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Diaspora Matters

Zimbo Entrepreneurs Raise Startup Capital Through Cruiseliner Jobs

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The major objectives of the Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network forum are 1) Access to Opportunities Information, 2) Access to Markets, 3) Access to Capital and 4) Promotion of Networking. We have done exceedingly well on the rest of the objectives except Access to Capital.

Access To Capital is a universal problem for start-ups but we have introduced innovations such as Crowdfunding which has had limited impact but remains a viable option. But our best innovation has to be championing the access to capital through working on cruise ships.

Before the Covid-19 period—Access to Cruise ships was restricted to a tiny few but floodgates opened in late 2021 when the cruise ships industry started revving the engines once more with cruise liners back on the high seas.

The cruise ships had been the hotbed of Covid-19 infections with some employees unfortunately passing on and others moving on to other jobs. Recruitment policies were therefore relaxed allowing mass recruitment across the globe. This presented Zimbabweans with a rare opportunity to apply and get recruited.

Our forum was fortunate to have a member (Sherz) who had 9 years working experience on cruise ships. We sat down and brainstormed on how to get forum members on cruise ships by streamlining the process from developing legit links, design of relevant resumes and interview coaching.

And the result? More than 1000 have directly benefited from the advice shared and our estimate is a total of 5000 Zimbabweans managed to land cruise ships jobs. Most of them recruited for lower level positions such as Housekeeping, Galley Attendants, Youth Camp Staff, Assistant Photographers, Waitresses, Bar Attendants and others. Some got high level positions such as engineers, casino dealers, HR Managers, Pursers, ICT Managers, Entertainment Managers and others.

Recruitment was done online with some through job fairs conducted in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. Top destinations being Carnival Cruise, Princess Cruise, Msc Cruis, Royal Carribean and others. Salary ranges from $800 per month to +$5000in addition to benefits such as tips for selected professions and cruiseliners.

The estimated benefit to Zimbabwe being 5000 estimated employees x an average salary of $16,000 per annum or $80m per year minus living expenses. The biggest advantage of working on cruise liners is that most of the basic needs are provided such as food and accommodation—and no transport costs. Therefore one can save more than 90% of salaries earned and bring it home.

These Zbinites got a once in a life time opportunity to fly for free on a chartered plane from RGM Airport to Hawaii for visas en route to Carnival Cruise ships in July 2022.

Those migrating to other nations such as care workers to UK cannot afford to save above 30% of their income as most of their incomes eaten by living expenses.

Dear Reader, This is how we managed to partially solve access to capital for our members. Of course these workers have other pressing needs to sort back home, but the belief is after supporting relatives and building own homes—businesses will be the top priority!

Of course it’s not all smooth sailing on cruiseships as one has to adjust mentally, emotionally and physically to an environment of hard work through long hours.

The Future of Cruiseship Jobs: In 2021 and 2022, cruise ships were desperate for employees with potential candidates wary of human trafficking or recruitment scams. However when the word quickly spread that indeed the jobs were bonafide—most of the low level jobs were filled. Jobs still exist but one has to be fast in applications, and also know the correct procedures of applications.

For first timers—Be wary of scams, and no funds required upfront by agencies. You do the whole process by yourself—from applications, interviews, medical clearances and visa applications.

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Diaspora Matters

Success Story of Bulawayo Rabbit Biltong Bites

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Raising rabbits is not much of a problem, the process is fairly simple and many people can do it. However the biggest challenge happens to be access to markets. Despite great taste and health benefits, many shy away from rabbit meat. However, over the years more restaurants have been adding rabbit meat on the menus and the Chinese Community in the country has been one of the key drivers of demand.

Our forum has an active Rabbits Whatsapp Group where members share resources on raising rabbits. And one of our star members is Bulawayo based Trymore T Cee Nzou. Instead of complaining about markets access, he innovated and introduced Rabbits Biltong which he branded as Rabbit Bites and the response has been encouraging.

He leveraged on the 100k Active forum members and partnered with distributors such as Gwenn Chimuti and Audline Matsika in Harare who stock and push Rabbit Bites to Hararians. Massive demand for Rabbit Bites from Zbinites as the tasty rabbits gain traction.

The last time he travelled from Bulawayo to Harare for a ZBIN Sports Day, he boarded a night bus and then sold samples to fellow passengers and the response was overwhelming proving that a market does exist. Zbinite Tinashe Makuvise bought 20 Rabbit Bite packets and took them to hotels in Kariba and the response was the same-great uptake and positive reviews. Pause for a moment and calculate the distance between Bulawayo to Kariba via Harare!

The Bulawayo based youngster will soon be running out of space as demand surges. There have been inquiries from as far as UK from fellow Zbinites interested in pushing the bites.

The Power of Innovation!

There are more opportunities to be unlocked when youngsters add value and then collaborate in market development. Only the sky is the limit for those who combine thinking in other terms and hard work. Just like we helped push hybrid paw paws and cruise ship jobs-our next success story is on Rabbit Bites from Bulawayo based J&J Rabbits.

To those interested in Rabbit Bites, do contact Trymore on +263 777 988 092 or his Harare based distribution agents-Gwenn Chimuti on +263 719 224 766 and Audlin Matsika on +263 779 210332

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