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Food & Beverages
Whilst we have notable key players in the food and beverages sector, one worth mentioning being “The Conglomerate” Innscor Africa, Zimbabwe is still importing a lot of food stuff from its neighboring countries. Crude soya bean oil, (whether or not degummed) worth US$45.22 million during the January – July 2019 period contributed to the high importing costs of that period.
There are reports that stats that:
- Most of the beef produced in the country is marketed with minimal processing and value addition.
- All canned beef available on the market is imported.
All these facts support the view that there are voids within the food and beverages sector that requires entrepreneurs to fill them up.
Finance
A number of aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups are failing to start and or significantly scale up their operations due to lack of investment opportunities. The Zimbabwean banks rarely invests in green projects for equity whilst their success guarantees a high rate of return. Funding plays a pivotal role in the success of any business venture and the Zimbabwean Banking Sector is so fond of rules and principles that doesn’t support entrepreneurial development. No matter how great your idea is, it’s so difficult to get funding from Banks.
Prior to the introduction of the Forex Auction Platform, the ZWL$ has been rapidly depreciating value against foreign currencies, investing could have been a great option, but where? There is need for local digital investment platform where individuals can invest in commodities such as gold, wheat etc. talking about digitalization, the digital payment sector has been growing globally. It has seen the rise of pay pall, skrill only to mention a few. Those who know skrill and pay pall know that they have some restrictions in Zimbabwe and that leaves us with the Visa and or MasterCard option which are to some extent expensive to acquire, the cheapest on the market costs around US$5 and you have to do a US$5 initial deposit, it is also restricted to usd or rand deposits only. Both the interbank and black market rate has been stable lately and I think that a digital online payment system, supported by other payment facilities in Zimbabwe can be a success.
Like any other economies, Zimbabwe has commodities and currencies that a volatile from time to time. We however lack a virtual platform where you can invest in commodities such as gold, wheat etc. if such a platform is created, users will have a number of investment options at their disposal.
Crypto currency has also been gaining popularity globally and Zimbabweans are starting to appreciate it. Have you ever came across a Zimbabwean virtual crypto currency platform that allows you to buy, store, sell or transfer various crypto currencies? Do you know of any crypto currency ATM Nationwide? Those are some questions to ask yourself.
There is an entrepreneurial spirit within this current generation, however, lack of capital has been a major setback in entrepreneurial growth and development, a problem need to be solved, there is need for a virtual platform that allows individuals to invest in a start-up and or existing business and well that’s a crowd funding platform. We practice crowd funding when a family member becomes sick or death has fallen upon us. How about for a new business? We practice peer to peer lending almost at a daily basis, had you thought of carrying it virtually? Lending your money and getting it back after a specified period of time with interest, doesn’t it sound interesting? The peer to peer lending service has grown to be a big global market and it has to exist in Zimbabwe.
Fintech is the future, and these highlighted voids need to be filled in with entrepreneurs. There is strong need to follow the necessary statutory requirements and security measures so as to build a trusted brand.
With these revealed voids, it now requires a collaborative attitude within the government, industries, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, and the academics all in an effort to reindustrialization and build a self-sustaining Zimbabwe.
