One of the biggest assets in business is information! Information about business opportunities, current, emerging or future opportunities. They say information is power and if you have none then you can be at a great disadvantage.

Information about opportunities is obviously not easy to obtain and sometimes to obtain it you may need to part with an arm and a leg-it is pricey! Realising the gap in information, ZBIN embarked on a community service to enable Zimbabweans to have access to business information. This is our Objective Number 1. To provide a lot of information on opportunities in Zimbabwe for the benefit of everyone including our key constituency-The Diaspora! We also have in mind members living in remote areas where information may not easily be accessible.

Last Saturday was an outreach programme for ZBIN and we participated at a business forum conducted by church leaders in Marlborough. An invite came at short notice and we had to prepare some material to share with a group of Christian brothers based in Marlborough. At this meeting attended by close to 20 members, we emphasised the importance of being ready for business opportunity cycles, the skills needed to identify opportunities and gave a few examples. The good news is that Zimbabweans are taking an interest in business especially networking for business. Zimbabweans are getting into groups where they share information about business and investment. Some are pooling resources and taking advantage of opportunities that currently exist.

So at this meeting some complained about lack of capital. Some had brilliant ideas but could not execute them due to capital constraints. We then posed this question –‘Are you aware of current Government Initiatives that support small businesses?’

To our surprise no one could answer the question and this is of concern, serious concern to us. Without information you are at a great disadvantage as earlier explained. Without information you may be found complaining about lack of opportunities when some have access to this information for free.

We referred the group to recent initiatives which are publicly known.

1. The Homelink Initiative of $15m that helps Individuals, Cross Border Traders and SMEs with capital which has an interest of 1%. A new initiative where collateral may not be a big issue as an applicant can find an employed relative who can be a guarantor of the loan.
2. We also explained a recent Reserve Bank initiative that resulted in the establishment of a Women’s Bank Loan Facility at POSB. The facility is for women interested in business.

There are more initiatives such as the promotion of exports by ZIMTRADE, market surveys by ZIMTRADE and the order to reduce of interest rates to below 12% by the Government.

So information is available in newspapers and local radio but surprisingly few people take notice. For ZBIN members we have done a lot to provide information on Capital Access. Access to Capital is our number 3 objective and we did post about the Homelink Initiative, do follow our recent posts on this site for reference.

Do not miss formal Member Registration coming next week.

We add another list of Top Tenders from Zimbabwe compiled by your favourite business forum-ZBIN!

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By now you should have seen a pattern…ZBIN does not run out of ideas when it comes to opportunities identification!This is something that now runs naturally in our blood. From May 2017 more ideas will be shared with registered members but for now we will continue giving out ideas to the nation irrespective of your membership status.

Today let us  take a closer look at the transport industry. The Kombis market is over saturated-Some say every new opportunity in Zimbabwe has a lifespan of 3 months. You can make profits in a sector for 3 months before competitors enter the field and wipe away profits.This assertion is however debatable because there are certain sectors where players have been active for years earning above average profits.

So our case study is the Transport Industry looking specifically at trucks for driving schools. We have left out trucks for hire to other sectors its risky. Unless you have reliable people to run or over see transport business projects-kungonyudza mari as you will be conned!

We have chosen trucks for hire out to driving schools because the demand for driving is still high despite current economic challenges. Charges in Harare vary from $250-$400 week. No need to worry of fuel costs or drivers phoning saying that the vehicle has been impounded. No worries of drivers hiring out the vehicle without your knowledge.

So if you are thinking of shipping trucks to Zim then this is an area you need to look closely at. In future ZBIN will compile a list of driving schools so that you can easily get in touch with them.

Wishing you a blessed weekend

Zimbabwe is made up of two countries- Real Zimbabwe and Virtual Zimbabwe. You can break down Virtual Zimbabwe into Local and Diaspora. There are opportunities, plenty of them in Real Zimbabwe but the field is increasingly getting congested. Now Virtual Zimbabwe seems to have opportunities for everyone irrespective of who you are!

There are loads of opportunities and the good or bad thing is that most Zimbos are still to understand about these opportunities. Conventional education does not cover in detail opportunities in ‘Virtual Zimbabwe’ where opportunities are unlimited.

In ‘Virtual Zimbabwe’ you can set up factories, mining companies, retail shops, newspapers, shopping malls, vehicle sales….hey there are no limits kani. So its easy to give up and say there are no opportunities in Real Zimbabwe because our education was tailor made to grab opportunities in Real Zimbabwe, our role models are people who made monies in Real Zimbabwe…this talk of Virtual Zimbabwe is alien…its an outer space phenomenon!

So u can easily give up all hope when you fail in the Real Zimbabwe but guess what? The good news is that opportunities abound in Virtual Zimbabwe if you are innovative, are willing to work hard and got integrity.

You are reading this article on Virtual Zimbabwe, Calculate the amount of time per week that you spend on Virtual Zimbabwe, some have more friends on Virtual Zimbabwe than in real life….so Virtual Zimbabwe is the future. For now there are still obstacles with less internet coverage in most parts of Zimbabwe but try and imagine 20 years from now. In 20 years internet will be free-everywhere….go to Rwanda for a case study. Visit some Asian countries for inspiration.

Real and Virtual-The battle

Have you seen that there is real battle going on between the 2 Zimbabwe? Look at newspapers…in some developed countries they have done away with newspapers; you no longer find newspapers for sale on street corners. All news is now online or virtual….Banks are downsizing with online transactions taking over…The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) recently closed shop in Harare because they computerized most operations including exams…no more need to send physical exam papers to Harare or Bulawayo for exam candidates and transporting them back to UK.

So the risk here is if you lose interest in Virtual Zimbabwe then you will be swept aside by the Virtual Tide. Virtual Zimbabwe is the future and already we are witnessing more time by youngsters being spend on Virtual Zimbabwe…already over 4 million Zimbos are on Virtual Zimbabwe with the number expected to increase in the future. It is affecting every facet of our lives-families now have Whatsapp Groups, Schools are now connected on Whatsapp and Facebook. There is a whole lot more happening and I may need the entire day to write it up

Grabbing Opportunities

The purpose of this article if for you to grab a piece of Virtual Zimbabwe. To occupy and take advantage of this ‘new country’ where the old generation does not fully appreciate. A Virtual Zimbabwe which is not comprehensively covered in the old system of education. Some are still stuck in Real Zimbabwe and do not see any benefits of the Virtual Zimbabwe…some are even dismissing it out rightly. The fact that some are still decades away from appreciating Virtual Zimbabwe is a big advantage for you.

So go and have a plan to grab a piece of land on Virtual Zimbabwe-occupy as many hectares as possible and resale it in future. Go and build factories, build your own shopping malls, your own stadiums, your own stores and the cost of building is very cheap!

We will cover more opportunities in Virtual Zimbabwe and show developments in this country which is less populated.

NB* Article to be part of a presentation by ZBIN to a group of college students.

One of our biggest initiatives to date is the Tenders Tracker. The tracker allows our members to have one central place to access latest tender information in Zimbabwe. In future we are going to cover more countries in Southern Africa so that the tracker becomes Regional.

Your truly has a lot of experience in applying for tenders and reviewing tenders. I therefore hope to share with you a lot of tips and resources on winning tenders. The hope is to see more ZBIN members becoming experts at winning tenders.

When developing the tracker, we had 2 groups of people in mind. The first is the Diaspora Community-folks who are not likely to ever have access of this information because most tenders are advertised in local newspapers in hard copy format. So the Diaspora Community should easily have access of this information through our site and online newsletters. This information should help them to partner with locals in securing goods or services which may not be available locally. With free information about tenders being available, the Diaspora Community can be able to track what is trending in Zimbabwe and make informed decisions when it comes to investment. Our last tender tracker shows that there is an increase in the IT sector with computers, laptops and software upgrades being on top of the list. So you can read the tracker with an interest to apply for tenders or read the tracker with the purpose of checking what is trending, which areas are on high demand.

The second group we are interested in are remote areas. Someone teaching in Binga, a District Administrator in Chivi, a Policeman in Chimanimani, A teacher in Lalapanzi. This group of people maybe at a disadvantage when it comes to business information. They may not have access to newspapers resulting in a lot of opportunities bypassing them. ZBIN would like to break barriers when it comes to business and investment opportunities-this is why we consider remote areas whenever we are coming up with new initiatives or programmes.

So let us talk about Tender Reviews and the help we can give our members. The process of tenders is that you must first qualify by meeting all requirements listed on the tender advert. Most people or applicants usually miss out or fail at the first hurdle simply by ignoring instructions!

We will share with you a checklist for tenders so that you can download and use. This article is looking at the last hurdle to winning a tender-Physical Verification of Premises. After shortlisting prospective applicants, the Tender Committee usually visits the premises of companies that had bid for tenders. Let us assume that there are 3 companies and they have all been shortlisted for tenders. Company A has no premises, Company B is located at the residential premises of the owner and Company C has got premises, secured premises located at Harare Exhibition Park.

Who wins the tender based on physical verification is an obvious guess….Company C located at Harare Exhibition Park! So it is important to have physical location for your business and they should be presentable and you should have in mind that its should be appealing to prospective employees, customers,suppliers,partners and potential tender verification committees. There are marks allocated for business location!

Below we give you an article on tips for looking for business premises. You need to balance costs and benefits before finalising on a place to locate your business.

Tips when looking for business premises

We have compiled a list of opportunities from the Harare City Council website. We hope that more city councils in Zimbabwe will have websites where they showcase investment opportunities for the benefit of residents and potential investors especially the Diaspora.

Having a website with direct contact details eliminates middlemen and greatly reduces incidences of fraud. The City Council still needs to do more in terms of details of projects but for now we give them credit for the efforts they have put in place in compiling the list of investment opportunities. You can visit their site on www.hararecity.co.zw

Development Models

• Joint Venture
• Build-Operate-Transfer
• Community Management

The business opportunities in Council are categorised as follows:

Harare Farms

Main Goal

To introduce modern intensive and diverse commercial farming operations at Council farms.

Council has five farms as given below:

Opportunities for Investment 

• Piggery
• Poultry
• Meat processing
• Stock breeding
• Cropping or stock feed production
• Horticulture (Porta and Churu farms)

Harare Markets

Main Goal

To develop Council Markets and Bus Termini into viable and modern business ventures.

• Home Industries
• People’s Markets
• Flea Markets
• Fresh Produce Markets
• Bus Termini
• Carter House – Overnight Accommodation
• Truck-In Facilities

Opportunities for Investment

Market Square Bus Termini

Develop in partnership with Council a modern bus rank comprising:

• Bus Terminus
• Parkade
• Shopping and office complex
• Toilet facilities

Cameron Street Bus Rank (Copacabana)

Develop in partnership with Council a modern bus rank comprising:

• Bus Terminus
• Parkade
• Shopping and office complex
• Toilet facilities

Angwa Street and Robson Manyika Bus Rank (Charge Office)

Develop in partnership with Council a modern bus rank comprising:

• Bus Terminus
• Parkade
• Shopping and office complex
• Toilet facilities

Luck Street Complex

Develop in partnership with Council for the construction of:

• Parkade
• Shopping Mall
• Office Complex

Other Related Opportunities

• Built-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) home industry facilities
• Construction of Regional Bus Termini
• Construction of modern Fresh Produce Markets
• Construction of Satellite Bus Termini (Mabvuku, Kuwadzana, Hopley etc)
• Construction of Satellite People’s and Flea Markets

Horticulture

Main Goal

To introduce commercial horticulture and floriculture business ventures at Hillside Nursery and Cleveland Dam.

Project profile 

Other suitable areas can be identified

Opportunities for Investment

• Horticulture
• Mushroom Production
• Floriculture
• Nursery

Harare Stadia

Project Vision

To develop high class sporting and function facilities in Harare as a viable business enterprise.

Rufaro Stadium

Build under the grand stands to create offices, shops and training facilities such as gym and fitness centres.

Gwanzura Stadium

Build support facilities at the stadium.

Zimbabwe Grounds

Develop a cluster of sports disciplines and support facilities.

City Sports Centre

Develop a cluster of sports disciplines to fully utilise the amphitheatre.

• Potential ventures in the sports areas
• Soccer Matches
• Musical Shows
• Wedding Reception
• Boxing Tournaments
• Netball and Volleyball Courts
• Basketball and Tennis Courts
• Indoor Hockey
• Offices
• Sports Shops
• Fitness or Wellness Centre
• Entertainment Facilities
• Beauty Shops
• Sauna Baths and Massage Parlors

Health Sector

Harare Pest Control

This is an entity created within the City Health Department to deal with problems of mosquitoes, rodents and other pest.

• The entity has a laboratory.
• The opportunity is to commercialise the entity so that it is run as a business entity.

Wilkins Hospital Extension

The extension was initiated in anticipation of the HIV and AIDS challenge.

• The project was being funded by the World Bank which pulled out of the country in 2000 leaving the project uncompleted.
• The HIV and AIDS scourge has not developed to the challenge that the health experts had forecast.
• However the extension is a major health enhancement facility.
• The opportunity is to complete the hospital extension and run it as a private hospital in partnership with City of Harare.

Modern Hospital in City

City of Harare has a prime piece of land (Herbert Chitepo Ave and Fifth Street) for construction of a modern hospital as a joint venture initiative with the private sector.

Other Business Opportunities

Harava Dam Resort Centre

Project Vision

To create an environment friendly and focused theme park and accommodation facilities that are original and rooted in our rich historical and cultural heritage but at the same time appealing to a cosmopolitan and international tourist market

Profile of The Site

Harava Dam project is situated 20km from the City Center of Harare off Seke Road. There is a virgin forest area of approximately 80 hectares. The site provides the following facilities or activities;

• Flora and fauna and rock outcrops
• Security and guarded entrance
• Harava and Seke dam on Manyame river
• Fishing
• Boating and canoeing
• A block of toilets near the dam wall
• Proximity to Mbizi Game Park

Potential for partnerships in the project

Council intends to attract partners for the following activities;

• Development of a complete package of a theme park and accommodation facilities.
• Development of boating and canoeing facilities.
• Development of camping site and play centre.
• Conference facicilities.

Mukuvisi Corridor

This project focuses on the rehabilitation and beautification of the Mukuvisi River from the Cleveland Dam to its lower reaches on the western side of Waterfalls area. The project envisages the construction of Business Malls, Recreation facilities and Office Parks along the banks of the river.

Cleveland Dam

Main Goal

To create holiday resort center with up-market accommodation and recreational facilities that are original and rooted in our rich historical and cultural heritage.

Opportunities for Investment

Partnership is required for the following:

• Development of a complete package of a nature based holiday resort center.
• Development for a hotel and conference facilities.
• Development of a camping site and play centre.
• Development of a Golf Course or Golf Estate.

Here is  Great News for followers and members of  Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network (ZBIN). We are now formally registered! We are now a legal entity! We had been operating for the past 2 years informally. So we  got registered last week on the 23^rd of March 2017 as a Trust and our Registration Number is MA 000457/2017.

Our objectives remain :

1. Provision of  Business Information, Resources  and Support to Members
2. Assisting Business Growth for members by enabling Access to Markets
3. Assisting members with Access to Capital

Our board of directors is made up of the following members:

1. Martha: NGO Consultant, Harare (Board Chair)
2. Farai: CGMA, CPA, Finance Director, USA (Deputy Board Chair)
3. Rudo: Bsc Nursing, United Kingdom
4. Laureen: Registered Nurse, USA
5. Polite: MBA, Consultant, Plumtree
6. Margaret: MBA, Human Resources Officer, Civil Service, Harare
7. Victor : ACMA, CGMA, Consultant, Harare
8. Rutendo, Legal Officer, Civil Service, Harare
9. Tavaziva, CA, Audit Manager, United Kingdom
10. Farai: MBA, Masters in Water Engineering, South Africa

Why is this good news for our members?

Being a legal entity means that we are going to recruit full time personnel that will help in the implementation of the forum objectives. We will be setting up a secretariat and opening of offices in Harare and Bulawayo in the next 4-9 months.

What next for the members?

Formal registration of members will take place and the board will advise on the process to be followed in the next few days.

ZBIN  once took Homelink to task a few months ago. We asked for more action-more energy from them so that they can play an active part in the Economy. Perhaps a bit harsh but we asked why they were doing nothing in terms of building new homes or bringing new initiatives that benefit the nation. The good news is they have responded in style! They have launched an excellent facility targetting the SMEs, Individuals, Groups and Cross Borders. Dear member, Homelink seems to be back! This is perhaps the best facility for SMEs to date! Homelink has introduced a USD 15 million Cross Border Traders & SME Facility.

The objectives of the facility are as follows:

To provide working capital to support bonafide Cross Border Traders

To provide credit and banking services to Cross Border traders and micro-producers

To provide micro-export finance

Individuals and Group Requirements

1. Reference letter from a registered cross border association
2. Goods/raw materials imported must not be prohibited in terms of statutory instrument 64
3. Security vetting and figure printing to be done at homelink
4. Where one is formally employed, proof of employment in required/Confirmation letter from the employer/3 current payslips/3 month bank statement
5. Where one is not formally employed, an applicant to provide a formally employed guarantor. Guarantor to provide the following(Identity document, confirmation letter from employer, 3 current payslips, 3 month bank statement)
6. Valid Zimbabwean Passport
7. Individual to be an account holder with Agribank
8. Proof of residence in the form of a utility bill issues in the last 3 months. Affidavit by the landlord or confirmation by village heads.
9. A group consists a minimum of 3 up to a maximum of 10 members. All members collectively liable for the group loan repayment

SME Loan Requirements

1. Must be a member of an SME association
2. Must be an account holder with a Zimbabwean bank
3. Goods/raw materials imported must not be prohibited in terms of statutory instrument 64
4. Security vetting and figure printing for directors to be done at homelink
5. Must be buying, manufacturing or producing goods in Zimbabwe for exports
6. Proof of residence of the directors in the form of a utility bill issued in the last 3 months
7. Company documents: CR14,CR6 & registration certificate
8. Bank statement for the past 6 months and confirmation of signatories to the account and /or sales book/invoice books for the past 6 months
9. Financial statements for the past 6 months
10. Projected cashflow for the next 6 to 12 months
11. Asset Register for the company
12. Directors’ personal Asset Register
13. Debtors Book

Loan Terms and Conditions

1. Individual amount from $100 up to $1000
2. Individuals in groups $100 up to $1300 per member
3. SME loan up to $5,000
4. Association Loan up to $30,000
5. Interest Rate up to 1% per month
6. Non-refundable application fees (2% of loan value and a minimum of $10 for individuals and $50 for SMEs)
7. Insurance fees deducted from loan amount (2.1%)
8. Loan tenure 14-90 days
9. Loans above $1.000 shall be disbursed into an account, Visa or Master Card

 Homelink Contact Numbers:

72-74 Samora Machel Avenue, Hardwick House, Harare, Zimbabwe

Phone numbers: +263-4-792800;263-4-790972

Email: trade@homelink.co.zw website www.homelinkzim.com

ZBIN Comment

We would like members to utilise the facility responsibly-remember its a loan and not a free grant. We would like to cover success stories of people who would have benefited. The trick is to do well with a small loan facility and apply for a bigger loan. Also make sure that you have a solid business plan before knocking on the doors of Homelink-we will share with you business plan templates and cashflow templates

*ZBIN Mozambique Group should be the happiest  people celebrating this-for all the efforts that you undertook travelling to Tete in Mozambique, all the endless meetings we had in 2016….what more could we have asked for. We will share more information on the ZBIN Moz Whatsapp Group on opportunities in Mozambique.

Wishing you the best of luck in not only your applications, but successful business ventures funded by Homelink. Next we will push for such facilities to be extended to one of our key constituencies-The Diaspora!

We continue with our efforts to help members to have access to business opportunities. We introduced Tenders Trackers 2 weeks ago and today we cover part 2 which showcases the top 6 public tenders for your information. We hope that the information reaches the Diaspora and remote areas across the country where they do not have access to newspapers.

For more information in relation to the tenders, do phone the respective organisations and find out about the tenders. Interesting facts about these tenders are as follows:

1.Most of them IT related, procurement of Desktop computers and laptops

2.Short turn arounds for tenders-closing dates coming in the next 2 weeks

3. Tenders related to construction

4 Tips on winning tenders?

-Your company should be registered and be tax compliant

-You should have good references from customers and suppliers

-Your books of accounts should be up to date, an up to date audit being a great advantage

-Your company should have a physical presence

Wishing you the best in your applications. You can download the Tender below. 

So ZBIN had been invited by ZAOGA Blessed Assembly located in Granary, Kuwadzana Extension in Harare to do a business presentation-how did it go? We can only say Superb Stuff; this was an enriching and interesting presentation. We really do not know how we ran out of the 2 hours that had been set aside for us. Who ever thought a business presentation can be so interesting for the presenter and members attending?

We are really humbled by support and hope that church members will use the skills discussed during the presentation. We also hope that they will follow up on the special business opportunity identified for them by ZBIN; it is a special gift that should help a lot of people within the church and outside.

Special Credit goes to Mr Howard Chisale who facilitated the presentation. We also encourage more churches to equip members with business opportunity identification skills. There is no better empowerment tool than to ensure that members have sharp skills to identify opportunities and are always ready to take advantage of emerging opportunities.

A practical and participatory process, we are happy to share some of the information that we shared. We feel that most churches should have Business Platforms where members freely discuss and brainstorm on business and investment. The presentation can be downloaded below and feel free to edit and use it for the benefit of your local church members.

God Bless