Diaspora Matters

Millions of dollars are lost every year by first time buyers of residential stands! In the category of those who lose resources are medical doctors, accountants, engineers, teachers, diasporans, lawyers and others.

You cannot even trust real estate agents 100% as some have been de-registered for malpractices by the Real Estate Council.

You cannot trust relatives and friends either as this category is the highest risk!

Title deeds verifications? A lot of people have lost funds after visiting the deeds office with their lawyers. A friend of mine did visit the offices with a lawyer but still lost funds when he wanted to buy his first residential stand in Marlborough in 2006.

Number 1 Redflag: Just avoid stands in built up areas. A residential stand in Mt Pleasant, Braeside, Sentosa, Greencroft, Warren Park etc. Why is it still vacant decades later when others completed their homes or got structures with tenants? These infil stands have all the papers in order but disaster unfolds when you deliver bricks to the stand site –the owner of the place suddenly emerges and produces authentic deeds. My estimate is more than US$10 million was lost this way from 2000-2020 in Harare alone.

Kungowona pakanzi INFILL Stand, run with your money.

So how do you ensure your funds are safe and the stand you are buying is bonafide?

Golden Rule: Deal with companies with huge balance sheets. If a company has US$500m in its books, its unlikely to disappear with a residential stand worth $200k. It just doesnt make sense!

To prove this; No local bank has been taken to the courts accused of selling fraudulent stands. Noone has taken CABS/Old Mutual, FBC, Steward Bank or Fidelity Insurance.

However a lot of individuals have been taken to court with some on the run. Most have nothing to lose and disappear as soon as thy get funds in their hands.

Yes its expensive to buy from reputable financial houses but you are 100% guaranteed of genuine properties and related documents.

A lot of forex is circulating in the informal sectors with experts putting the figure at US$5 billion. This is hard currency not finding its way to the formal banking sector and this is a huge opportunity cost.

What is worrisome is the lack of appetite to attract formal banking through incentives such as interest and other benefits such as overdrafts and loans for the informal sector. Add to this punitive bank charges which means if you bank US$1000, the money will be eaten by bank charges.

And the implications? Banks are becoming a no go area for many informal businesses with most  preferring the mattresses banking system! A look at media reports of robberies and scams shows that many are losing hard earned monies with cases rising on a daily basis.

Some time back we advocated for the establishment of bureau de changes but the proliferation of money changers on the streets has adversely impacted their operations. Money changers have no overheads such as office rentals, security, employment costs and others.

As a result many bureau de changes are closing shop with some converting to money lenders.

Of note is the increased risks of changing your funds from the streets. There are instances of bank transfer reversals or being handed fake currencies. You exchange US$10k on the street, get a bank transfer of ZWDL 130,000 and happily leave after confirmation of funds in your account.

Is all Ok? Not really as the bank can reverse the amount deposited in your account and when you try to get in touch with the money changer—his phone now unreachable! Because the transaction is illegal, there are no avenues for recourse and as they say on the streets—zvavharana!

You change your money and get an Ecocash deposit and like in the case above—similar loss results.

Be wary of money changers thronging most Whatsapp groups, this has become a haven for scammers who offer too good to be true rates. They are taking advantage of the fact that one cannot report to the police for recourse.

Do not click any send to your Facebook Inbox account—your inbox is now a high risk area as criminals prefer to lure you in the privacy of your inbox. Phishing normally happens away from the public glare although of late our Facebook forum has been struggling with scammers who publicly post their Telegram links.

Secure your accounts with 2 pin codes –that is requirement to log in to your accounts using an sms send to your phone. However this is not enough as scammers seem to be finding ways to break through the 2 pin code system.

Keep following the public media which is doing a sterling job in highlighting and exposing cash related risks.

Formed in 2014 by 10 board members—the forum has grown to 100k members as at the end of March 2021—the numbers growing organically. The forum has the following 4 objectives,

• Facilitating access to opportunities to information,
• Facilitating access to markets,
• Facilitating access to capital,
• Unlocking opportunities through networking

How does our scorecard look like 7 years later?

Access to opportunities information: A website with more than 740 posts with more than a million views. A facebook group with more than 100 posts per month since 2015. A vibrant Whatsapp forum with tonnes of resources shared and ongoing discussions. To date we have compiled 5 books with our debut book going viral in 2018.

Access to markets: A million views per month with 40% dedicated to members selling products and services. Forum meetings promoting marketing of products and services.

Access to capital: We do not have funds to give members but that has not been an excuse as we have promoted crowdfunding with more than 5 companies formed and more coming.

Unlocking opportunities through networking: We have actively promoted members networking on the forum including holding premium chats, awards, mentorship and forum tours and trainings.

Regional Impact: Although we never had global ambitions from the onset but our major impact has not been in Zimbabwe but outside with thousands of trainees in Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana and South Africa.

The whole concept was creating a well knit forum of entrepreneurs which is well informed on opportunities—a forum that supports members in various aspects such as access to resources

Future focus

• Solid networking: We no longer have any appetite to keep adding more members, we have our limit and we are therefore focusing more on a solid family of entrepreneurs who know each other name!We hope to introduce mobile apps that links our members through a database. Members should be able to search and locate members who sell products and be able to seamlessly process payments at a click of a button. Forum events are well attended and we hope to scale them up beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.
• ZBIN Radio & TV Show: Coming in the not too distant future are television and radio shows that scale up the experiences we have had with entrepreneurs over the past 7 years focusing on opportunities and practical experiences in running businesses,
• Entrepreneurship Centre: In order to cultivate and cement networking relationships, we are going to have an entrepreneurship centre which working spaces, libraries and networking events. Events will be beamed on television, radios and online.

For now we can only say a BIG THUMPS UP to you all for a well networked and supported forum! We are not just numbers but got an active constituency, the biggest in the country and keep on keeping on.

So as we feed the internet with everything, what are the implications?

The internet ends up projecting our every move and sometimes with inch perfect precision.

1. DSTV Account: It knows when dad is around right due to sports or news channels? It also knows when kids are around by the movie channels they tune to. It knows the dad of the house is away from home when he misses 3 crucial matches featuring his favourite teams.
2. Tollgates: They know when you pass through certain tollgates, who you will be travelling with and also know your average travelling speed. They can predict your next likely tollgate pass given your history over the past few years.
3. Bank Card: Ichi chikwapuro—it knows amounts in, out, times, places—whether you are likely to be involved in illicit deals. The bank card helps track your health status—why are drugs featuring prominently? Do we have pregnancy in the home? Lol The bank card can help predict where you are likely to be say on Xmas Day in 2021.
4. Ecocash: Just like the bank card above, helps track transactions and predict future movements, inflows and outflows etc
5. Your Computer or phone IP Address: Helps track your online activity—all sites you are visiting, for how long, unusual activity, all new email addresses you have opened etc
6. Your Whatsapp Account: Perhaps the best information it gives out is what is on your mind–your status updates! Your safe space for venting—so it can track your thoughts—timing and regularity.
7. Your other social media accounts: They help track  everything about you including your inbox messages, deleted messages, contacts and more.
8. Dashcam: At a certain financial organisation, top managers refused dash cameras coz it meant tracking evidence when they go to small houses lol
9. Edgars and Clicks Cards: Helps track your shopping habits, what you buy, when, how—even amount of time you spend in a shop, the colours and other specifications of what you buy. The card already knows what you are likely to buy during winter and the amount you will spent.
10. Your Passport: Although not fully computerised but each time you exit the border, the scanner captures your details—together with the air ticket, may help track where you are headed, how long you will take before returning etc. The passport can be used to predict your future movements.

More gadgets coming: There are more gadgets coming that will add more data about you to the digital platform—workplace keys or cards, scanners, vehicles and more. The computer simply wants more information about you—it is not satisfied by the current data we are uploading.

Can you fake the digital capture?: No you cannot, if you go offline now—your history will sell you out, why the change? Why is your home the only one with no pay per view channel subscription out of 3000 homes? Why are all mercs using swipe cards at tollgates but yours the only one paying cash?

In the past, your passport was stamped out 4 times a month, why none for the past 3 years? You are border jumping?

Positive Impact: Helps process large swathes of data faster—remember computers are technically faster than human beings. So computers are summarising data in record times for us, this allows faster decision making as we have accurate data on our fingure tips,

Positive Impact: Helps us predict the future better. When we talk about the future, there is an element of guess work—but if we use a lot of past data, study patterns—then its going to enable us to come up with near perfect predictions.

Negative Impact: If you are ethical, no need to worry about digital footprints but if your information falls into the wrong hands such as scammers then it can be disastrous.

As a rule, assume everything you do on the internet is being watched by good cops as well as bad cops.

For finance professionals, getting Big Data certifications crucially important as this has an impact on decision making and cyber security as well. Not many professionals on the topic in Zimbabwe so you have to rely on professional accounting bodies CPDs for now.

For entrepreneurs, this area provides tonnes of opportunities as well as risks—read widely about the topic with a focus on unlocking opportunities and minimizing risks.

Zimbabwe is projected to have a population of 23million by 2023 and that is 9 years away from now. The rate of population growth is ranges from 2.4-3% so good folks, the country is going to have more citizens than we currently have!

The current proportion of youths is estimated at 67.7% but by 2030 they may well be above 80%. Now here are some important considerations;

• The land size is not going to expand but will remain CONSTANT,
• The housing backlog will continue to increase until it becomes a security risk,
• In rural areas most of the idle land will be occupied with more pressure for resettlement,
• The NDS projects the internet penetration rate of 75% by 2025 so by 2030 could well be above 80%,

This helps explain why Strive Masiyiwa is constantly talking about the future with the youth in mind. If you are not talking about the future of opportunities that include an increased population where technology plays an influential role, then you are offside!

Opportunity wise, what does it mean to be around 2030?

Food Opportunities: Its common sense, we need to improve our efficiency in food production to cater for increased population. Our farms should ramp up production by mechanisation and effective use.

Tech Opportunities: Tech revolution already underway with 4IR and will affect every sphere of life from food, health, transport, education, entertainment, employment and more.

Green Opportunities: Climatic change is the driver of green energy—reduction of carbon dioxide emissions at the core of priorities. Already most Western countries have banned fuel powered vehicles production beyond 2030. This sector has catapulted Elon Musk to the top of the billionaires table. We are going to have our own African billionaires too connected to this area. As we have witnessed over the past few years–climatic change is real—3 cyclones in the 2021 rain season (Chalane, Eloise and Guambe), this is unprecedented and in future expect even 10 cyclones in one season, or a cyclone in June? Expect prolonged drought seasons too. Later during the year expect some earth movements as the earth crust adjust to the increased water levels. So to those in the Eastern region, small earth tremors are automatic this year and over the years they could increase in intensity. Do carry out a Green Opportunities Value Chain that looks at alternative energy, new housing models and more

Housing Opportunities: The current housing backlog estimated at 1,5 million. What is it likely to be in 2030? Obviously bigger and the question is will Harare accommodate more than 2 million residents? Will the city have enough land for double its population size? There is going to be a movement of urban to rural migration which is why it’s extremely important to guard and protect your current rural area land—there are going to be serious conflicts related to land in the coming years. On a construction tip, who is going to be constructing homes for the extra population? Who is going to provide inputs?

Global Opportunities: We doubt whether many countries are having this discourse on the future of opportunities, therefore to those fortunate to bump into this, consider cheap land in Zambia and Malawi for farming purposes as an investment for future generations, consider the new opportunities brought by an increased globalised world. Cheap internet charges, all rural areas with access to the internet. The question is who will provide the 4IR gadgets? Shops that sell cellphones, laptops, ipads are not closing anytime soon—infact will be expanding! Fintech opportunities to expand, the online population to expand too with probably 15 million Zimbabweans connected to the internet. Online schools from as far as Japan could well be providing lessons to Zimbabweans through robots. Our forum which reached 1 million views in February could well be attracting 10 million views with a community of over a million members. Crypto currencies could be the norm—finally accepted across the globe as a currency of choice.

So dear Zbinite, pause for a while and think about how the world will look like in 2030, look back at how the world looked like in 2010 and the changes you have seen. The rate of change in the next 5-10 years will even be faster with everything centred around technology and an increased young population.

Of course we do not often have the luxury of looking far into the future but in the developed world, they do and this is why we highly recommend following developments in the developed world and for Africans, Strive Masiyiwa is the mouth piece of the future, young populations, technology and opportunities—ignore him at your own peril.

The world has 7, 3 billion people with Africa having +1,3 billion citizens and a fast growing young population. Nigeria has 200million citizens, South Africa at 56 million and where does Zim stand? Just 16 million, so a small country and small population.

What is it that we do that over 7 billion people across the globe pause and gives us a thumps up?

1. Arts and Crafts(Mbira): Noone beats us when it comes to our Mbira Sound—Absolutely no one across the globe! Sadly we are sitting on this golden gem and one day we will wake up with most of our traditional folklore songs copy righted. How many Mbira instrumentals are for sale on Youtube? How many Mbira tutorials for sale by Zimbos? How many Mbira books for sale on Amazon? How many Mbira instrumentals featured on major films? At major musical festivals across the globe—they don’t invite our Zimdancehall artists—they strictly invite Zimbo sounds with a Mbira touch.
2. Arts and Crafts(Stone Sculptures): The Atlanta Airport in USA has a long walkway full of Zimbo stone art! The African Museum in Capetown has 3 floors full of African art but a whole floor is dedicated to Zim art with the rest reserved for more than 53 countries.  Our stone art traced to Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Khami Ruins and other historical areas made of stone

We used to be top of the totem pole when it comes to literacy across the continent but other countries are fast catching up and rankings of African colleges do not show favourable results for Zimbabwe. Our English accent still good but over the past decades, many have closed the gap.

So there is no any other area where Zimbabwe comes tops in the world apart from the above 2 areas. Therefore our focus as a country should be to innovate, invest and support the above 2 areas.

Little is known of Angola by Zimbabweans, the only contact we have with Angola is on the soccer field when our teams square up. Very little in terms of other spheres particularly business. Add the past civil war (1975-2002) and language barriers and Angola has practically been a no go area.

Angola Statistics

• Population: 30 million
• Currency: Kwanza
• GDP:$302 Billion
• Inflation: 15%
• Trade Stats: 2017 Figures (Exports $33 billion and Imports $19.5 billion)
• Exports: Crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum, coffee, sisal, fish, timber and cotton
• Imports: Machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles and spares, medicines, food, textiles and military goods
• Current account: -$1.2 Billion
• Unemployment: 6.77%
• Main industries: Petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, feldspar, uranium, gold, fish processing, food processing, brewing, tobacco product, sugar textiles and others
• Foreign reserves: $17 Billion

So we held a weekend long ZBIN Premium Chat with Rui Matata and he shared great insights into opportunities in Angola,

Open for business: Like Zimbabwe, they had a new administration coming in 2017, in Angola President Joao Lorenco  took over from Dos Santos and he is pursuing radical economic policies of opening up the economy, diversification and ramping up production,

No Visa for Zimbabweans:  You do not need visas to visit Angola for 30 days,

Online Company Registration: You can open a company online within 30 days,

No need for local partnerships: The requirement to partner locals by foreign investors was waived meaning you can fully open and run your own business operations,

No minimum investment: You can invest from as low as $1000 or $5000, there is no limit to what you can invest in Angola,

In terms of opportunities Zimbabweans can pursue in Angola, the focus is on aligning to government priorities of local production and creating local opportunities such as employment and also earning export receipts. The country for long had relied on oil export receipts but due to unstable prices, they are diversifying the economy.

Textile Industry: A Zimbabwean investment group Baobab has made history by opening 3 large textile companies with the second one commissioned on Monday 15 March 2021. This shows the trust and confidence in Zimbabwean expertise. Multi million dollar investments which will shape the future of the textile industry in Angola. Opportunities for training locals in sewing and clothes making, carpet making and others.

Agriculture: Zimbabweans may need to study various Agricultural value chains and analyse opportunity gaps especially agro processing.

Fintech: Strive Masiyiwa recently posted about a data cable being constructed that connects Angola with the rest of the Central and East Africa region such as Congo, DRC, Rwanda and Kenya. The country previously had no bureau de changes facilitating forex changing and remittances of funds. Mr Rui Matata is working with a Zimbo IT expert to resolve the issue. With Zimtrade having urged Zimbabweans to export Fintech expertise, Angola should be a key investment destination.

Colleges: There is a push for the country to fully integrate into English Speaking communities for access to global opportunities with English being vigorously pushed as a language of choice. Therefore English being taught from primary school. So opportunities to set up English speaking colleges and even online platforms.

Mining: If you read our 2018 Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans book, then you should have noted one of the start investments on Angolan Diamond Mining Partnerships. Liberalisation of mining empowered local communities to own diamond deposits but some had access to mining equipment constraints. Of course there are a lot of other minerals that abound in the country.

Exports: Zimtrade website has a list of export opportunities to Angola that include a lot of farming produce. All the land in Angola is government owned with some available for lease.

Way forward for ZBIN

We have formed a steering committee which will register a separate ZBIN Angola Opportunities forum which will spearhead investment in Angola. It will carry out detailed researches and develop business plans. The committee will also arrange for a forum visit to Angola later during the year.

Our forum is anchored on building and maintaining solid relationships. Strong relationships unlock opportunities in terms of access to markets, access to capital and other resources.

A well networked business person never struggles when it comes to markets, but its an uphill struggle for one with no network.

The good news is we have tonnes of forum contacts across the globe and we are selfless in connecting you to our database of contacts. In our 2020 Business Opportunities Book, we have the last page with regional contacts all available for your business use.

We have hosted a lot of premium chats from last year and this coming Friday, we have a big one: Business Opportunities in Angola and the chat is hosted by an Angolan national involved in Trade and Investment Promotion. This is a rare opportunity to listen to an Angolan national talk about business. What is more? You get a crucial forum contact for future reference!

This is our biggest chat to date and although earmarked for subscribed members, we have created more room for others as the opportunities are in the public interest for the rest of the forum and the nation at large.

We will have 2 groups for the chat and the time is 6:00pm -7:00pm Zimbabwe time. The Whatsapp links will be shared on Friday afternoon, so look out for them on the forum.

The greatest weakness organisations face is when supervisors are engaged in illicit affairs with subordinates! For risk professionals its tricky how to find this out—this is why even in risk registers this area does not often appear. It is difficult to rely on hearsay as one needs evidence. In most cases the evidence is hidden as parties engage in entanglements in privacy.

However there is an unwritten rule of matters of the heart –as soon as parties engage themselves in between the sheets, respect is instantly lost!

This is how third parties get wind of an affair between parties. A boss commanding respect by everyone at a company may have that one subordinate with little respect and everyone is bound to find out.

What are the implications of office romance?

• As soon as the rest of the employees find out—respect is lost by everyone.
• Zimbabwe is still a culturally sensitive country and some will take matters into their own hands and report. If they fail to report within, they are bound to engage tabloids, use social media or other platforms.
• If the boss is a man, then his wife is bound to find out,
• If the boss is dating a married woman, then the husband of the woman is bound to find out,
• Company secrets are as good as gone once bosses engage in illicit workplace affairs,
• Internal controls are the first victim due to office romance. The fastest way to losses is office entanglements,
• Poor morale is inevitable once other employees find out that hard work is not enough for promotion and benefits,
• If a supervisor engages is a couple of affairs, the company becomes a jungle as the affected parties can start open fights or even creating tag teams fighting each other,

Therefore the greatest risk facing any business entity if office romance!

Whereas at established companies, many fear human resources policies sanctions and hide affairs, for small businesses, founders can openly engage in affairs fearing no one,

This means competitors and other employees can quickly spread word of shenanigans to others,

Once you get entangled to a junior as an entrepreneur, that junior is instantly elevated to the position of business partner.

• You now need to pay the junior extra salary and benefits,
• You also need to share profits,
• You also need to factor in losses due to the junior stealing or misusing resources,
• You face reputational losses when things go sour or even law suits,

As soon as you put on clothes after sleeping with a junior, just remember the business is gone! All the hard work flies through the window….

So where does the problem starts from?

Researchers say during recruitment, bosses especially men recruit those they like and by default those they are attracted to! Bosses in most cases have final say of who they hire and this is the source of problems from day 1.

Managing office entanglements

• Companies should have solid policies for protection against losses from office entanglements,
• There should be regular awareness programmes of office romance risks,
• There should be internal mechanisms for managing reported cases of office romance,
• Failure of reporting internally will lead to information leaking outside where its impossible to control and comes with heavy costs,
• Conduct anonymous surveys (audits) where employees report whether they suspect there are illicit affairs at the company and present the reports at selected intervals. This can be used as a deterrent to involved parties. If 90% employees suspect there is office romance then there is need to take corrective action. This is a recommendation auditors can factor in reports to management especially for big companies that stand to lose out big by sex scandals.

As for start-up, just remember you are on your own and all the work can be up in smoke due to entanglement with a subordinate and in some cases can be with clients. So tread carefully in this area. Read more about ethics and practise them, for unethical practices=heavy losses!

A man sells a top of the range vehicle at a car garage along Prince Edward Avenue, deal concluded, he collects his cash and heads home to Madokero. Before he reaches home, he is robbed and US$40k is lost in the process!

In Waterfalls, armed robbers got away with US$56k and R28k after raiding a home 3 weeks back. Last week on Thursday, a family was attacked by robbers around 7:00pm with the robbers getting away with an undisclosed amount of money.

Another private school was mobilising funds for the purchase of a school bus, they held several meetings with parents who paid various amounts in cash. When they had accumulated enough resources—robbers pounced and they demanded the exact amount in the possession. One of the parents definitely involved!

In Norton, robbers followed a popular business man, they masqueraded as builders next door at an open space and started small work inorder to mask their monitoring project. They were patient for a good 30 days before pouncing on his home and disappearing with more than US$40k.

We wrote about this some few months ago that we were entering a dollarization period and this meant most transactions conducted in US Dollars cash. With our economy highly informalised, this means billions of dollars circulating in the informal sector with homes and offices used for safe keeping!

Transportation of cash=vehicles,

Safe keep=homes or offices,

High value transactions mostly involve sell and purchase of vehicles, residential stands and properties, school fees, company purchases and others.

Time of home robberies: Between 7:00pm and 9:00pm

How are robbers getting access to information of cash stored?

• Those involved in gold mining or trading are at High risk,
• If you are a business person with operations in the area of residence=High Risk,
• If you are conducting business at home—with clients visiting your premises=High Risk,
• If you withdraw large amounts of money from banks=High Risk,
• Private or other schools that receipt greenbacks =High Risk,
• If you disclose information on intention to purchase or sell high value items=High Risk,
• If where you stay is known or your movements known=High Risk,
• Driving top of the range vehicles or vehicles with foreign plates=High Risk,
• Driving late at night or your travelling habits predictable=High Risk,

Mitigatory Measures

Do a risk analysis on the cash that you handle. What if it’s stolen? Should you keep all cash in hand or bank it?

What information are you disclosing to the public about your location, movements, amount of wealth you possess and welfare? Times are different—these are high risk times—review your security plan especially information recklessly dished out.

Are your employees complaining about low salaries or non payment of salaries whilst you collect huge amounts of money from sales? Pay them market or reasonable salaries. Most robberies are coming from inside information and in most cases from disgruntled employees.

Conducting business operations from home? Even poultry farmers are getting robbed of their chickens. Do not allow clients on your premises—rather meet clients some safe distance away from your premises.

Buying or selling vehicles? First do not do this at your home, secondly if you intend to bank it, then better do so near bank and immediately enter the banking hall and safely deposit funds. If it’s a cash transaction then better visit a police station to reduce risks. Our advice is try by all means necessary to avoid carrying huge amounts. Do not move from car sale to the next with the intention of buying vehicles—you send a signal to robbers!

Consider engaging security companies in case of huge funds transactions. Yes its costly but saves you the headache of losing all of your funds.

We expect the economy to slowly open up as Covid-19 cases plateau but this could mark a high risk period for entrepreneurs as evening movements will increase and it is the period preferred by robbers.

Schools should avoid at all costs receipting and keeping cash on their premises as they may not have enough security. They need to be aware that receipting cash in public increases risks just like the case study of the school bus purchase covered above.

On a parting shot—avoid travelling long distances in order to effect a payment or collect cash. This will be like walking into a lion’s den—you don’t know the area enough, you are meeting strangers and it’s anybody’s guess what will happen next.