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WORKING in the Diaspora could not blur his dream of setting up a business in his home town, Plumtree. Micah Sibanda, now a prominent businessman in the border town, operates 10 supermarkets that provide retail service to communities in the town and surrounding rural areas.
Operating under the trade name Golden Harmony he has three supermarkets in Plumtree town and seven outlets in rural Bulilima District. Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko recently officiated at the opening of his 10th outlet in the border town.
Sibanda, 45, started off in 1996.
“I had this idea to start my own business while I was working in South Africa under the import and export sector.
“We agreed with my wife, Sithembiso, who was a teacher at the time that my future in the diaspora was blurred,” he said.
“We saved some money and managed to open a small shop at Dingumuzi Shopping Complex. My wife gave up her teaching career and concentrated on operating the business on a full time basis.
“The supermarket had two workers and my wife was the overseer as I was still working in SA.”
Sibanda said although he did not have enough resources to boost his business at that time, he got encouraging support from customers.
He says he also got advice on how to operate his business from established business persons.
“I later left my job in SA in 1998 to focus on developing my own. I developed the urge to expand and opened a hardware shop to supply schools and rural communities with cement. This boosted my revenues,” said Sibanda.
He said he used the profits from his first shops to expand further after realising that more communities needed his services.
Sibanda says his dream is to open supermarkets that can serve as one stop shop centres for people as it is difficult to run small outlets given competition from big retail stores.
Today Golden Harmony provides employment to 85 people drawn from Plumtree town and Bulilima.
Sibanda said plans were underway to establish more branded supermarkets in Mangwe District.
“Opening this big supermarket is a great business achievement for me. The new branch will house a supermarket, bakery, butchery, restaurant and a bar.
“The new supermarket is a result of efforts to ensure that customers had access to a one stop shop where they could do their grocery shopping under one roof and at reasonable prices,” he said.
Sibanda says he has launched a programme to assist construction of emerging schools as part of his corporate social responsibility. Also pursuant to that social investment, his business has been holding yearly Christmas parties for the elderly for the past five years as a way of appreciation for community support.
Sibanda, however, said the business community in Plumtree was being negatively affected by the weakening of the South African rand against the United States dollar.
The rand is the dominant currency in Plumtree and parts of Matabeleland South province.
He said there was a need to set up large scale wholesale outlets in the border town as existing ones did not have the capacity to supply larger supermarkets.
“The opening of this supermarket is a good initiative. If we could have more service providers, that will ensure competition and quality service.
“This development also shows that our town is growing. We also need established food outlets to open branches in the CBD,” said Sibanda.
Online Reporter