Linkages critical to Zim economic recovery

relationships among businesses of all types.
Secondly, Buy Zimbabwe will take advantage of the event to officially submit the second annual Buy Zimbabwe conference report to Government through the

Ministry of Industry and Commerce and, thirdly, it will be the launch pad for the fourth season of entrepreneurial television reality show “My Own Boss”.
Business linkages are ongoing, profit-oriented relationships between buyers and sellers designed to raise awareness and address demand for its partners brand.
Interestingly, this particular meeting is being held hot on the heels of Buy Zimbabwe’s intervention in the relationship between Quest Motors and the State Procurement Board where we are lobbying for the inclusion of the car assembly’s brands in SPB’s list of preferred suppliers.

One would hope the procurement board’s participation in this particular meeting will yield the desired results.
The desire for Buy Zimbabwe is for its current and potential partners to find these linkage meetings to be an efficient way of doing business as the economy moves away from its historic, vertically integrated, dualistic and inward looking structure.

This follows the realisation that the biggest problem that is troubling Zimbabwe’s business sector is lack of markets and not necessarily the lack of capital as is popularly believed.
If we take the example of Quest Motors, or Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries, you will observe that while it is true that capacity utilisation still remains subdued, the

two plants are producing high quality vehicles that simply have no takers.
There re no consumers for the products that local companies are able to produce.

To a large extent, this is the result of price competitiveness compared to imports, but there is also an element of preference for imported items, even when local equivalents are present.

Inspired by Mr Tim Chiganze’s spiderweb concept, the linkages programmes will ensure that as much dollars as possible will circulate in Zimbabwe before being exported to foreign markets, effectively creating the multiplier effect.
Zimbabwe products have suffered from fierce competition from imports that are either unfairly priced, have been smuggled into the country or are dumped into the country as a means of crippling Zimbabwe’s economy.

As a result, it is critical for the business community to create a strong network that support each others’ business even before we talk about getting consumers to buy Zimbabwe. Our import bill for 2011 is simply unsustainable and at US$8,59 billion versus exports of US$3,52 billion, it is safe to say we ought to place our finger on the panic button.

At this stage, I believe that the country should put its best foot forward as we have been accused of pushing inferior goods that are more expensive than competing foreign alternatives.

During the Buy Zimbabwe conference, speaker after speaker agreed that a closer relationship between business and Government in addressing the challenges affecting economic growth needs to be cultivated.
Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Mike Bimha called for a stronger process of engagement between the two.

As we submit the conference resolutions to the deputy minister, our hope is that the report will be shared among Government ministries and will be used as a basis for policy formulation in the country.
The implementation of some of the key conference resolutions by youthful aspiring entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 35 years will also take centre stage during the cocktail event.

This process, which pays homage to the intrinsic link between “My Own Boss” and Buy Zimbabwe, will ensure that the Buy Zimbabwe initiative is taken from the boardroom to the streets, led by the energy, innovation and zeal of aspiring Zimbabwean entrepreneurs.
“MOB Season 4” and the Buy Zimbabwe edition seek to create pride, wealth and jobs in Zimbabwe by encouraging consumption of quality local products and services.

A key advantage of “MOB” is that it recruits young entrepreneurs to think of innovative ways to get into business. The idea therefore is to ensure that these persons who will be recruited from all the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe will not only become brand ambassadors for Zimbabwean products and services but also work out practical and effective methods of ensuring that Zimbabwean quality products are preferred locally and internationally.

The winner of the show after a series of boardroom evictions will walk away with a cool US$25 000 to start their own business.
Auditions for the reality show are set to begin on June 9.
Season 4 is airing on ZBC and via satellite on Africa Unite across the African continent and some parts of Europe.