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THE just-ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) showcased exciting products and services from across the country.
Trade Focus
Allan Majuru
Encouragingly, there has been a massive shift in offerings from learning institutions, where focus is no longer on exhibiting degree programmes but innovative products, some of which are targeted at end users or meant to be business solutions for local companies.
President Mnangagwa has been exhorting learning institutions to be innovative and focus on products that respond to everyday problems and needs, rather than being theoretical.
He recently challenged the institutions to take the lead in developing innovative products and services that spur economic growth. The level of innovation shown by value-added products on display from learnings institutions at ZITF indicated that they are up to the task. Chinhoyi University of Technology is venturing into the pharmaceutical industry, producing plant-based medicines for diseases such as bilharzia and ear drops, as well as mouthwash with anti-bacterial properties.
CUT has also developed anti-bacterial products to treat general infections. It is further improving the formula to treat sexually transmitted diseases.
Midlands State University has engaged in value addition with the zumbani plant to develop herbal inhaler products, nasal sprays, bug repellents and essential oils. It is also producing wine from hacha and mazhanje.
Harare Polytechnic has produced several innovative products, including activated carbon from marula nut shells for gold recovery.
The National University of Science and Technology, as well as Zimbabwe Open University, have established agriculture products linked to mobile applications to help local farmers monitor crops remotely.
Also, Bindura University of Science Education is using the masau fruit to produce Vitamin C syrup, wines and essential oils. It is also developing herbal soaps and toothpaste from locally sourced plants.
Furthermore, the University of Zimbabwe has developed healthier snacks such as pasta, instant porridge and cheese-flavoured puffs from traditional grains.
All these products, once commercialised, will help grow the economy through exports and import substitution.
To ensure these products will grow beyond Zimbabwe’s borders, ZimTrade — the national trade development and promotion organisation — is working with higher and tertiary institutions to link them with leading experts and buyers in international markets.
The link
Today’s captains of industry or experts need to impart their success stories and knowledge to the younger generations.
Through close interaction with tertiary institutions, most successful businesspeople have managed to make a mark on the export market by leveraging on strong brands.Some learning institutions were able to demonstrate how they are tapping into the knowledge of successful businesspeople and experts to produce students who are not only theoretical but also largely hands-on.
Such practical skills can help local businesses grow beyond borders through products that respond to global needs.
Local businesses must, therefore, leverage on resources and expertise such as innovative young minds with practical research skills that local learning institutions are endowed with to improve their operations.
Creating strong links
As local businesses are looking to grow beyond borders, there is urgent need to create strong links between exporters and learning institutions. Through knowledge, research and innovative ideas, learning institutions play a crucial role in improving businesses and making them competitive on the export market.
This increased interaction between learning institutions and industry will help inculcate an export culture and contribute to the nation’s export growth.
A stronger union between learning institutions and the private sector is critical in strengthening local businesses with viable export strategies, including development of products and services that respond to changing global tastes.
In particular, research ensures local businesses come up with competitive strategies that will make it easy for them to penetrate the global export market.
At the same time, businesspeople can mentor graduates to help them become export-oriented when they establish their own businesses.
Learning institutions offerings
Educational institutions are the foundation upon which industry is built.
It is at these institutions that fundamentals of industry are taught to budding captains of industry. One of their key and strategic offering is research.
Most companies, especially in developing countries, do not have dedicated research and development departments that can contribute to the strategic direction of the company. Due to competing demands, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) forgo research due to budget and time constraints. However, research remains important in studying markets and finding ways to counter aggressive competition.
So, there is room for learning institutions to conduct research on companies’ behalf.
Such research can be part of students’ academic projects.
And local companies can fund the studies, especially those that cover specific areas.
Some start-up companies and SMEs do not see benefits of having a research and development department.
However, by ensuring that products and services are made to specific market requirements can save the company a lot of money. Companies can also harness various researches by universities at a nominal cost.
It makes sense for companies to engage the academia in order to test their theories and prototypes prior to their launch.
For example, a company developing a product targeted at youths can use one of the local universities to gauge its potential success. This symbiotic relationship is a win-win because it enables students to fulfil their research requirements for various programmes while, at the same time, supporting the private sector.
In addition, as more learning institutions are creating innovation hubs, the creative, limitless and innovative minds of the students in academia present an exploration field for corporates.
Students know no boundaries when it comes to crafting fresh ideas.
They also have the capacity to influence turnaround strategies of some exporting companies. Such innovation, which can cost less if locally sourced, can be adopted by exporters to improve their competitiveness on the export market.
Learning institutions can also offer training and development to local businesses, particularly emerging ones.
One of the challenges arguably affecting small and medium businesses is lack of soft skills such as human capital management, time management, business etiquette and work ethic. Thus, learning institutions, as part of their service to the business community, can offer affordable short courses that can benefit small businesses.
Allan Majuru is ZimTrade’s chief executive
Online Reporter