Diaspora Matters

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

Did you know that its easy to give up a business venture and say this business is not profitable at all? Last weekend I was invited by a ZBIN member who wanted us to help him with a tender application for major construction project. During the process of drafting the tender, we got to discuss about the current operating environment and impact on small businesses. Akati Munemo munyika hamuna mari, vanhu havana cash! Ndikati so who are you targetting? He said the local community had no cash, no disposable income. Yes hazvina kumira mushe we have challenges that need urgent address but in terms of his business there was one thing he needed to do and that has to do with who he is targetting in his business. We had an interesting discussion where i demonstrated how he can improve sales without a need to spend an extra penny. He had all the essentials in place but only that he was concentrating on the locals who obviously had limited disposable income.

I will share with you in detail next week the little things we did, for now allow ZBIN to share with you how to target new customers, below is an article which we found on Smarta.

How to target new customers

It’s typically much more difficult to reach new customers than to get existing ones to buy more. But because of that, once you have a wide, established customer base, sales are going to be easier, more predictable, and easier to grow.

This guide introduces you to a range of techniques for targeting new customers. Which ones you choose to use will depend on your budget, timescale and logistical capability.

• Incentivise. Offer exclusive deals and discounts for first-time users. This has a double advantage in that to ensure people can only be a ‘first time buyer’ once, you need to take contact details – thus building on your store of customer data.
• Show them what it’s all about for free. Give out samples of your product, either outside your premises, online (which would enable you to collect data and contact details for future use) or in locations where your target customer is likely to be. Ensure anyone handing out samples is wearing a branded T-shirt.
• Hold ‘open evenings’ or ‘open days’ where new customers are able to wander in to your premises and try your services out for free as a one-off (this won’t suit every business, of course, but some, particularly gyms, use it to great effect).
• Create offers structured around giving a first taster of your services or product for free, but then the customer needs to pay for the next time.
• Target new customers through your existing customer base. Incentivise your existing customers to bring their friends to your business by introducing ‘refer a friend’ schemes – discounts or special offers for the person who has convinced a friend to register an account with or buy from your business.
• Introduce gift certificates (where appropriate) – the person who receives them may potentially be a new customer. Apparently approximately 20% of all gift certificates are never redeemed, 80% are redeemed for more than their value, and 40% are redeemed for more than twice their value – they’re practically a license to print money!
• Use everyone you know. If you haven’t already, you need to get friends and family to sing the praises of everyone you know. Make sure they understand what exactly your business does, and make sure you sound excited and passionate when you talk to them about it – you’ll inspire them to want to help you further your hopes for the business. Ask them to tell people they know about it – promising you’ll return the favour somehow, one day!
• Advertise. To make any ad spend worthwhile, you need to carry out some detailed research on who your new target customer is going to be.
  • As targeting new customers can be somewhat hit and miss, you may want to reduce costs by trying co-operative advertising – where you team up with another company to produce an ad.
  • Some websites will allow you to list yourself for free – try placing a free as on Gumtree or Craig’s List, for example.
• Get yourself in relevant directories. Getting listed in a directory such as Yellow Pages for a year can cost as little as $100, but can be a quick-fire way to drawing people who definitely want the service you offer to your business.
• Take out classified ads. In much the same way as directories work, with classifieds you know the people are looking for the service you offer if they find you – that’s a gold mine – you don’t even have to try to sell to them!
• Trade shows and expos. They can be expensive to attend (think a few hundred pounds for a stand, plus the additional cost of producing marketing material and flyers, as well as taking at least a day out of your schedule). But if you know there are going to be hundreds of potential new customers there, it can be worth the cash.
  • Find out normal attendance numbers before you pay for anything to make sure it’s worthwhile.
  • Check out who else is taking a stand, so you know you’re in the right company, and so that if a huge number of the other stands are your larger and more popular competitors you know it’s either pointless taking a stand or that you really need to put on a great display.
  • Go armed with loads of flyers, marketing material, product and sample, banners if possible, and other things to decorate a stand with – and of course hundreds of business cards. You want to be the brightest most appealing stand in the hall, not the one everyone looks past. Sweets or wine, while simplistic and fickle, are also consistently effective in drawing people to a stand.
  • If you can’t afford a stand, just go and network with as many people as you can to tell them about your business – this can still be highly effective.
• Flyers can be a good vehicle for lots of information, but they often get chucked straight into the bin.
  • It’s usually best only to hand them out with free samples, or at least a sweet or something similarly enticing to encourage people to actually look at what you’re handing them.
  • That said, if you can get a good deal at the printers and don’t mind standing around for a few hours, the scattergun approach of flyering always produces a few results – just monitor how much return you get on the time and money investment to see well it’s worked for your business.
• Do PR. Either use an agency (read more in our guide on *how to use a PR agency*) or do it yourself (get advice on that from our guide on *how to get your business into the press*).
• Promotions on other sites. Asking another website to promote you to drive traffic to yours can work well with sites who cater for a similar audience but who are non-competitive.
  • Offer to promote them on yours in blogs and on the pages they prefer in return.
  • Getting another site to include links to your website has the added advantage of upping your Google rankings, which are dependent on other websites linking to yours.
• Creating an eBay shop (where appropriate) gets you exposure to a potentially massive audience nationwide (or even internationally).
  • It can also be a nice little extra revenue stream.
  • You can brand your shop, so getting the word out about your business.
  • You can also direct traffic to your business website, so drawing more people closer to your brand.
  • Just make sure you always deliver on time and to the standard promised, else you risk doing damage to your brand.
• Competitions. Giveaways in trade or relevant magazines and websites and a good way of getting the brand name out there, reaching a specific demographic and showcasing your product. A highly favourable description and a nice big picture of a product never did anyone any harm – in fact, you’re essentially getting an advert for free.
• Social media. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Smarta, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, Bebo – is free and can potentially open you up to a nationwide or even international customer base.
  • Each site has its own etiquette, and each has certain sneaky ways for your business to reach as many people as possible.
  • Read all about how to use it to your best advantage in our social media section.
• Draw customers away from a brand they already use. Undercut the existing brand on price, out-do them in quality or offer customers a deal they can’t refuse, then make your advantage over the competitor abundantly clear in your marketing communications with the new target customers and/or your advertising.
• Sponsor events or awards.
  • If you know your target customers arelikely to be there at an event can be a good way of getting your brand name out there.
  • You may also be able to give samples out at the event.
  • It will, however, be expensive – from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
  • Speak to event organisers in-depth about their usual demographic and attendance numbers before handing over any cash to make sure they align with yours.
  • Assess whether the people attending are influential enough in their social or work circles to make the money per head it would cost you to sponsor worthwhile in terms of how many people they’re likely to tell about your business as a result of sponsoring.
  • Sponsoring smaller scale events and awards in the local community can help position you as a locally-liked business and brand, one that’s supporting the community, and make you look both professional and, potentially larger and more established than you actually are.
• Cold calling.
  • Many consumer are resistant to cold calling, as it can be seen to very irritating, and, in some cases – particularly for older people – very unsettling. So think very carefully before you do it.
  • It is also very time-consuming and can be incredibly disheartening – you may spend days on the phone only to have one or two people interested, if that (there’s quite an art to phone sales and it’s a lot more difficult than it sounds).
  • Make sure you are always polite, never pushy, and try to focus on the advantages to the person on the other end rather than just explaining what you’re selling.
• Door to door.
  • Many consumers are averse to door-to-door selling, and it can be very annoying. Then again, it must produce some success, or else people wouldn’t try it.
  • We’d recommend leaving it as a last option, as it could do more harm than good to your brand and reputation – it can look fairly desperate and some people find it intimidating.

Monitor your results

• As always with marketing activity, you need to measure results carefully to ensure everything you do is producing enough benefit to your business to warrant any money and time you spend on it.
• Ask new customers how they heard about you when they place an order to monitor this.
• Adapt your strategy for getting new customers accordingly by focusing on the most effective channels and dropping the least effective ones.

What made China the world’s factory? What made India the world’s technology hub? What made Israel a leading innovation centre? Connecting with their diasporas in the United States.

Who?: Governments around the world should begin to think about their diasporas in new ways and seek to build mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships with them. Rather than viewing them as being ‘lost’ to the homeland, they can re-engage with the homeland through stregetic diaspora initatives such as formal mentoring programs, investment and trade programs, and cultural initatives. They do not need to return in order to make a difference.

Why?: Global diasporas constitute an obvious collective of people through whom networks can be created and individuals mobilized for mutual benefit of both diasporas and the home country.

How?: Global diasporas serve as an important conduit, facilitating the two-way flow of capital. That capital presents itself in every form be it human, social, intellectual, cultural or financial. Looking at capital flows alone, the transfer of funds in the form of remittances, bonds, philanthropy or business investment is massive by any scale, and growing.

We have always emphasised the importance of planning and why you should know all planned big  events in the country. You should know on your fingure tips and  have a plan  of how to benefit.  We started with elections that coming next year and explored various businesses you can explore such as printing of posters and tshirts. Some politicians could be thinking of using technology such as short videos or setting up websites. So good opportunities out there although you have to exercise due caution  and ensure that you get money upfront or risk doing work for nothing! We also gave you a heads up in relation to HIFA and hope that most of you managed to secure commercial places at this popular entertainment and arts  festival.

So what do we have to share with our members this week? We have 2 basic investment options. The first one relates to small scale investment targeting sporting and entertainment  events. I was at the National Sports Stadium last Sunday and witnessed brisk business for people selling food during half time. The happy Makepekepe fans bought all the food that was available!  Caps United will host more big matches at the venue and i can guarantee you that there will be big business-people buy food and will continue doing so even during economic difficuties. The soccer season will be opening in the coming weeks, more sporting events should be coming through out the year. Plan on your calendar all the key events and make a plan of how you can take advantage of these events.

The second investment idea relates to the Harare-Mutare Highway. Its the second time we are discussing this-traffic has increased and this is due to the refurbishment of the road. Its now Mutare ne carpet instead of Masvingo ne carpet. A lot of long  distance trucks are now using this route and we are not sure why-perhaps the use of Beira Port for importation of goods? Or the preference on use of the road over the rail system? ZBIN will be travelling to Beira to find out why within the next 3 months and we hope to get to the bottom of the issue. What is however good is that new opportunities exist on the highway and one such opportunity is the establishment of trucking inn-one morden one which can compete with the few that exist on this highway. Travellers along the Harare-Beitbridge Highway should be aware of  the Mvumba Stopover-the nice stop over where travellers park their vehicles or buses  to rest and purchase food. Mutare -Harare needs one such place as the existing place is not doing justice to the business opportunities that exist along the highway. From Harare expect no meaningful stopover till you reach Mutare.

So there you are 2 opportunities for you. Remember that you should not just plunge into an investment before due diligence-do carry out enough studies before deciding to invest. You can even search on our website sample business plans to help you in investment decisions.

Muito Obrigado

Some time back ZBIN once covered the issue of Pyramid Schemes and cautioned our members about MMM. Some came out with guns blazing defending the MMM scheme despite our argument that this was a clear fraudulent scheme!

So where is MMM now? The scheme is dead and buried and a lot of investors lost a lot of money through the scheme. So how did they manage to fool everyone? Its easy they made a few people rich, the few people inspired everyone and soon it became free for all with everyone scrambling to join the scheme! We do not have statistics about how much was lost since it was an underground scheme but we suspect that as much as $6m was lost through this scheme.

There is currently no known pyramid scheme that is running publicly but we know that it’s a matter of time before a new scheme comes to town. It looks like these schemes come in cycles….money related or naked schemes where members part with hard cash and product related schemes were members of the public are hoodwinked by joining schemes where they sell products. After a cash/naked pyramid scheme fails it is usually followed by a product pyramid and so we expect a product related pyramid scheme to follow the MMM scheme in 2017.

Lets look at an article below explaining how a Pyramid Scheme works.

Pyramid schemes quickly become unsustainable.

The main characteristic of a pyramid scheme is that participants only make money by recruiting more members. There are many different kinds of pyramid schemes, but the two most basic are product-based and so-called naked pyramid schemes.

In a naked pyramid scheme, no product is sold. Here’s how it works:

1. One person recruits 10 other people to participate in a “no-fail investment opportunity.”
2. The 10 recruits each pay the recruiter $100.
3. The recruiter now tells them to go out and recruit 10 more people to do the same.
4. If each recruit is successful, they’ll all end up with $900 in profit from a $100 investment.

Sounds simple enough, but here’s the problem: Let’s say the initial 10 recruits each find 10 more people. Those 100 new recruits will have to find 10 recruits each to make $900. That means they have to find 1,000 people willing to sign up for the program. And if they somehow find 1,000 people, that next level of the pyramid will need to sign up 10,000 to make a profit. Eventually, there won’t be enough recruits at the bottom of the pyramid to support the level above it. That’s when the pyramid topples and everyone at the bottom loses their investment.

A product-based pyramid scheme is the same concept disguised as a legitimate direct sales opportunity. Here’s how it works:

1. A distributor recruits 10 salespeople who each pay $500 for a starter kit of products to sell.
2. The distributor gets 10 percent of each starter kit that’s sold.
3. The distributor also gets 10 percent of each product that any of his recruits sells, including more starter kits.
4. The recruits are told that the fastest way to make money isn’t by selling products, but by recruiting more people to buy starter kits.
5. The people at the top of the pyramid get commissions from everyone in their downline, the many levels of recruits below them on the pyramid.

The problem with most product-based pyramid schemes is that the products themselves don’t sell very well, or have very slim profit margins. So the only way to make money is to find more recruits. Eventually (and surprisingly quickly), the market becomes saturated. There are too many people trying to sell the same unattractive product and there’s no one left to be recruited.

It’s mathematically impossible for everyone to make money in a pyramid scheme. For example, if each recruit needs to find 10 more people to recoup the cost of his or her initial investment, the eighth level of the pyramid would have to recruit a billion people to make back their money. And the next level would need 10 billion, nearly twice the population of the Earth.

In fact, pyramid schemes don’t work unless somebody loses. Those at the bottom of the pyramid are essentially defrauded by those on top. It’s a mathematical fact that no matter how many people join a pyramid scheme, 88 percent of the members will be on the bottom level and will lose their money [source: Pyramid Scheme Alert]. Pyramid schemes are illegal because people don’t lose their money due to normal market forces, but because the system requires them to lose so that a few at the top will win.

Studies show that in a naked pyramid scheme, 90.4 percent of people lose their money, while in product-based pyramid schemes, that number jumps to a shocking 99.88 percent

So what’s the difference between product-based pyramid schemes and legitimate multi-level marketing (MLM) companies? Or is there even such a thing as a legitimate MLM? For Multi-level market (MLM) or network marketing is an American institution. Companies like Amway, Tupperware, Herbalife, Avon, Mary Kay and The Pampered Chef support huge networks of distributors and recruits who sell every type of product from dietary supplements to kitchenware to beauty products. Salespeople are called independent business owners (IBO) and generally work from their homes.

On the surface, it’s hard to tell the difference between a legitimate MLM and a pyramid scheme. That’s because they’re both built on the business model of “multiple levels” of distributors and recruits. Some critics of MLMs claim that all of them, even the supposedly “legitimate” ones, are pyramid schemes in disguise.

Here are some other ways to identify product-based pyramid schemes:

• Pyramid schemes offer money for simply recruiting people. This money can come as a commission from the sale of a starter kit or as a recruiting “bonus.”
• Avoid any MLM that puts much more emphasis on recruiting salespeople than selling the actual product.
• Pyramid schemes charge steep startup costs for joining, including mandatory training, a starter kit and a non-refundable membership fee.
• Beware of any MLM that allows five or more levels of distributors to collect commissions on a single sale.
• Make sure that the products being sold have real value and a competitive price. Are they reputable brands? Have the manufacturers been involved in recent lawsuits?
• Avoid MLMs that only sell lists of sales leads to other MLM salespeople. This is most likely outdated information that has made the MLM rounds several times before.
• Avoid signing up for an MLM as part of a high-pressure motivational event. Consider the information carefully and take it home to think about it.
• Be wary of anyone who tries to sell you on an MLM by flaunting their personal wealth. Realize that many of the people who claim to have made millions through MLM have actually made their money selling books and videos on how to make millions through MLMs.
• Bottom line: If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.  

Here is good news for investors-The Tourim Sector is expected to grow in 2017. The number of expected tourist arrivals is expected to continue on an upward trend in 2017. New airlines have entered the Zimbabwe market with Rwandair expected to start direct flights to Harare on the 3rd of April, the Victoria Falls Airport is complete and soon there will be direct flights from Kenya. ZBIN hopes to carry out a comprehensive study of this area and find how our members can benefit. In the meantime, we have divided the sector into the following 8 categories:

1. Accommodation

2. Adventure Tourism and Recreation

3. Attractions

4. Events and Conferences

5. Food and Beverage

6. Tourism Services

7. Transportation

8. Travel Trade

We will analyse developments in each of the 8 categories above looking for trends, competition, opportunities and future outlook. This evening allow us to tackle  a new concept of something that has already been happening-our brothers and sisters returning home four tourism-Diaspora Tourism! No readily available data exists about this sector but we believe that this is an area worth analysing with the view of coming up with packages targetting this sector.

‘Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.’ Miriam Beard

Tourism is the world’s fourth most valuable export, after fuels, chemicals and automotive products, while for many developing countries it is the number one export category. Diaspora tourism has created a significant market niche for itself in recent years, marked by the intensification of globalization and transnationalism. The homing desire of various diasporas has become a marketing target for various players in the tourism industry. Even those who do not have direct links to Ireland nurse the desire to visit the land of their ancestors. Diaspora tourism can be divided into three distinct segments – heritage, residential and festival:
1.Heritage tourism is predominantly driven by diaspora tourists who wish to discover their ancestry and heritage.

2.Residential tourists encompass diaspora members who live and work abroad and who have invested or plan to invest in property in their country of origin.

3.Festival tourists include diaspora tourists travelling back for important events and festivals such as Easter, Christmas, weddings and christenings.

Tourism has an importance beyond its direct economic impact, and to reduce the significance of diaspora tourism purely to an economic niche would mean denying it of its real worth. Tourism is essentially an advertising voice to the world, an empathetic connection to the world, an ability to bring back the diaspora, getting them to consider buying more produce from the homeland, coming back for further visits, buying a home in the homeland, investing in the homeland, returning to the homeland full-time. It should be looked at through a variety of angles, among them the context of promoting the identity and culture of the homeland. Some countries are targeting their diaspora for inbound tourism. One such example is Scotland who designated 2009 as Homecoming Scotland. For further information on diaspora tourism please see the insert by Kathleen Newland of the Migration Policy Institute entitled ‘Diaspora Tourism’.

Genealogy can also promote diaspora tourism to the home country. According to Fowler genealogy is ‘the account of descent from ancestor by enumeration of intermediate persons; the investigation of the pedigree of a particular person or family.’88 Genealogy comes third as the most popular subject on the internet. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence points to the existence and potential growth of genealogy tourism, alleged to be one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world.

Genealogy diaspora tourism is a great way to engage the ‘baby boomers’ in the diaspora. When thinking about the future and indeed diaspora strategies, it is natural that we tend to focus on the next generation. In doing so, however, we sometimes forget the baby boomers. In the US there were 77 million people born between 1946 and 1964. They are now turning 60 at the rate of 10,000 a day.90 By 2030 there will be more people aged over 50 than under 18. They are the healthiest, wealthiest and best educated cohort in the history of mankind. As they enter into their ‘third act’ these ‘young old’ are not buying into the old retirement ideal, and after their working careers are over they are having a temporary pause before taking up the next challenge. They are curious, keen to travel and want to try new things. They want to learn. They are conscious of their good fortune and want to give back to society in a meaningful way. They are the segment that shows most interest in researching their ancestry. Just as the next generation needs specific strategies of engagement so, too, does the ‘grey’ market.

Diaspora conferences A recent feature of other countries’ disapora strategies is the extent to which governments are organising events in the home country and inviting key members of the diaspora to attend – and they are responding. An invitation from a government or head of state seems to carry more clout than if from a regular disapora organisation. As previously noted, countries such as Australia, Israel, Scotland and Ireland have organized conferences in the homeland to engage diaspora members. Examples of other such conferences include:

India – Pravasi Bharatiya Divas In 2003 the first major Indian diaspora conference was held which attracted more than 2,000 overseas Indians from 63 countries. The Conference was co-sponsored by the Indian Government and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and was opened by then- Prime Minister Vajpayee. One of the main focuses of PBD 2011, which was attended by over 5,000 delegates, was on the young overseas Indian. In an endeavor to connect with and engage the younger generation of the overseas Indians with emerging India, a plenary session on ‘Engaging with the young overseas Indian’ was organized. There were also parallel interactive sessions on topics important to the diaspora including: (a) industry round table: interaction between diaspora and Indian industry leaders; (b) information, communication and entertainment; and (c) celebrating the Global Indian. PBD conventions provide a platform for exchanges of views and networking to overseas Indians on matters of common interest and concern to them. They also help the Government of India to better understand and appreciate the expectations of the overseas Indian community from the land of their ancestors and more importantly, acknowledge the important role played by them in India’s efforts to acquire its rightful place in the comity of nations. Regional PBD’s are also organized overseas and have been held in New York, Singapore, South Africa and The Hague.

Barbados – Inaugural Barbados Diaspora Conference In 2010, the Government of Barbados organized the Inaugural Barbados Diaspora Conference. Themed ‘Strengthening the Bonds that Unite Us’ the conference explored ways to realize national objectives pertaining to the diaspora, which are under the remit of the Council for Investment, Exports, Foreign Exchange and the Diaspora. It also gave Barbadians and Friends of Barbados residents abroad the opportunity to discuss ways in which they can make tangible contributions to the development of the homeland. The conference was attended by over 300 delegates. Speaking at the opening of the conference the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, stated that ‘while not every overseas Barbadian intended to return they were all anxious to find avenues to contribute to our national development’, and he recognized that ‘we needed to create a comprehensive structure to embrace the Barbadian Diaspora as an integral part of the economic, social and cultural development of Barbados.’

Cameroon Diaspora Economic and Trade Forum In 2010, the Cameroon government organized the first-ever economic and trade forum that brought together home-based development stakeholders and 300 key members of the Cameroon diaspora to brainstorm on how the diaspora could contribute to the country’s economic development. Many agreed it was a milestone in efforts to promote economic growth by encouraging cooperation between the government and its citizens living abroad. The government has stated that the forum will be held annually and is part of a plan to raise Cameroon to the rank of an emerging economy by 2035.

These conferences provide an important forum for home countries to listen to the diaspora and provide them with an opportunity to voice their ideas for ways they can engage with the homeland and home institutions. It is important that countries remember that conferences should not just be a networking event for diaspora members. In order to maintain the enthusiasm stemming from these conferences, countries must implement reporting and follow up mechanisms to ensure that ideas generated at the conferences become tangible and real initiatives.

ZBIN has been invited by a leading Pentecostal church in Zimbabwe to carry out a business/investment presentation-what an honour! We have been given a total of 3 hours to carry out a presentation and facilitate discussions on business and investment opportunities and agreed to participate.

We are therefore putting together a presentation and training material for this event and decided to share some of the material that we will present with you so that this can help churches in areas where ZBIN is not able to visit.

So what do we intend to achieve at this event?

1. To equip church members with key business opportunities identification skills.
2. To enable the church to collectively take advantage of emerging opportunities.
3. To help the church in taking advantage of an identified business opportunity

So we are looking at a church member as an individual and exploring how one can be an expert at identifying business opportunities. Equipping one with basic skills which are not covered anywhere….not even at college level! We would like to see members with a competitive advantage when it comes investment opportunity identification.

The objective of the presentation can be summarised as ‘Creating a culture of business opportunity identification’. They have to master and enjoy business opportunity identification and in next instalment we will talk of ‘Taking advantage of business opportunities’. The follow up discussion may take place in 6-8 months’ time but for now they need to be experts on an individual level and collectively as a church.

So at individual level, how does one identify opportunities? Is it Rocket Science? The answer is No; this is something people do every day, we will just make it systematic so that one can do it in an organised way.

Business Identification Skills at Individual Level

1. Positive Mindset: Identifying opportunities starts in the mind, if you train your mind to only see negatives then negatives is what you will see. If you train it to see positives so positives is what you will see. We will provide reference to an article we posted here on the power of the mind in business.

2. Whats New in Town: Easiest way to identify new opportunities- What is New in Town? Is there a new surbub that is being built? Who will provide construction of roads? Who will build houses? Who will provide materials for building houses? Who will provide the residents with retail shops, who will educate the children of the suburb? New in Town concept can be applied to new political parties, new government policies or initiatives, new organisations. This is a high risk area as you are likely to find opportunists and fraudsters.
3. Problem Solving Mind set: The simplest opportunity identification concept. You just need to list all problems that people are complaining about. You list them down and try and find innovative solutions to the problems. Opportunities will emerge as you try to solve them. I have a friend who has created a company that will try and fix the pothole headaches. The import substitution (SI 64) resulted in uproar last year but local companies benefited to some extent from the move. So if you were prepared, this as the time to benefit by increasing local production! When some were complaining about the introduction of the Bond Note by initially refusing transactions in the Bond, at ZBIN we encouraged members to accept and increase sales! So simply list all the problems that people are experiencing and find how best to solve them. The list should always be updated on a regular basis.
4. Import Substitution: What are the goods and services that we are importing? Why are we importing them? Does it mean there is no substitute? At one time Zimbabwe was importing mineral water! We were even importing charcoal and goods which were easily found locally! During the week, a key topic on our Facebook Page was that of food vending carts which have a current price of R20,000 in South Africa. Zimbabwe can produce similar food vending carts at less than half the price and create local opportunities.
5. Franchise Analysis: One can easily visit franchise websites such as www.franchisedirect.co.za/, www.safranchisewarehouse.co.za and https://whichfranchise.co.za. Franchise sites provide you with a list of new opportunities which will be for sale. So you can always visit and find what will be new as franchise websites usually capture new opportunities.
6. Comparisons: When we visited Mozambique last year for the first time, we identified opportunities by asking simple questions. We asked why there were few boats on the Zambezi River, we asked why there were no fruit and veges markets? We asked why South Africans were building shopping malls. We compared Tete to Harare, we compared Tete to Johannesburg. We asked why we did not see schools along the Nyamapanda to Tete Road when we had seen several schools along the highway from Harare to Nyamapanda, so where were the schools? In comparing we realised that there Is a market for schools that teach the expatriate community in Mozambique, Zimbabweans working in Tete needed schools that teach the Zimbabwean curriculum. We asked why the temperatures were so high when compared to Harare and realised that there was a market for ice creams. So when you keep asking and comparing you actually come up with a lot of opportunities.

We have 8 more tips to share with them and this includes disruptive technology. In order for one to be effective in identifying opportunities you are going to need the following skills:

• Interest in finding opportunities
• You must enjoy sharing your thoughts with others
• Utilise your research skills
• Be well read
• Not have a get rich quick mentality

Follow up Steps

Business Committee to cultivate the spirit of identification opportunities and sharing amongst themselves. Through discussions, they can actually identify church members with opportunity identifications skills; these will be called Opportunity Identification Champions who will work closely with the Business Committees in identifying opportunities for the church.

Follow up on investment opportunities: Identifying opportunities is part 1 and is not enough, following up on opportunities and coming up with action plans is the ultimate objective.

Use of Professional Market Survey Reports: Identifying opportunities at an individual or collectively as a church is good but for decision making they will need to use market survey reports which cover more information.

Zimbabwe Gap: ZBIN has identified a gap, an interesting one for this church; unfortunately it will only be shared with this church. We will feature it as one of our success stories if the church follows it up – the idea will be for free and we hope by end of year, something new and exciting business wise should be happening in Zimbabwe.

We will share with them a lot of materials we have published including some discussions done on our Facebook Page. This is an extension of our community service as we try our best to develop a community that is talented in identifying opportunities in Zimbabwe and beyond, a community that takes advantage of opportunities in an ethical manner.

For us identifying opportunities is a God Given Talent and there is no better way to utilise it than to spend 3 hours of our time discussing business and investment and helping to inspire them to take advantage of existing or emerging opportunities.