The Sunday Mail
Over the past 15 years, FDI into Zimbabwe waned and several foreign companies exited together with their brands
However, the past three years have presented a turnaround in fortunes as international brands distributors/franchises and themed restaurants have come to Zimbabwe.
One local company that has taken advantage of this change in fortunes is Vinal Investments, a company controlled by Dr Shingi Munyeza through his family trust, which has so far invested US$2 million in franchises.
These include Mugg & Bean, News Cafe, Ocean Basket and Smooch.
Mr Ruddy Makoni, the company’s operations manager, said, “The advent of the multicurrency regime enabled franchisors to be paid their royalties as well as invest without the currency risk paused during the hyper-inflationary era.
“The exchange control regimes implemented during the multicurrency era brought more confidence to foreign investors and therefore it was easier to persuade investors and franchisors to bring international brands into Zimbabwe.
“Due to globalisation and globality it is important for Zimbabwe to catch up with international standards particularly in hospitality which was lost during the past decade,” he said.
Vinal opened Mugg & Bean in November 2013 at Sam Levy’s Village in Harare. They went on to open a second one in the capital in November 2014 at Avondale Shopping Centre.
In December 2014, Vinal Investments opened News Cafe, Smooch and Ocean Basket at the newly-developed Sam Levy Entertainment Centre, which also hosts a state of the art movie cinema.
Mr Makoni said the performance of their franchises had exceeded expectations and the challenge was to ensure product availability and maintenance, in addition to continuous improvement of standards.
Vinal intends to get into the fried chicken and pizza businesses, currently dominated by Insscor and Packers International in Zimbabwe.
