So if you are asked about your forum what it stands for will you say? The answer is simple. ZBIN helps members to have access to the following:

1. Access to Markets

2. Access to Capital

3. Access to free information and resources and

Our forum is a Diaspora Friendly forum and has been in existence since February 2015. We got registered formally as a trust in March 2017 and our registration number is MA 000457/2017. Made up of a board headed by Ms Martha Tholanah, the board is made up of seasoned professionals from various fields such as Accounting, Law, Engineering, NGO, Consulting, Nursing and Human Resources. Fifty percent of our board is from the Diaspora and sixty percent being women.

The Finance Profession had more representation on the board with Farai based in USA who is the deputy board chair (CGMA, CPA),Tavaziva based in UK (CA) and your trully (ACMA,CGMA). The board has been funding all initiatives to date such as website registration and management, forum registration, forum business trips and the provision of free business resources over the past 2 years. With a strong corporate governance structure and culture, the term of office for the board is 5 years and we can only be re elected for a maximum term limit of 10 years. As a centre of excellency on corporate governance, we hope to transfer a successful ZBIN organisation before the expiry of our maximum term limits.

Achievements to date

1.    Successful trips (X3) to Mozambique to explore business opportunities, kindly refer to the website Gallery for

2.    Setting up a website www.zbinworld.com that has reached more 200,000 views. The website has a record number of free investment advice, more than 250 in total and we achieved this in less than 6 months.

3.    Current projects to register a poultry marketing company to help members to sell their poultry products in bulk and enjoy economies of scale.

4.    Carried out a mining tour of Mashonaland West which helped members with free information on mining opportunities.More tours lined up for the second quarter of the year.

5.    Introduced a tender tracker to help members in the Diaspora with access to opportunities presented by tenders in Zimbabwe.

6.    We have 5,000 members on our ZBIN Group who are constantly sharing business information and ideas. Professional groups that are well managed and have attracted a number of foreigners from Ghana(Rabbit Group), India and South Africa (Human Resources) and Malawians (Malawi General Group). This is in addition to the 28,000 members that we have on Facebook.

7.    Carried out outreach activities for a number of churches and church groups inspiring them to identify and take advantage of opportunities. Outreach programmes to local universities is next in the pipeline.

8.    Influenced the drafting of the National Diaspora Strategy.

Plans in the Pipeline

Everyone on the group is working on a part-time basis and this is not an effective and efficient way to deliver our 3 Objectives already mentioned. We have done extremely well on  Objective 3, Provision of Free Information and Resources. Information on its own is not good enough. We need to see member getting access to capital and actually starting businesses. ZBIN should be able to say we helped 2000 members to have access to capital, they started business projects and the members are so and so. We would like to see members who got additional capital which they injected in their businesses and this should be tracked.

We would like to see members who have had access to markets. We would like to see someone saying through ZBIN I accessed this new market, I got help from this group to sell x amount of goods which generated xyz amount of revenue.

So provision of information will continue but the focus will shift a bit—more action and evidence of what we are doing on the ground. How many members have accessed Capital? How many members have accessed Markets? Objective 1 and 2 are going to be our top priorities for the rest of the year. We already have a  scorecard  on our site which provides direction of our focus as a group. The group will review it in the next weeks.

Member Registration

In order to effectively carry out our objectives, we will have to recruit qualified and experienced personnel. We will need a CEO/Administrator, Access to Markets Manager, Access to Capital Manager, Research and Innovation Manager Positions. We have various options for fund raising which we are exploring. One of the options is raising funds from registered members. We feel this initiative will cover 5-10% of the needs of the organisation, a few funders have shown interest in our work and we will announce once we have tangible discussions going on.

So our registration is $10 per member for 6 months or $20 for a full year. The benefits of registering are that you help your organisation to grow and secondly, you enjoy a number of benefits listed below:

1 Exclusive Access to Advertising Opportunities on all ZBIN forums such as our website, newsletter and conferences.

2.  ZBIN Paid Up Member Facebook Page: Exclusive forum for paid up members to be created, a platform where members have access to high quality business plans and other investment trends and opportunities.

3. Free resources such as Tax laws,  Loan Application Templates, Cash flow, Market Survey templates for download. 

5. Free Trainings and Participation on ZBIN Conferences and Tours:The Online Forex Group is going to be the first ZBIN group to obtain free trainings, the training on Online Forex Trading. The cost of the training is worth $250 but members will pay nothing! We will negotiate for more training partnership opportunities for our members.

6. Better Quality Information: We have demonstrated information provision as a key strength for ZBIN. Our record number of free investment advice is unprecedented! We will continue to provide general information to unregistered members. Registered members will however have access to better quality

7. Tenders Tracker Access: A first of its kind in Zimbabwe, the tender tracker is a database of all available tenders in Zimbabwe. Information shared is not easily accessible to non-resident Zimbabweans. Members should therefore have access to opportunities in Zimbabwe and track trends. The Diaspora is highly encouraged to access this tracker with a view to establish partnerships with locals and participate on high value tenders. In future we hope to expand the tenders and cover the whole Southern Africa Region.

8. Endorsement for Credit Access: Did you see a recent Homelink Advert which we shared widely? For you to access loans, you have to be a member of a registered business association-this is where ZBIN comes in by not only endorsing but providing helful advice on loan or credit applications.

9.  Diaspora- Locals Linkages Programme Banefits: We are the pioneers of the Diaspora-Locals Partnerships Programme Diaspora Linkages in Zimbabwe:. The Diaspora Community remits close to a billion dollars to Zimbabwe per annum. This community can even increase the amount of money they send if sufficient conditions and enabling environment is put in place. Through our website, we have become a hit with the Diaspora interested in investing in the country. There are a lot of inquiries and to respond to that we are refining the list of companies and consultants on our register so that the 2 parties can mutually benefit. Economic conditions in the Diaspora are different from those prevailing in Zimbabwe. Some have access to credit, access to information and other resources. Some are interested in opening exclusive distributorship franchises; to do this they need local partnerships-In comes ZBIN with a list of registered members from Zimbabwe and the Diaspora for possible partnerships. The advantages will be plenty and those who have been with ZBIN since inception can testify, more opportunities should come with the growth of the forum in the coming few months. We are also increasingly becoming the window of investment into Zimbabwe by foreign nationals and this should also benefit our members.

Registration Modalities

How much to register? $10 for 6 months or $20 for full year

Member Registration forms can download it below or abe accessed  from Catherine Shava who is based in Bulawayo. Her number contact number is +263 776 196 313. She will send you guidance on registration and next steps to follow.

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What happens to Unregistered Members?

We will continue to provide information the way we have been doing-general business information, engaging everyone, inspiring members, providing them with resources whenever we can because we enjoy doing our work. We enjoy seeing success stories because this is good for you, your family, local community and Zimbabwe and the region as a whole.

Yesterday I found myself 150 kilometres away from Harare! What a fabulous journey, this reminded me of my first journey to Tete last during the Easter Holidays. Looks like every year around this time I look East!

So what was the business in Mutoko?

I was involved in a swap deal with a relative of mine who wanted one of my small tucks in exchange for land. I was initially sceptical of this deal because I honestly have no business in Mutoko. The little knowledge that I have of this place is when last year we stopped in Mutoko to refill fuel at the Total Service Station, the stopover lasted 10 minutes.  So yesterday witnessed me and my wife in this beautiful place and I was there for more than 3 hours. We were fortunate to have someone with inside information about this place.

General Economic Conditions

The area is affected by the current liquidity challenges that are affecting the rest of the country. There is evidence of business struggling with a number of closed shops. Commercial banks such as CBZ closed shop and the only commercial bank at the centre is Agribank.

Real Estate Sector

More land is being serviced for residential stands and this has resulted in massive expansion which defies the performance of the economy. Will need more information and research on what is driving this expansion. The number of new homes constructed over the past few years is very high. I also had a chance to visit one of the newest residential area called Mutandihwa where stands range from 800-2000 square metres. Iam not sure about the price ranges but I took the following phone numbers for the benefit of our members:+263773994686 and +263772237460.

The increased activity in the real estate sector has led to the growth in the Hardware Shops where business is brisk. We also witnessed 2 churches constructing massive church buildings.

And the Opportunities?

This town would suit someone who is looking into the future, someone who can look beyond the current challenges. The first question you may need to answer is what attracted commercial banks to set up in this area in the first place. It is obvious that at one time it made sense to set up shop in the area. At one time business was so brisk that one commercial bank was not enough for this area.

So they came because there was massive potential but later on business became unprofitable. So if you are patient and got a positive mind set then this area presents a lot of opportunities in many sectors. The real estate is the obvious one, we do not have population figures but estimate that since 2009 the area has grown by 100% with new houses being built every year. Opportunities abound for construction companies and hardware shops in this area.

Vehicles Servicing

We did not see a main shop selling vehicle parts, maybe we need to research more in future but we did not see visibility of this sector in the town. Chance for ‘makava eku Harare’ to research and invest lol because the population of vehicles in high and the only area we witnessed that has auto related products is the Total Service Station that was selling vehicle tyres. It is easy to overlook this area on paper but connect this area with the massive residential area expansion. A new service station is being constructed along the Mutoko-Harare Highway at the centre and this shows that someone has seen the potential presented by vehicles in this town.

Outdoor Leisure Centre

Witnessed an outdoor centre near the town which is in a ramshackle state, perhaps related to the general economic situation currently prevailing in the country? We feel that Yes the Economy plays a huge part BUT what is required is innovation. Wanted is someone who can bring a Megga 2 concept, A Paramount Signature concept to this centre and target 2 clients-travelling motorists along the highway and the locals. Mix the 2 clients and not have to worry about localised economic conditions.

Micro Finance Institutions

The gap created by the exit of the commercial banks means that micro finance institutions should consolidate market presence. ZBIN to carry out more researches in this area.

More Opportunities?

More opportunities to be shared with our registered members. Remember to register next week and access more opportunities. In future we will be providing detailed information so that you can make informed investment decisions.

Our Star

Our investment star has to be firstpack, they have invested in a business sector that is expanding-books, stationery and IT related products.

Getting Ready

So this is what is happening 150 kilometres to the East of Harare, massive real estate expansion which is going on quietly and not being featured. Our source told us that the Council is looking for more investors especially those interested in setting up manufacturing industries. The Toko People are also asking why Hararians take granite stones and transport it to the Capital? Why not set up stone processing plants in Mutoko and transport finished products? Chances for Diasporans to look at innovative ways of solving this area and help create employment for people living in this area. Application is simple, go directly to the council and inquire, no need for middlemen!

So whilst current opportunities are limited it is the future that some of us are interested. I do not even have money to develop the area that I acquired but got my eyes firmly fixed on the future. The future of this area is unlimited and so should be put on your investment radar.

Do not forget to register as a ZBIN Member next on Monday.