The construction sector has a potential to contribute up to 20% of Zimbabwe’s Gross Domestic Product according to construction experts. The sector used to employ 20% of the country’s labour force at its peak in 1996-it however employs about 5% according to a research paper by Ruzivo Trust.

Indeginisation within the construction sector

The following factors are important to note for those who are interested in entering the sector

1.The construction sector is dominated by government projects, which currently account for90% while the remainder is accounted for by private sector projects.

2.About 60% of the players in the construction sector are indigenous, most of which are small
and unable to implement big contracts, while 40% are large non-indigenous and foreign contractors

3.Competitiveness in the sector is questionable in light of low-cost technologies used for example
by the Chinese. This implies that local firms fall away in tendering processes

4. Limited opportunities for continued capacity development among existing personnel continues
to hinder the ability to deliver on projects by local engineering and construction firms.

5.Efficient procurement of high volumes of raw materials required in the sector is hampered by
weak supporting services such as transportation.

6.On the production and construction front, erratic provision and inhibitive costs of electricity delay
turnaround time.

7.Tender Board Procedures are not consistent with the requirements of Broad Based Economic
Empowerment legislation which limits meaningful participation of Zimbabweans.
Despite being indigenized, construction in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is
not well organized and poorly capitalized.

8.High capitalization required in the sector limits participation to a few large players while
presenting barriers to entry to medium and small players.

Challenges in the Construction Sector

1.Human resources flight: the decade of economic crisis reduced skilled labour and experts in the
sector. In the short-term there is therefore limited resource pool for human resources to gap-fill

2. Slow uptake of new technology and equipment has rendered the sector less efficient compared to
regional and multinational competitors in the sector who have state of the art equipment at their
disposal

Opportunities in the sector

We urge our members to be always for a trigger that will enable favourable economic and investment conditions in the country. When the sector starts recovery, make sure you are part of the upward economic trajectory!

Opportunities include the provision of construction machinery, engineering jobs, joint venture and partnerships, subcontracting opportunities amongst  others

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This is what helped to shape the direction of the forum when we formed it back in 2015. If you would like to find information about business opportunities in Zimbabwe, where are you going to go? If you would like to download information or resources on small businesses in the country-which site or forum do you visit? If you do not have sufficient funds for consultancy fees, where will you get free information?

The questions became tougher for instance if you are i the diaspora and would like to invest back home, who is going to give you up to date information on opportunities? So an attempt to answer the questions above gave rise to a fledging digital platform which helps to assist small businesses in Zimbabwe-The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network!

A community and a platform that constantly discuss business –a close community that networks and share information on opportunities. A capacity building platform where members access information and resources to help improve their businesses.

Our model is structured as follows:

Website: Our website is our central place for filing information and resources. Contains a lot of downloads and articles that helps small businesses. It helps with free and easily accessible information. The website established  at the end of November 2016 has been viewed more than 250,000 and is linked to our Facebook Page.

Facebook Platform: Acts as a link between the website and our popular whatsapp groups.  Information flows from the Facebook page of 32,000 to the website or vice versa. Information is cascaded to the Whatspp platform or comes from the Whatsapp platform.

The Whatsapp Platform: With over 8,000 members and managed by trained Whatsapp Admins, the forums include Poultry, Mining, Bitcoin, Online Forex, Agriculture, Rabbits, Mozambique Opportunities, Baking, Entrepreneurship, Tapestry etc. It also has business forums for regional countries such as Lesotho, Zambia, Swaziland, Zambia, Botswana and Malawi. Information flows from the Whatsapp platforms to Facebook or straight to the website.

So with information flowing from different directions on our platforms-the result is a closely knit and well informed community of 32,000 and more. The model ensures that at any given point in time there are tens of people on our website. Every minute a discussion is going on in the more than 20 groups that we have on our platforms.

When we investigated whether such a model exists in the world, we realised that a similar model model exists in Japan and its called Mirasapo. Whilst the Mirasapo does not exactly follow the Whatsapp and Facebook linkages it however achieves one major objective and that is to support the needs of the SME sector in Japan.

Out is the traditional class type of capacity building and workshops and in is the future with use of IT in creating engaging platforms where members can access information from experts. This has worked well in Japan as it enables everyone from all the corners of the country to access information at the click of a button. This is what we are using as we connect the Diaspora and locals-connect entrepreneurs in remote areas with others in cities. The message is the same-access to information and resources at little cost.

Model Adjustment

The existing model has worked well for us in creating a solid and closely knit community. The next stage is expanding the model by ensuring that it reaches to members beyond the current 32,000  to more than a million members as we expand beyond Southern Africa. We will be sharing with you more information as we have already done a test which reached out to hundred thousands members.

The Good News

By now you must have received the good news of our project in a Southern Africa country. More to come as we prepare for an innovative program that we hope will be used as a model for entrepreneurship in Africa. Current models of business hubs which have been introduced are fine but need to be refined so that they can suit local conditions-what do locals want? If they enjoy singing whilst they do their job, are you incorporating that into your business models? If locals enjoy handiwork are you incorporating that into business models or you are just bringing business school environment to rural area based entrepreneurs? Lets wait and see what comes out from pilot phase coming up in the next few weeks.

Bitcoin and More Bitcoin

Last week we formed  groups-India-Zim group for collaboration between Zim and Indian entrepreneurs. A great platform where information is freely shared between Zimbos and Indian entrepreneurs.  We however failed to create a Bitcoin group due to time constraints-we promise to create it this week.

Office Closure

The ZBIN offices will be closed for renovations as from Monday to Tuesday this week-we reopen on Wednesday.

So wishing you all a fabulous week-do not forget to  go and register to vote.

Wa Mdala