The Sunday Mail
Victoria Ruzvidzo
It might not be a blue-chip company yet, it may not have posted the best of performances in the last few decades while its investors are yet to realise a desired return on investment, but this company called Zimbabwe is going somewhere.
Its shareholders and stakeholders are watching it like a hawk, each desiring to have the best out of it. Who would blame them given positive developments in the company in the last few years.
The change of management a few years ago, has given impetus to its performance. So far so good. The team appears to have adopted the right systems to bring the best out of the firm in the near future. The results thus far have certainly not been disappointing, if anything they have elicited more interest in this company.
There is still much work to be done though.
Stock exchange pundits have already declared it a buy. They see value in its current and future performance.
As stated earlier, shareholders expect a good dividend come year-end. Its employees are hopeful for better remuneration and the subsequent improved standard of living.
Customers are expecting the provision of high quality goods and services and a good variety of products to solve their daily needs and wants.
Suppliers want consistent orders and have keen interest because its health determines theirs too. Markets that include neighbouring countries and other far off regions are keen on the company too because it manufactures products and services that you do not ordinarily find in many firms.
Downstream industries feed off the company called Zimbabwe and they know their welfare depends on its viability. They know this company must perform well so they can flourish too.
Its “Zimbabwe is open for business” thrust has elicited great interest from investors keen on putting funds into its operations.
This company called Zimbabwe has to operate along strict business lines to shrug off challenges that have constricted it for long. Many successes have already been registered in this regard, particularly over the past year when it turned previous losses into a significant profit position in 2021.
A corporate entity typically has assets and liabilities. It has a balance sheet. It is focused on its goals and has a clearly defined strategy. It tracks progress (monitoring and evaluation). It also has mechanisms and interventions of effecting changes where deemed necessary.
Indeed we juxtapose these corporate concepts with Zimbabwe as we seek to achieve Vision 2030.
What is a company’s best assets? The answer is obviously its people. So it is with the company called Zimbabwe. It has tremendously gifted people across every sector. They are educated, skilled, resourceful and committed. This has been noted on the international stage. I remember watching on a South African television channel a varsity student who said in lectures at a university in that country, Zimbabweans were always way ahead. This is just an example of how we have it going.
So this company has competent human resources. Are they motivated? Yes they are generally! Many do not want to leave this company, committed to seeing it rise again. Some of its employees go abroad to acquire skills and knowledge and come back to contribute to its prosperity.
Profits are a prime consideration in any corporate entity and it is equally so with this company called Zimbabwe, with reference to our Gross Domestic Product. There is a crying need to look at our revenues. It takes us to imports versus exports. There is increasing realisation of the need for import substitution, value addition and an escalation of exports to generate the needed foreign currency.
The rains pour and dams are filling up, with some already at 100 percent. This augurs well for this company as its main product line is agriculture. Its board of directors is confident this line will anchor the company’s performance as it did last year.
The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Senator Monica Mutsvangwa eloquently highlighted the need for unity of purpose in this company at the Zimbabwe Community Awards 2021 on Friday night where she said we should transcend party affiliation, look at the global picture and work together for the good of this company called Zimbabwe.
Differences are inevitable. But that does not say we pull in different directions because when we do, we negate our very own progression.
We become liabilities to Zimbabwe Incorporated. Our eyes should be singularly focused on the end game, what we want to achieve as a nation.
So, it is then that Company Zimbabwe has a healthy income statement, it has come from a loss-making position to a profitable one with even brighter prospects.
Of course that should not lull management and employees into complacency, but hard work should be the operative phrase. Each and every subsidiary (sector) of this great company has its Key Results Areas and Key Performance Indicators. The deliverables are clear and all focus should be on these.
Monetary and fiscal policies should continue to be in sync. Business, labour and the Government should continue to work in harmony. We aim to improve in areas that are deficient, as any viable corporate does.
The beauty about this company called Zimbabwe is that it has been retooling and introducing modern ways of doing business. It has already invested in reconstructing enablers such as roads, dams, bridges to improve its environment.
It has a sound Corporate Social Responsible policy that has made a world of difference to its stakeholders, schools have been built, housing schemes are in place, clinics and hospitals are being refurbished while small-scale farmers have access to free inputs.
It is on a growth trajectory and these are the makings of a good company.
All its stakeholders need to come to the table and join lands in the fight against its challenges that include corruption, foreign currency challenges, wanton prices increases, power supply, the effects of Covid-19 and any other requiring attention.
Its diverse product portfolio — the different sectors and other income generating divisions within the sectors leaves it in better stead to perform better this year.
Rising commodity prices on the international market should boost its mining arm and other sectors, increased exports, significantly improved diaspora remittances and major financial injections into the business should see this company registering a solid performance this year and beyond.
Its products and subsidiaries that are performing better should support those that may not be doing so well such as the tourism arm, constrained by Covid-19 restrictions. The ice is thawing though.
Furthermore, fully defining the differences in products can aid the company in making better investment decisions as to which products are not generating revenues, but rather bringing losses into a company which can ill-afford any such losses. It must maximise on its strengths and subdue effects of its weaknesses.
It must deploy, to its advantage, the natural and human resources that it is endowed with.
Of course a lot depends on its staying power, but more benefits will come from befriending other corporates and embracing benefits accruing from such synergies as the Africa Free Trade Area, among others.
Investments from the Far East and from everywhere possible can and should help transform this company called Zimbabwe. It should realise its full potential and ensure it satisfies its shareholders and stakeholders too.
It is not impossible, the trick being on following sound policies such as its National Development Strategy 1 leading to Vision 2030 and other tributary policies, strategies and game changers that will make this company a force to reckon with.
As what its board chairman has said repeatedly: Zimbabwe is indeed open for business.
In God I Trust!
Twitter handle: @VictoriaRuzvid2; Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; WhatsApp number: 0772 129 992.
