Johnathan Shoniwa Reflections

A SOBER VIEW: Ending The Zimbabwe War A lasting solution to Zimbabwe' s political, social and economic problems has evaded us for far too long a time now.  The ills that have bedeviled our motherland are well documented and it suffices here to mention that these have brought immense suffering on our people. What is scary, however,  is that it is possible to go for many more years with the status quo, a shuddering thought indeed. So why has it been so difficult to extricate the nation from this shadow of doom? Why why why ? It is my humble submission here that the reason has been our failure to identify the real nature of our situation. This situation is that Zimbabwe is at war. The absence of typical physical military war operations deceives many in understanding the real situation in the country. The reality is that the country is, for all intense and purposes, at war and as such military war ending strategic considerations must be adopted to end that war. As in ...

My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Aguy Georgias, and indeed the entire nation. Growing up, Sen  Georgias was one of the few people that inspired me. I read about his Trinity Engineering success stories, followed his company expansions, read his long publications and his company's financial performance. I was impressed and motivated to work hard. I wanted to be like him. We were to interact later on in business and in his role in govt. He was indeed visionary. As fate would have it; mid year we met at the doctor's rooms. The doctor had two complicated cases ahead of us so we waited and had an opportunity for a long discussion. He talked about his vision for his company,  for young people, for business people in the country, his fight for economic justice and indeed his sanctions court case in Europe; how it had drained his financial resources. He felt govt should have stepped in to help; it was a national issue after all. He felt let down. Key lesson f...

Needing encouragement? Take a look at this chorus from the late Whitney Houston hit song , 'The Greatest Love of All'. [Chorus:] I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows If I fail, if I succeed At least I'll live as I believe No matter what they take from me They can't take away my dignity Because the greatest love of all Is happening to me I found the greatest love of all Inside of me The greatest love of all Is easy to achieve Learning to love yourself It is the greatest love of all [Chorus] And if, by chance, that special place That you've been dreaming of Leads you to a lonely place Find your strength in love P/s  Of course the greatest love of all is Jesus' love.

As the Zimbabwe economy continues to deteriorate, local companies will have to sharpen their strategies to penetrate the international markets. Here are some of the benefits of accessing international markets: ·          Access to bigger markets – increased sales and profits (although from my experience one needs to sacrifice margins). ·          Diversify market risks – ameliorate over reliance on domestic market. ·          Economies of scale – drives unit costs down. ·          Source of foreign exchange earnings (may not be a key factor today in Zim but the day is fast approaching when it will all be about foreign currency). ·          Brand image enhancement – premium position resulting in improved margins. The challenge then becomes that of being competitive from a pri...

A lot has been said on Zimbabwe products price competitiveness. Why are Zim products more expensive compared to regional imports? Here are some of the reasons why: 1. Zim producers are using old plant and machinery which is expensive to run. 2. Zim producers are using old technology to produce. The problem with old technology is that it requires constant intervention, is labour intensive, consumes more power, etc. 3 . Local market is small and therefore Zim producers lack the economies of scale. 4. High utilities costs, water, power (in fact running on generators which is expensive). 5. High interest rates (suffice to leave it at that). 6. Importation of inputs as upstream industries are non existent (Agro-industries for example should feed from a strong agriculture sector). 7. Poor management (you will be surprised it accounts for a large portion). 8. High labour costs arising from failure to respond to changing environment. 9. Low labour productivity - no investment in train...

As the listed companies financial reporting season comes to an end, allow me to reflect on the companies results. We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. The environment remains difficult for most companies. The main issues being power supply, lack of credit funding and lack of demand due to low FDI, low public and private spending. This is exacerbated by the high wage rate environment. There are two things companies should do. First is an objective evaluation of managemt performance, isolating environment issues and performance issues. Dare I say appropriate remedial action being taken. Secondly, companies must streamline operations by discontinuing non viable SBUs, mothballing or disposing unproductive assets and reducing headcount and salaries. The perks of yesteryear are not affordable. This sounds harsh but the reality is that if the current environment continues for another three years (and all signs are that it will), then companies will not be able to sustain the cur...