eBusiness Weekly
Kudzai M. Mubaiwa
My work gives me the opportunity to travel in the nation and took me to Bulawayo, Zvishavane, Shurugwi and Gweru in that order last week. Indeed, Harare, though the capital city, is not Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe is not Harare, I had not been on that route for exactly two years and it was interesting to observe what I will loosely refer to as “the state of small business”, outside the capital.
The first stop in Bulawayo made me realise how much it mirrors Harare in terms of activity, to be expected from the country’s second largest city, but certainly minus the corresponding dirt and disorder that have become the hallmark of Harare’s pavements.
A conversation with a small business owner who hires out public address systems had me concluding that most small time economic activity currently is centred around events, and there are many of them, conferences by churches, corporate events, arts and cultural events, entertainment and private family functions.
Complementary services were thriving too, he indicated — your directors of ceremonies, decor, dressing and dining. Their location helps — most of the southern region would source such services from the bigger city.
However, they are not spared the same issues around cash shortages, I saw a number of queues outside banks — though in the one bank business owners got somewhat preferential treatment over individuals and accessed cash faster.
Vendors are also quite common in the Central Business District, albeit less than the number in Harare, and considering the city has such wide roads, the feeling of cramping is somewhat diminished.
Bulawayo has always shown leadership with regard to the placement and organising of vendors — with an entire dedicated street for the fruit and vegetable market — an initiative that must be adopted by other towns and cities, as it has worked well for almost 20 years.
That physical gathering of similar stalls presents an opportunity to test the new methods of formalising we proposed in a past column. I gathered from my classes and interaction with business owners that most enterprises are still quite informal — the motivation to formalise is somewhat low as the task is seen as tedious and unnecessary seeing as many large jobs are repetitively allocated to a few established companies, sometimes as far as Harare, an unfortunate situation.
The fact that industry is not at peak also minimizes the opportunities of smaller businesses to feed into the value chain and supply goods and services to the larger corporations.
However, the city has some glimmers of hope, certain industry leaders have taken it upon themselves to engage citywide and organise for support for local small business by big business.
This is a commendable approach and noteworthy — an example is the biggest cooking oil production company that is working closely with the creative arts enterprises and providing sponsorship to help them get traction and further monetise.
A city centre co-working space and business incubation hub is actively supporting young start-ups with training, workspace and market linkages, working with city authorities.
In truth, bottom up collaborative approaches work and the city will demonstrate the result of such initiatives in the short term.
My next stop was in Zvishavane after an uneventful but scenic drive from Bulawayo — there was hardly any activity along the road, save for the occasional bus or car, and I only stopped to take a picture of a roadside waste recycling project just outside Esigodini.
Innovation is indeed everywhere, the promoters have created a literal village out of all kinds of plastic and cans that have been repurposed and make decorations and toys from various kinds of plastic.
The first thing that caught my attention driving into Zvishavane was a roadside store just after Mimosa mine, aptly name 3 Gems — the music was loud but there was hardly activity.
The next thing that caught my attention getting into the very town was the number of small businesses owned by only one person — each of them branded by his name — a supermarket, a grinding mill, a hotel, a drilling company and a hardware shop too.
This gave one the impression that only a few business owners were engaging in meaningful business, a though that was confirmed after driving around, speaking to business owners and seeing the state of the flea market alone.
Clearly this is a town that once boomed by virtue of being home to the country’ biggest platinum mine. The signs were there, several banks, some big name supermarkets and clothing stores, even a fast food franchise, a telecommunications company branch and brand name service stations. Small business owners there have also caught on to the multiple pricing system — a rate for cash, and another for bank transfers or mobile money payments.
Unfortunately cash is also difficult to access there now, a departure from the state of affairs in 2016 when I easily obtained all I needed in the bank when Harare had already gone dry. I was made to appreciate that some big town boys had swooped in and brought out cash from the local economy hence it is no longer circulating as before.
Very little support exists there for the small business owner, sadly. Registrations can only be done in Bulawayo and Gweru.
Companies are struggling and failing to honour dues — it was instructive to see several NSSA vehicles in town —they had come to squeeze out what they could, but conversing with local bankers revealed that many are failing to service debt as there is weak turnover.
Again, this town is a literal opportunity for the creation of a dedicated economic zone, allowing entrepreneurial residents to directly feed into the requirements of the mine.
A brief stop in Shurugwi made Zvishavane’s issues seem like a non-event, the town also showed signs of depression, though it was quite encouraging to pop by a somewhat resuscitated Zimasco, and observing a group of primary children that were fascinated by the sight of the rolling stock at work.
It is a sad reminder of what can happen when the local economy relies on a few huge companies. Everything looks and is old in Shurugwi, yet the location is quite beautiful and presents good tourism opportunity.
Perhaps that should be the future economic activity in that town and this challenge would be taken up by those originating from the town who know all its’ hidden gems.
The last stop was in Gweru, also a hive of activity, with a notable vending community on the pavements and a very alert parking authority. Accommodation is a roaring trade in the city and it was quite alive with visitors for a buy Zimbabwe initiatives.
Most business owners make their money through supply of products and services that feed somehow into the huge state university in this city — supply of food, stationery, accommodation, printing services, all of these and more are oiled by a substantial university population and I was told there is notable decrease in trade when they close for vacations.
There is an opportunity to also monetise the rich history and culture the city holds, and it’s central position relative to the entire nation can make it a distribution hub for all sorts of products.
The university recently launched a business incubation space and we wait whether this action will solidify the small business community in the city, and enhance access to information, formal business registration and tax services, funding and market linkages.
We need every town and city in Zimbabwe to identify it’s unique niche and develop from the bottom up.
Feedback: Twitter @kumub, Email [email protected]
