Diaspora Matters

Its a horror story that is meant for the movies, its a story that is has brought misery to most cattle farmers in Domboshava in Mashonaland East and Musana in Mashonaland Central. Many kraals have been wiped clean, kraals that once had permanent residence now lie empty! Kraals that once represented the wealth and pride of most families are now an eyesore, a constant reminder of a bitter experience for many a farmer. What is worse is that there is no scientific solution in sight, veterinary professionals have totally failed to control the disease outbreak in these two areas.

The horror story was scripted in Domboshava after the end of the rain season, the first cow to die was recorded in Domboshava and everyone thought this was an isolated case. A few days later more cattle were to join the graveyard and this raised alarm within the community.

I stay in Musana Bindura and therefore did not pay much attention to what was happening in the nearby district of Goromonzi. After all Domboshava is some 8 kilometres from my homestead. The Nyaure River marks the border between Domboshava and Musana and we thought that the problem would not cross the river.

I had first heard of this  mysterious disease wiping out cattle in Chinamhora area and did not pay attention because i assumed it was a normal foot and mouth outbreak which was going to be contained within a few weeks.

When i visited my rural area during the Heroe’s holiday i had what i had feared most-the crossing of the scourge to our ancestral land of Musana in Bindura South. First to be directly hit was Chief Chikore area where tens of cattle succumbed to this nameless disease whose origin was Domboshava. It soon spread to Nyakurwa area where a popular farmer with 45 cattle was left with 7 cattle!

After Nyakurwa, it entered my village and like a possessed spirit started moving from kraal to kraal devouring cattle with reckless abandon. Like an evil spirit, the scourge has left many villagers speechless and helpless. Watching your prized possession dropping dead without notice is a bitter pill to swallow, watching your herd being reduced by more than half is not easy to accept. Kumafuro mombe inongomira kufura, yotarisa pasi, ukawona yapedza kanguva yakatarisa pasi wotoziva kuti zvatanga.

Name of Disease?

The disease which has baffled villagers has no name according to the villagers. Maybe there is a scientific name out there but it has not been communicated to the hapless villagers.

To their credit, villagers have been informing veterinary professionals but  this has not helped at all. Vet docs have examined both live and dead  animals but not pinpointed the disease-they have not stopped it either. Unconfirmed reports say they are finding liver problems during postmotems . All prescriptions of medicines recommended by vets have not been helpful as some animals have died after being injected with prescribed medicines. The verdict is veterinary services have not been helpful in anyway!

How are animals dying?

One would expect animals to be sickly in appearance before dying but this is not the case as healthy looking beasts are dying . They are dying without notice-the trend witnessed is that  of a cow that stops grazing and looks intensely at the grazing grass before slumping to the ground-end of story!

Veterinary Advice

Villagers have been advised to bury all animals that die this way but few are heeding the advice. Since it is not foot and mouth, most are eating the beef, some selling it locally and in Harare. Noone knows for sure the effect of this cow disease on human beings although there is an unconfirmed report of a family  experiencing leg problems after eating the meat from affected animals. One may not completely blame villagers-beasts are dying looking healthy and add to this the fact that cattle represent wealth within the community.

Copying Measures

Some fearing the scourge have been transporting their cattle to other ‘safe’ areas or districts where the disease is still to reach. This copying mechanism is fraught with problems as it increases the chances of transferring the disease to other areas. One farmer had transported his herd of 20 cattle to Madziva and the hope is that he did not transfer a problem and he sought a solution to the disease problem.

Possible source of the problem

I may need to categorically state that iam not a veterinary professional and only qualified persons are authorised to investigate, analyse and issue authoritative statements on animals. However after analysing events on the ground, i noticed something that may point to the source of the disease.

It is the army worm that was brought during the rain season. The outbreak started in Chinamhora after the end of the farming season in March. An analysis of what is new in the area shows that most ‘mazhanje’ tree leaves have been affected. This is history in the Goromonzi and Musana area-the indigenous wild  tree has never been affected by worms and some who have been in the area for more than 80 years can testify. This is a new phenomenon-unheard of and never been witnessed.

It is interesting to note that the dangerous worms not only eat the mazhanje fruits but go on to attack the leaves. All areas where the disease has been ravaging cattle have the mazhanje tree!

The worms climb up trees for feeding during the evening and climb down during the day and stay on the ground. It is highly possible that the cattle affected could have grazed grass that has got these worms!

More is needed to research on the possible connection between the army worm and the mysterious cattle disease. We need scientific write up and conclusion but for now we are pointing our fingers towards the new worm that descended the area.

The worm has wrecked havoc on the livelihoods of farmers with some resorting to desperate measures of selling their cattle at ridiculously low prices, some are exchanging their cattle for donkeys as donkeys seem immune to the disease.

In the Chinamhora area, most cattle kraals have been lefty empty, in Chikore most kraals are empty and the only reminder that cattle once existed is cow dung. In Mupandira, herdboys are herding cattle with knifes and axes so that if a cow falls down-they can immediately cut meat whilst the meat! They want to cut on losses rather than to lose $300-$500 worth of investment.

Awaiting Answers

We are waiting for answers from responsible veterinary authorities. We would like to know the name of this disease that has killed hundreds of cattle and threatening to kill thousands more before it is contained. We would like to know what measures are being taken to address the problem. We also like to know whether there is a connection between the army worm and cattle disease. We are looking for answers as to why the disease is spreading without control. We hope to see the official response informing all stakeholders of how many cattle have been killed, what has been done to date.

All we are asking for is answers before the disease spreads to all areas across the country. So far it has shown an increased appetite to spread at a faster rate. We would also like to know measures being put in place to control the army worm that continues to wreck havoc after the end of the rain season. What is going to b the effect of this army worm on the 2017/2018 farming season?

So i was watching CNN today and there was  a programme of training the memory so that it can remember a lot of things. Interesting programme that shows that most people rarely use the power of their minds! Through the programme, i watched many people doing the unthinkable….verdict? The verdict was through practice, we can achieve more. Through mind training, students improved academic records-even those previously classified as dull.

Iam not an educationist an therefore may not be aware of how our local educators are doing it but believe that this is a must watch documentary. Yes we have quiz championships at high school an i remember representing my former school well during the 90s. I feel schools should launch competitions that train the minds of youngsters and watch the results!

Iam not advocating for students who ‘cram’ but students with an improved mindset and training the mind is one of them. ZBIN will therefore be making a lot of work on the awareness on the power of the mind! It can be a lot of fun and can help many students to improve grades.

History made
As mentioned last week, we have a team in Malawi that arrived yesterday. Our first ever foray onto the region. We have previously hosted regional participants but not gone to regional countries. So we are in Lilongwe and then Blantyre before coming back to Harare. From Harare we are gonna be on a whirlwind tour of the region meaning a temporary relocation of the ZBIN headquarters for the coming weeks.

The good thing coming from this is the establishment of a strong regional entrepreneurship community. Through the community developed we are hoping to distribute more products and services efficiently. You want to launch or distribute products or services in the region then there is one platform that can do it for you-ZBIN! You want to study business in Southern Africa then there is one forum of choice for you-ZBIN. We will be pilot testing a number of initiatives and Kilombero Rice is going to be one of them-creating expanded markets for the rice across Southern Africa and help to improve the livelihoods of Malawian farmers and also creating jobs in Maun, Durban, East London, Beitbridge, Phikwe, Maseru or Windhoek! It will not be a tough task to do because we already have 5,000 nationals on our Whatsapp platforms, we are meeting some of them during our tours and establishing linkages and networks. So ZBIN is nolonger a forum that talks of business opportunities in South Africa-now we are walking the talk!

Wa Reng: So what else is up this week?

1.Mining: We have partnered with one of the forum members and we are working on hosting a national conference on mining issues. Should be a unique conference that looks at the other side of mining, what happens after mining companies have finished mining and left? A great conference with a lot of researches and will challenge the way mining is done in the country especially the environmental damage.

2. More Live Updates: We are encouraging more members to participate, 3 South African citizens will be participating giving us business updates. If we are fortunate, we may feature a Zimbo sister based in India so that she can update us on what it is like to live in India-she will cover business opportunities and other general stuff

3. Moz Opportunities: We continue tracking developments in our ‘adopted country’-Moz because this is a country which rarely gets positive business story coverage.

4. Mainstream Media: So we have close to 400 business articles on our website which have been read 180,000 times since the formation of the www.zbinworld.com site. Everyday has a new article coming up and we are proud to have assisted a lot of people with business ideas. From next week do expect to read some of ZBIN articles in your local newspapers as we expand our reach beyond Social Media.

5. Volunteer Action: One of our volunteers, a company based in South Africa that deals in IT products and services has sponsored a quiz which will result in winners getting free Anti Virus software. Expect more products and offers from your favourite forum as we promote local entrepreneurs within the forum.

Stay Blessed.

Re tlaa bonana

We have great news from Guruve, the land where Thomas Mapfumo comes from. Do you remember the classic Ndoenda Guruve? That was Thomas Mapfumo at his best and now we go to this land of the Chimurenga Legend and look at investment opportunities.

We saw an advert in The Sunday Mail this week and decided to share with you the contents of the advert. The advert comes as an Invitation to Tenders: MRDC : 02/2017

1. 1. Fuel Service Stations and Garages at Mushumbi Growth Point : Mbire RDC is calling on investors to tap into uncharted energy sector opportunities in the fuel service stations and garages at its Mushumbi Growth Point measuring 2500 square meters
   2. Upmarket Primary School: Inviting private organisations , churches and trusts to invest in the educational sector for an upmarket primary school. There is 24 hectares in the district with friendly and flexible investment terms

• Mushumbi Pools(lodges): Available is land for the development of lodges measuring 20,000 square meters. Commercial accommodation is needed and is in short supply. Investors are invited to tap into the luxury and hospitality sector along the beautiful Manyame River. A site visit is compulsory.

Submit sealed bids at the Mushumbi Offices by 30^th August 2017 at 10:00 hours when tenders will be closed.

Tender documents are obtainable from Mbire Rural District Council upon payment of a non-refundable fee of $100. A site visit is compulsory on 30 August 2017 starting from Mbire RDC boardroom at 10:00am

Mbire Rural District Council reserves the right to accept the whole, part of reject any tender. Tenders in sealed envelopes must be submitted to:

The Chief Executive Officer

Mbire Rural District Council

P O Box 539, Guruve

I remember this inspirational write up by one of the leading business personalities in Africa. He said if you see a wagon, then it is already too late to invest-in short the field is flooded! When everyone is talking or joining a field or sector then it is no longer profitable.

We are notorious for copying business ideas from each other, if you see your neighbour investing in kombis then you may want to invest too, see your friend doing well in poultry and then ‘sweat the technique’ like what the famous American Rap Music duo of Eric B and Rakim used to sing in the early 90s-sweating the technique is street lingo for copying!

So how does one invest in an over crowed industry and still make profits? The answer is simple-in real estate when they run out of ground space, they go upwards. In business one can use the same technique of going up.

To help illustrate this point lets assume you would like to invest in the baking industry-baking cakes and samoosas for sale. This field is over flooded with almost every street having someone who is baking for business. We will break the baking business into categories that go up.

Category One

Category One is characterised by first time entrants to a field. Huge profits await those who join first and the rest quickly join and drive profits down. When people say ‘sector iyi haina mari’ they are in most cases referring to this category. Think of the kombis, poultry and vending.

Category Two

Still assessing the baking of cakes industry, this is a category higher than the first one and includes teaching others how to bake. You need special skill and have to create this category especially when everyone starts rushing in. They say opportunities in Zimbabwe last for 3 months before profits are driven down. So teaching others to make money helps you to stay for a while in the game.

Category Three

Category three is a notch higher than the previous one and one is now looking at the supply side. Supplying baking equipment to those in the baking industry. You will be dealing with both category one and category two. You have noticed that there are a lot of first timers to the industry and they all need equipment-in you come and supply it!

Category Four

Category four may involve you forming an association of Baking Professionals linking up with all those who are doing baking-doing advocacy and capacity building, forming chapters across the country and linking them with regional forums.

What do we learn from this?

Most people (99%) will tell you that baking is over flooded and discourage you. The reason they do this is because their level of thinking will be on category one! If you look at any sector and analyse category one then you are likely to see very little profit margins. Industry zveshuwawo inenge isina chiro….munhu wese achingoita!

However a closer analysis and study will show that if you go up, you may find unlimited opportunities. Someone may say the kombi business is over subscribed with more than 10,000 kombis in Harare alone but tell that to the Nigerian brother running a car parts shop along Kaguvi and he will differ with you. He will say ‘Oga, Kombi business is good…not only good but very good’

So when entering any field think of the categories to enter at, one the flooded one or second level which may be less flooded. Kana munhu achiti hazvina mari izvi mafungiro ake anogona kunge ari pa category one, open up their minds and use the example above.

I even laugh with friends when i say one day the diaspora will come back and grab all opportunities that exist in Zimbabwe. How will they do it? Simple they will start from category 3 and 4 of each sector and make huge profits.

The current operating environment is a rough one for the business sector. It is no longer business as usual and only the innovative and enterprising business people are going to survive . With a shortage of foreign currency from the formal banking sector and a liquidity crunch, the situation cannot be any tougher. The situation is increasing pressure on the business sector  to analyse costing methods as well as pricing. These are two important components in the calculation of your price and your profit as well.

Pricing is one major decision an entrepreneur has to take and this pricing calls for flexibility in order to adapt to a fluid business environment. If you are sticking to old methods of pricing then you seriously risk losing business. You have to adapt and move fast with pricing trends so that you get business in the tough economic times that we find ourselves in.

Some companies are insisting on cash as a method of payment when cash is hard to come by-the result is a loss of business. ZBIN will be covering this key topic on our Facebook Live on Friday as we explore various pricing methods that are relevant to a dynamic environment like ours.

Below we feature a post from Diana Elisha Nheera on pricing. She is a digital marketing professional and a freelance photographer and shares her thoughts on pricing by freelance professionals in her field.

You also meet the young service providers who overrate and overcharge their work much to their disadvantage in a struggling economy. They take pride in telling peers I ONLY CHARGE SO MUCH… They believe their value is increased by exorbitant prices and even go as far as believing potential clients walk because havana mari.. Not at all, things are hard all around, money is not easy to come by, that means everyone is careful how they are spending their every cent. Even big companies have realised this and keep adjusting… Where possible, package such that you serve all budget clients. High, low and medium. Take advantage of the low budget sales as normally those compensate on quantity, but all this without compromising on the quality of service and or product. Invest in some periodic market research and little surveys. The business environment is very dynamic and you cannot afford to be the static one… Grow. Accommodate and Benefit.

So often people fail in business and lose money and time not because they lack the knowledge and skills to run a business but because they lack the necessary passion for the kind of business they are in and end up investing all their efforts on a pipe dream. I always say that a business idea is useless without the backing of passion and drive.

God created us with multiple skills so that we wouldn’t have to depend on anyone for our survival.. But even skills have categories and as much as we are multi talented our passion lies in certain things or skills not in everything we think we can do. As an entrepreneur first know your strengths, do an introspection then cultivate them into tools that will help build your empire..

 Example : Youre an entrepreneur, you cook and sell food, make profit to make ends meet, but you also buy and sell clothes, engage with people, do research about the latest fashion, buy in bulk and recruit people to sell under you. You can do both these jobs well but when you are selling the food there’s no fierceness in you as much as when you are selling the clothes and engaging with the fashionistas of the world. But because you dont know where your passion lies you continue to exhaust yourself by juggling both jobs thinking one day things will change while investing time and money and draining yourself by dragging dead weight. At the end of the day you have two businesses that you are running which aren’t performing because you as an entrepreneur are not giving them your full potential because you haven’t mastered where your passion lies. Then you fail because you’re a jack of all trades but a master on none

My Advice : Introspection! Introduction! Execution!

☆Research yourself.. Find out exactly what is it that you want to do.. Find your passion and commit. You can run one business and still manage to turn it into an empire as long as you know your passion and commit.. Look at Bill Gates.

☆Stop second guessing yourself, if business is for you then it’s for you. Take the passion to another level and start thinking like a mogul. In business you will notice that once you get your mind set off the gutter and start thinking like a business person, then your language starts to change, your circles start to change and you start researching and associating yourself with people who add value to your hustle.. The smell of success does that to you so don’t be apologetic for the changes in you.. Marinade in them..

☆Then implementation can begin.. Start grounding your business.. It is not a sin to treat other business ventures as a hobby., something you do on the side while you commit you time and money and invest in the one business venture you are passionate about..Find it and stick to it and remember it takes blood, sweat, tears, many failures and sleepless nights to build and establish and make a name for yourself as a business and a brand. You will fail many times but the key to is rise again and do your best..Business is about learning. Be a Phoenix!!!

We are slowly gaining ground in the region especially Botswana, Malawi and South Africa and a business post by ZBIN in South Africa usually attracts not less than 100 reactions some even going up to 2000! The number of South Africans joining our business groups is increasing at a faster rate and the reason for this is simple-we know the language of small businesses! We know what small business want across the region and this is what we concentrate on. We provide a platform for people in Southern Africa to discuss business and especially opportunities.

Our acceptance in the region will see us dispatching various teams to Malawi, Botswana and South Africa starting this week. We will be covering entrepreneurship-empowering women and youths who are our focus. Time permitting we may also cover Chichiri Prison in Blantyre. We would like to help empower women in prison. Women in prison are some of the most vulnerable members of society and when they leave prison most have nowhere to start from-they have no support systems to help them integrate with society. We therefore will be offering our free service to help them kick start income generating projects that will employ them and others as well. More of this initiative coming in the next few months as the forum gets extremely busy. The initiative is Zimbabwean, designed by Zimbabwean inorder to benefit Zimbabweans and the region as a whole. So do expect the ZBIN flag to be flying in Lilongwe and Blantyre next week. We will also be covering Gaberone and Francistown during the same week. We are already in Jozi and hope to expand to other cities in the Rainbow Nation.

In everything that we are doing, the target is how many jobs have we created? How much income did ZBIN help create across the region? If you are a development practitioner, then you should watch this initiative with keen interest because it is zero funded! How does  a zero funded project  create hundreds of jobs and improve livelihoods of  thousands ? The verdict will be out within the next 6 months and we hope to launch a book that should showcase the brilliance and sheer determination of Southern Africa citizens.

What is brewing in Mhondoro?

Mhondoro is going to be our first rural area that we have adopted and this is due to a teacher from the area who is working with us. She is currently on holiday and we are developing a brilliant empowerment project which should be a good case study on women empowerment especially access to markets for rural based women. Scholars of market linkages should watch this initiative closely as we hope to make a positive impact within the next 6 months.

ZBIN Facebook Live

We became the first business forum to use Facebook Live in Zimbabwe and have not looked back. A brilliant platform for information dissemination and Capacity Building. The future of capacity building is not in one organising participants in a class and delivering speeches. It is old fashioned, expensive and may not be effective. In most cases it may not even have follow ups because trainers just come train and go-perhaps leave a few handouts which are quickly discarded as soon as a training is completed.

Now using social media such as Facebook Live Updates there are plenty of advantages—participants are engaged, one can always refer to it or even share a broadcast. It can be stored for future references. It reaches more people and practically costs nothing when compared to hotel conferencing.

ZBIN is still in the early stages of this broadcast which is still characterised by poor quality video broadcasts. We are aware of the hiccups and are working on improving. For now the strategy is to get Zimbabweans talking about business, Zimbabweans to use the facility for nation building and inspiring young entrepreneurs.

We have hosted foreign nationals too with Vee from East London being the first South African to feature on the platform. She got 700 views and not bad for her debut Facebook Live.We also had Thelma Wills with her debut this week and she garnered 450 views. The trend shows an upward trajectory in viewership and we hope to increase it as we improve the quality of our broadcast delivery.

What is up this week?

The focus is on South Africa, not because of the planes standoff but unlocking opportunities in Mzantsi. Opportunities for Zimbabweans as well as South Africans. We hope to also feature more Facebook Live Updates from SA citizens. This will help in cementing ties between the 2 countries and the region as a whole.

So wishing you a blessed week

Twalumba

The purpose of this article is not to scare away people from investing-rather it is meant to encourage people to do thorough researches before investing. Jump in and invest in a business venture you are not too sure of and you will end up with heavy losses.

Below we look at the top small business ventures where first timers usually lose money.

1. Mabhero-Second Hand Bales. At face value this looks like a lucrative business, you buy mabhero ako at $250 or $350 and make returns of above $700 right? Well making money with mabhero is easier said than done. Most people find out the hard way when the bales they are sold are either of low quality or do not have the correct material as advertised. Our verdict is exercise caution when dealing with mabhero.
2. Restaurant Business-Profit margins in this business are very low and most first timers do not know. You see others with huge number of customers and want to join in? Take your time to analyse this business as the failure rate is extremely high. Most leave the business with heavy losses and debts. If you want evidence then do look around and find someone who has been in this business for more than 5 years. The numbers you will find will be limited. There are many tricks in this business that you need to master such as growing own veges or raising own chickens so as to eliminate buying from shops.
3. Poultry Industry– No doubt the easiest field to enter, just buy a few chickens and raise them. After raising them then sell…easy as ABC right? Well not so easy-you need experience in this sector and if you do not have experience your chances of encountering heavy losses are high-extremely high! You may have to learn the hard way with poultry diseases, being conned by employees, customers who do not pay or buying sub standard chickens which result in poor yields.
4. Kombi Business-First timers have horrible tales about this industry. You just watch others making money uchinzwa makombi ane mari and you want to jump in right? Yes you can jump in but if you have little experience then you are a sure bet for heavy losses! Your problems will start with the people you choose to run your business-the Driver and Hwindi, 2 people who can connive to make your business a loss making one. They may even set targets to buy their own kombi using your own kombi. No matter the tight internal controls that you can put-the 2 employees will always find a way to take funds from the business. Finding honest employees is impossible. So take your time before taking the plunge in this shark infested business.
5. Tobacco Farming –A few years ago, tobacco was KING! The crop helped to empower a lot of people especially the resettled farmers. Those in rural areas joined the bandwagon especially in 2009. With prices as high as $5 or $6 in the year 2009, most people abandoned all projects and concentrated on this cash cow. Some stopped farming other crops opting to plant tobacco. Some in urban areas descended to rural areas in order to take up tobacco farming. Most were disappointed, they learnt the hard way when prices started slowing down in the following years. I know of several people who took bank loans in order to farm tobacco-few managed to repay the loans after selling their crops. A visit to most rural areas shows that those who had opted for tobacco have since abandoned it and with many resettled farmers complaining of the low prices this year-the expectation is that the number of growers will continue to dwindle. Interested in farming tobacco? Congratulations but be very careful-do make sure you have insurance, irrigation equipment and all the necessary inputs. You lose little by engaging experts who will give you guidance, trends and carry out feasibility studies for you.

We can add more areas where many lose money especially when they are first timers. The trick to reduce losses is to carefully study any proposed business venture. Talk to others, develop a business plan and engage experts.

1. Open CIPC website
2. Go to “Register Customer code”
3. Once you’ve registered. customer code, seach their bank account.
4. Go and deposit R350.…
5. R350 will appear on your cutomer code when you login, just like when you check airtime.
6. Start by reserving your business name online. Options will appear when you are logged in. Name reservation is R50.
7. They’ll send you confirmation of name reserved via email, and also forms to register that name, meaning now company registration. You scan and email them all the information they required, they’ll mention requirements on their email. R175 to register.
8. Then they’ll send u company certificate. All transactions you do on CIPC will deduct from that R350.
9. Go with it at BANK to open business account. Is R500
10. Go with all BANK details and company documents to SARS to finalise your SARS information.
11. Then ask anyone with a company where can u register ur BBBEE certificate, then go there to do it. Those are Charted Accountants Agencies, registered agencies
12. Go to SEDA to do your Business Plan. For FREE.
13 If u wanna do Business with Government, then go to CSD (Central Supplier Database) Website and register ur company with your commodities. Then you will appear in all Government Spheres so they call u when they want ur service.
14. Mantain and Develop your company

★The first stage is to locate a site you are interested in.
An approved prospector *(You can contact Mines Office for Approved
buy a prospecting license from the mines office in the province you wish to register the block/ mine…