there will be no need for exporting raw materialsthey should export finished products such as shaggy carpets.

Training Objectives:

1. Develop successful business women
2. Facilitate the formation of registered entities such as companies and non for profit organisations
3. Creation of platforms that enable sharing of business opportunities information such as ZBIN
4. Assistance with corporate sponsorship
5. Appreciating local opportunities and promotion of networking
6. Unlocking value through digital marketing

All of the above objectives being anchored on Carpet Making or Tapestry and below we feature photos of what transpired.

Here is good news for Hararians interested in exploring business opportunities in the coastal city of Beira. There is now a direct bus that leaves Harare every morning and arriving in Beira in the evening. The bus is mostly used by business people-those into exports and imports.

The bus is Trip Trans and operates on all days except Saturday. Their details are as follows:

Harare: 773986769/0733 019 550

Beira : +258 847387470/+258 844860711

The Bus Fare is $20 from the Capital to the Indian Ocean.

ZBIN witnessed some entreprising Hararians loading the bus with Zimbabwean made goods which also included carrots-witnessed 7 bags of carrots in the bus.

Do not miss our group tour of the coastal city which is coming in early December. We would like to explore opportunities that exist in Mozambique as a group and now that buses are available, this increases are travelling options.

Three years ago I met someone selling paw paw plants, he convinced me to buy  plants for $5 each. He said the plants would take 3 years to grow and provide good returns. I grudgingly parted with my $15 and not convinced that the small plants would grow and let alone produce produce good fruits.

A few months later i was to regret not buying more paw paw trees. The ones i had bought went on to do so well that i regretted not following instructions because i had been told to apply fertilizer to them and ensure that they are watered on a regular basis. Despite not paying close attention to them-the plants defied the the odds and did extremely well. Iam now on the hunt for more trees but regretting why i did not buy at least 50 trees. Iam sure by now i should be filling lorries with paw paws for sale.

So you too can try the paw paw business.You can buy plants or seeds of paw paws at the next nursery that you come across in town.If you are buying seeds, germination takes 15 days with flowering happening in 3 months and harvesting in 7 months. The plants have a life span of 3 years provided you take good care such as watering and applying fertilizer.

Wilfred Mugeyi was voted the Best Foreign Striker by the Kickoff Magazine. A prolific goal poacher in his hey days who spend the greater part of his foreign days at Umtata Bucks in Mthatha. A former warrior who scored great goals for our national team. He is best remembered for  an infamous miss at the AFCON finals, when it was easy to tap the ball into the nets he chose the skies!

So we were in Mthatha last week, the place where the Mugeyi’s made a mark and he is more popular than the local mayor. When folks heard that we had come into town as promised, one dominant story was the exploits of the Mugeyi brothers William and Wilfred-the most popular Zimbos in this sleepy town which resembles Rusape or Chegutu.

Dr Yemukani Jojosi

We were in the town for a tapestry training that involved a big section of entrepreneurship. We did not disappoint, the town out was encouraging and we also trained our first Medical Doctor, Dr Yemukani  Jojosi. The Doc provided us with premises for the training and also took time to participate in the training. We thank her for the support and know that she will drive the initiative  in the town and beyond.

We then headed to East London where the support was phenomenal, not suprising because it is a big coastal city. We enjoyed working with pensioners who are hard working. We have a lot of follow ups to ensure that they form and register companies and NPOs. It is the beginning of a dream and we are proud to be part of their lives and business dreams.

Pietermaritzburg

PMB was our last port of call and this marks our last training in Kwazulu Natal having previously covered Durban. The good thing about this training is that it was done by locals with ZBIN providing virtual support. This is the ultimate objective of the project-locals should be empowered to carry out own successful projects.

What is up this week?

We have a project on mining that is coming up, we will shed more light once it is complete. We also have a poultry group meeting coming up. Mushroom growing farmers should look forward to a ZBIN facilitated training.

Volunteers

The forum is in need of volunteers, please inbox. Your chance to work for a regional organisation that is making a difference in more than 8 countries. A great working environment where there are no limitations to innovation. Do get in touch and help your forum to grow.

Wishing you a blessed week

Wa Mdala

The debate in Harare is that the shortlist of candidates for the post of town clerk is not impressive. The list shortened to 3 is said not to be good enough as the search for the next town clerk intensifies. Here is a our piece of advice-go to Murewa and find out what it means to run a council. It should be one of the best run councils, very neat and organised. They say first impressions count and for sure a first time visitor to this place will testify that they are organised in Murewa! Perhaps those in search of the next town clerk for the capital city need not go further-do pay a visit to Murewa and find out for yourself!

Back to the purpose of the post, The Sunday Mail has an advert of residential and commercial stands for sale and details are below:

High Density Residential Stands-Murewa: 8.33 per square metre (sizes 300sqm)

Commercial Stands-Murewa: $15/square metre (sizes 180 sqm)

Macheke Township

Low density $5 per sqm for stand sizes of 1200 sqm

Commercial stands-$15 sqm for average sizes of 1500 sqm

Payment Terms and Conditions 

60% of the total cost to be paid through bank transfers, electronic transfer or swipe. First preference to be given to those with full payment. Balance to be paid within a period of 2 months.

Contact Details:

The Chief Executive Officer, Private Bag 601, Murewa

Phone 0772 369 383

• We would like to advise Murewa District Council to revamp their website, a lot needs to be done. We however give them top marks for a well run and up to date  Facebook Page.

The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network forum is continuing with the women empowerment initiative that seeks to create hundreds of jobs for women in Southern Africa. The target is to train women who can be self sustainable by making carpet rugs for sale-the whole programme is on arts and crafts and combining it with business skills.

To date we have successfully launched the programme in Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In South Africa, we have been to Nelspruit, Durban, Johannesburg, Mthatha and East London. We have a training that ends today in Pietermaritzburg.

Below we feature some of the photos from our East London Training.

One of the fastest growing business in the country is the Solar Energy Business. There is high demand in the country especially in new residential suburbs which may not be connected by ZESA. Most home owners are therefore resorting to solar energy as an alternative. Below we feature one solar product-solar street lights. Visitors to Mrewa Town Centre should have seen the nice street solar lights that are installed there. The Rusape Town Council recently flighted tender adverts for solar street lights. This shows a growing business by city and rural town councils for solar street lighting.

Prices of the solar lights range from $350-$400 per light in China. You can refer to various trading platforms from China such as Made-In-China or Alibaba.

Solar street lights are fresh alternative to traditional street lamps such as LPS, HPS, or MH street lights. LED lighting provides a multitude of advantages over conventional incandescent light: LED solar street lights are environmental friendly, energy efficient, and cost-effective. This smart, ‘green’ option for outdoor LED lighting has emerged on the green scene due to the recent technological advancements of LED illumination.

The system is mainly composed of solar panel, light source, controller and battery. In daytime, when there is sunshine, the solar panel can convert the solar energy to electric power and store it in maintenance-free battery. At night or rainy or cloudy condition, the controller can control the lights automatically on when day off, auto-off when day break, and the battery shall supply the power for lighting.

Major Applications:

Special Features:

Are you interested in exporting goods from Zimbabwe for the first time? Are you aware of the requirements of applying for an Export Licence? You need not worry any more, the information is copied below. We have also attached a pdf document for download, it comes courtesy of Zimtrade.

Requirements for Application for Export Licence by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce
1. An application letter addressed to the Secretary for industry and Commerce stating the following:
• Brief company profile indicating line of business
• Product description
• Tariff code
• Quantities (e.g. tonnes, litres, metres, kilogrammes, etc.)
• Purchase price per unit
• Selling price per unit
• Total value of the consignment
• Country of origin/destination
• Justification for importing/exporting

2. Attach copies of the following documents
• Certificate of Incorporation
• CR14 showing company Directors
• Tax clearance certificate
• Copy of Standard Development Fund levy receipt
• Proforma Invoice (for imports)
Applications should be separate for different products

We are a Diaspora friendly forum and have more than 20 articles on our website on diaspora strategies. We have been making a lot of noise since last year imploring Zim entities to seriously consider the diaspora as a rich market place of ideas, products and services. This is a crucial sector which at its peak was remitting close to a Billion Dollars a year. This implies that the Diaspora funds a quarter of the national budget! A  lot of people in the diaspora still want to invest back home-there is a strong connection between them and the motherland. The diaspora holds the cash! In an economy where we are experiencing hard cash challenges, the diaspora holds the key in helping the nation in solving the hard cashflow challenges. Most in the diaspora have no worries about accessing cash and credit facilities, some are even willing to take out loans and invest back home. The current inflow of $1billion is an understatement-i t can even be doubledor trebled if attractive packages are offered to this important sector of the nation.

Diaspora Investment Zones

Dr Gono is leading the establishment of the Special Economic Zones which will be crucial in attracting investment in the country and this is good but how about including the diaspora too in this arrangement? Is it not easier to work with our own so that they can invest and assist the nation in creating economic opportunities?

Local Companies and the Diaspora

Most companies are still to grasp the importance of the diaspora. They are internally focused and concentrating on local customers or clients-what they are forgetting is that for every dollar that is in the economy, a sizeable percentage of it is coming from the hard working sons and daughters of the soil. Some of the decision to purchase goods and services by locals are being influenced by the diaspora. Given the uncertainties in the economy, local companies are being advised to have a review of their corporate and marketing strategies and find way to engage a critical sector of the economy. The big question is what are you doing to tap into the diaspora market?

What is up this week

Entrepreneurs, are you prepared for the festive season? This will be a big discussion on our Facebook and Whatsapp Platforms. In the meantime, we would like to congratulate a ZBIN volunteer who qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant, she is in diaspora but will be helping local businesses with business information whenever she is free from her busy schedule. Our pool of technocrats is expanding every day and this is good news for the forum!

So we wish you a productive and blessed week and thank you for being a member of Southern Africa’s prime business forum.

The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network holds the Southern Africa Digital Marketing Award. We managed to put a free business advert that went viral in at least 5 countries at the same time. In under 24 hours we had thousands of people talking about the forum in Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa. We wanted to find whether we could promote products beyond our home country. The result was more than we had anticipated setting new records that will be hard to break. Its not everyday that a free advert (non boosted) gets more than 10,000 reactions in under 24 hours! More than 10,000 were to be added in the following days.

So a lot of opportunities exist for young entrepreneurs especially those that are tech savvy. With social media, there is just no limit! You can sell products and services to any part of the world. Below we give you a free Digital Marketing Guide book for free download.

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