The Sunday Mail
Africa Moyo recently in GWERU
Visitors are welcomed by the almost ear-splitting noise of welding and belt sanding machines at a location in Gweru’s light industrial site.
It is serious business as men and women make school, office and kitchen furnisher.
These employees work for an enterprising family business — Ndaftech Investments.
The company which employs at least 40 people and realises an average monthly profit of about US$25 000, is a family business established in 2006 Mr Mastermind Ndafira and his wife Epifania, both teachers.
The two have co-opted their children Grace and Gift into the business as directors. Grace is being groomed to do business development and marketing going forward.
The workmanship at this company clearly illustrates that some skills need proper training before one can become a master.
Mr Ndafira trained as a school teacher at Belvedere Technical Teachers’ College from 1993 to 1996, specialising in wood technology and design.
He went on to teach woodwork at Senga Secondary School in Gweru, before moving to Mkoba 3 High School where he taught technical graphics.
His passion for woodwork saw him obtaining a Bachelor of Education Degree in Wood Technology and Design from the University of Zimbabwe in 2003. He began studies for a Masters’ Degree in wood technology and design but could not finish the studies as his bond for the first degree had not expired and was called to go back to work.
In protest, Mr Ndafira resigned from the Ministry of Education and started his company in April 2006.
But even before resigning, he would do part-time carpentry jobs at a backyard workshop at his lodgings in Gweru.
The venture was so lucrative that he built a house from the proceeds and this motivated him to up his game.
“So 2006 April, that is when I started to focus on manufacturing. I started manufacturing school furniture and household furniture where I was concentrating on wardrobes and kitchen units.
“There are some furniture shops that supported me — the first company I supplied was Teecherz Furnishers; I was supplying wardrobes and from there I grew a bit,” said Mr Ndafira.
The business venture started off with Mr Ndafira renting a nine square metre shop which trebled as the workshop, sales floor and office but inside a year, the office and workshop space had grown to 27 square metres.
In 2010, Mr Ndafira moved out of the Midlands Show grounds before moving to the current location in the light industrial site in 2013.
Business grows but cash blues bite
Ndaftech has grown exponentially since 2006 and was recently on the list of corporates and SMEs that were visited in Kwekwe, Gweru and Bulawayo during a tour organised by the Office of the President and Cabinet’s public affairs and knowledge management directorate led by Ambassador Mary Mubi.
Unlike other SMEs that have failed to grow due to poor workmanship, the firm has grown its clientele which is largely made up of schools in the Midlands Province where it supplies furniture to Kwekwe, Shurugwi, Zvishavane and Gweru.
“So we are supplying furniture to most schools in the Midlands and we are aiming to be a national supplier or even an international supplier because we are dreaming big,” said Mr Ndafira
“We are dreaming that one day we should compete internationally, funds permitting. At the moment the challenge is finance because when we go to the banks, their interests on loans are too expensive, attracting as much as 35 percent.
Mr Ndafira said he had an experience in the SMEs sector and was aware of the challenges other entrepreneurs are facing. He pleaded with relevant authorities to come up with a policy that will see banks reduce the cost of loans to promote manufacturing in the country. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently introduced a cap of 18 percent interest on loans to reduce the cost of borrowing.
Prime borrowers with low credit risk are charged between six and 10 percent per annum, borrowers with moderate risk (10 percent to 12 percent) and borrowers with high credit risk are charged 12 percent to 18 percent.
Mr Ndafira said it was sad to note that some banks were now sceptical of extending loans to productive sectors of the economy because of defaulters who divert the funds towards luxuries.
“We have some entrepreneurs who abuse loans, they take the money to buy luxuries such as vehicles. There are temptations that come with money, but I should thank the Lord because as Ndaftech we have managed to use borrowed money wisely,” he said.
“We still need more money. I think our record is clear in terms of paying back loans. Last year, we benefited from a facility from Agribank that stretched for 12 months and it helped us a lot. We repaid well and managed to pull throughout the year.”
Mr Ndafira said accessing loans this year has been difficult and they had to rely on some of their customers who made down-payments, which allowed them to source raw materials.
However, he said the nature of their industry requires huge quantities of raw materials to cater for big clients.
Among the big deals Ndaftech has clinched before include office partitioning and doing the ceilings of Zesa’s southern region offices.
The firm has also supplied chairs and kitchen furniture to the Midlands State University (MSU), in particular its new campus in Zvishavane.
Ndaftech seeks US$500 000 to boost business
As the company continues to attract bigger clients, Mr Ndafira believes a loan of US$500 000 would transform their operations.
He said if he received the money, he would invest US$150 000 in the construction of the premises they acquired last year. “At the moment, we are losing a lot of money through rentals so if we get the money we should set up our own factory,” said Mr Ndafira.
He said the bulk of the money would be invested in raw materials and upgrading machinery to ensure quality products in line with the firm’s motto, “motivated and inspired for quality”.
Existing machines such as a surface planer, three welding machines, a compressor for spraying, two circular saws, spindle moulder, band saw, combination planer, belt sanders, and several portable machines that include drilling machines and the routers were acquired in 2010.
Mr Ndafira says they now want a bigger spindle moulder and band saw which will last longer.
“At the moment we have medium sized machines. We would also want a panel saw to use for our boards, the one we have is big but we feel it is not too efficient,” he said.
Ndaftech also plans to acquire a wrapping machine to use on fitted kitchens.
Insurance
Despite doing well and winning the hearts of significant companies in the country, Ndaftech is yet to insure its operations.
Getting insurance has not only affected the company but most SMEs in the country.
But Mr Ndafira said they are working on insuring the venture.
“At the moment we haven’t insured, but we have an insurance company that approached us recently and we are already working on that because at times you need to understand how these things go.
“In terms of insurance companies, there are so many other people that duped us a lot of money. They would encourage us to join their insurance schemes and after sometime when they leave that company and join another, they start to say their former company is not good, join this one. You become confused.
“Getting insured is good but we don’t have much confidence in insurance because of such people,” said Mr Ndafira.
Government support
While the company has not benefited from any Government financial support to SMEs, Mr Ndafira said he is happy with the deliberate policies that are being crafted for small to medium ventures in the country.
He said company officials have attended Government sponsored training programmes for entrepreneurs and that helped open windows.
“So I can say that while the ministry has not given us any funds, it has been able to recommend us when an opportunity arises. We are thankful for that,” said Mr Ndafira.
