‘Buy Zim’ must succeed

THE first response to the initial article published last week was predictably from a retailer.
For the avoidance of doubt, the particular retailer supports the idea of a Buy Zimbabwe Campaign but had no kind words for local producers.
The retailer, I am pretty sure there are many others, feels that while local producers should be supported, they take the market for granted.
Of late very few manufacturers have taken the time to communicate with the consumer despite the obvious benefits of doing so.
Most prefer to mourn and downsize. They are still trapped in the profit maximising model where accounting is the dominant occupation.
Their distribution and customer services models are very outdated believing the market will take up whatever they produce.
One would say this justifies the local retailer’s choice to stock up with foreign brands. The end is sad and examples of this end are all around us.
Our neighbour Zambia is now a haven for imports. In our case, once thriving production units are being turned into warehouses for imported goods.
A part of me feels that the retailer was too harsh and unkind to our local industry yet the other feels that there was a ring of truth to what he was saying.
Still a more balanced part of me said the matter is more complex and not a one-sided affair.
Take the case of the local detergents industry. Just about year ago it was a thriving sector employing people in their thousands but in just a few months, employment levels have dropped drastically and market share has shrunk by over 300 percent.
One company previously employed over 250 people but has since scaled down to 20 people.
Product quality is good and the company is clear on what needs to be done to increase their capacity and their market share.
Unfortunately, the stakes against them are too high. Local companies are charged duty on imported raw materials and they either have to pay upfront or operate under short window terms.
Meanwhile, if we take the example of their South African-based competitors who bring in finished goods duty free, they seem to enjoy the best of both worlds.
In South Africa they get preferential trading terms, and in Zimbabwe they can dictate to retailers when they want to be paid.
This gives foreign brands a clear advantage that allows them to increase sales volumes in the local market, enhance productivity in their country of origin, and reduce unemployment figures and boast a higher GDP.
Back home, payments by retailers to our detergent producers are between 90 and 120 days after delivery.
This places local detergent manufacturers in a no-win situation that stems from the lack of local policy support and an unfair trading environment.
To make matters worse they are not even members of any organised association.
Their case doesn’t feature in most national economic platforms. Theirs is a lonely fight for survival against real and imagined sharks that threaten to obliterate them and their poor employees.
Yet one would ask if they have made their case known to the authorities. The answer is a tragic NO.
For them the quest for survival has taken all energies to the extent of being too self-centred.
In a market where survival of the fittest seems supreme, they have also cut themselves from accessing opportunities of learning from successful local entities that have defied the odds, stayed in touch with the market and blossomed.
They could also, at a fraction of cost, remain visible to the consumer and even access the latest consumer insight results by embracing opportunities to interact with the consumer.
They could share experiences with companies such as Dairibord, CBZ, Econet and similar local companies who believe this is the best trading environment and that only the sky is the limit.
They can also hear cases of innovative market linkages that connect small- and large-scale producers to the consumer.
Always sounds easy on paper. Reality is, of course, harsh, especially if you are not the one taking the battering.
For this reason the “Buy Zimbabwe” campaign understands the need to be an effective mediating force for the common good.
The campaign is also consciously aware of its need to provide demonstrable value addition to the local producers and consumers while simultaneously driving their competitiveness.
The campaign has thus among a number of its
activities focused on bringing various parties to the value chain to share experiences, listen and learn of practical ideas and models that have worked locally and internationally.
The Buy Zimbabwe Conference and Exhibition pencilled in for March 30 at Rainbow Towers seeks to achieve just that. Policymakers, marketers, research companies, big corporate and financial institutions scheduled for the conference must look at the issues squarely and outline a way forward.
Lessons must also be learnt from companies that have survived the onslaught and how they have done it.
Hopefully, policymakers will also be candid enough to accept where they have gone wrong and can do better.
An unemployment rate above 90 percent cannot be flattering to anyone. We need to grow our local service sector and industry with or without sanctions.
The destiny must surely lie in our hands. To reach the US$100 billion economy, Buying Zimbabwe must succeed. This by no means ignores other realities but raises issues at specific macro levels.
Finally, we notice the Zimbabwean flag is becoming a hot commodity.
The whole wave points to the right sentiment and one wishes it could permeate further and go beyond mere display of the flag to something deeper and more fundamental to the local producer and consumer.
Till then, God bless.
l For comments contact
Buy Zimbabwe at:
22 Broadlands Road
Mount Pleasant
Harare
Cell: 0772 714 233
Email: [email protected]