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How a Passion for Food Became a Small Restaurant Business

Nyasha Tembedza is a young female entrepreneur based in Harare, Zimbabwe.  Nyasha’s passion for food and people has inspired her to build a business around these passions. With no experience in a formal kitchen but motivated by a vision to become an international restaurant chain her story is a good example of how persistence, networking and continuous improvement can turn a passion into a business. Being the first-born daughter in her family, expectations were high that Nyasha would follow the typical life cycle of going to University, getting a degree and then settling into a good job. However, for Nyasha this was not to be as she has dropped out of University twice, the first time due to going to a foreign university where failed to adjust which led her to suffer from depression. The second time she dropped out was because of the challenges of balancing running a small business and studying, and in typical entrepreneur fashion the pull of entrepreneurship was greater than that
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3 Things Every Start Up Must Remember 4 Growth

Today I want to share 3 practical thing's that those who have started or are thinking of starting up a project or business (or put simply a start up) should remember. 1.The conditions will never be perfect - There will never be a perfect economic environment for you to start, grow and operate your start up business in. With this in mind it is important to come up with innovative ways to help your startup grow and survive in the environment that you find yourself in. Change the way you view the challenges you are facing, and use those challenges in your environment as opportunities  for your start ups growth. 2.Focus on the customer- Your customers have problems they face and needs that they require to be satisfied.identify your customers problems and needs and then focus on providing solutions and satisfying those needs of your customers.What need or problem is your startup solving for your customers? 3.Be patient- The business may not make much money immediately, or get custom
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Hard work the secret to success: Zimbabwean mining magnate

Sitting on the executive committee of one of the world’s biggest multi-national mining companies, July Ndlovu, refuses to let power go to his head. July Ndlovu is one of very few blacks to hold senior mining post in SA. “I am no different from the ordinary man on the street and I would not call myself a successful person,” he says with true humility. “I am just an ordinary man working very hard and I have been pretty fortunate to have the opportunity to work with people who believe in me. If the truth be told, there are many other people who are as qualified as I am and others who are brighter, but are still nowhere near where I am now.” In his fourth year as Executive Head of Process, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Operations Committee at Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Anglo Platinum Ltd, Ndlovu (45) is one of very few blacks to hold such a post in mining here. With Anglo-Platinum being the world's leading primary producer of platinum group met
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An interview with Zimbabwe's most successful mathmetician

Interview with a mathematician. A human mathematician. by Tawanda Gwena Professor Heneri Dzinotyiweyi is probably the most successful mathematician produced by Zimbabwe to date. He was born on March 15, 1950. We skip the next few years of his life, only pausing to say that he went to Fletcher High School for Form 6. Then we come to his university life which started in 1971 when he enrolled at the then University of Rhodesia. There he first studied Mathematics, Physics and Geology, and then went on to Honours in Mathematics. Unfortunately, due to the 1973 disturbances following student demonstrations against racism in the country and at the university in particular (student demonstrations here have a very long history!) he was arrested and imprisoned for the latter half of the year and had to complete his degree in private study outside Harare in 1974. He was the second (the first was J M Harvey, mentioned later) Honours student in Mathematics here, having been taught by p
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Binga women in Zimbabwe make history on the Zambezi River

22 March 2012, Unwomen.org “I used to sell fish under the trees, and carry fish on my head. I would wake up at 4am to walk a long distance to buy fish from the fishermen. Now I sleep and wake up normal hours, and have my tea before the Captain comes. I never thought I would have time to sleep, eat, work and rest like this!” So reveals Kuli Mungombe, one of ten women who are making history in Zimbabwe by owning and operating a fishing rig in the country. The women, from the Tonga ethnic group, formally entered the male-dominated industry last year after being provided with the rig, equipment and skills training. They have since been working to scale up the venture in Binga, one of the country’s least developed districts, so that it can sustain them and their families, as well as create opportunities for other women in the area. This is the first time since the 1950s that women from their ethnic group have been able to fish at all.  Although it was traditionally the Ton
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Zimbabwean Woman Executive snatches Global CIMA Businesswoman of the year award

ZIMBABWEAN business woman and managing director of Cargill Zimbabwe Priscilla Mutembwa has been awarded businesswoman of the year by the Global Chartered Institute of Management Accounts (CIMA) and the award for outstanding contribution to business performance by a CIMA member went to Sir Alec Reed OBE. Priscilla Mutembwa has been managing director of Cargill Cotton Zimbabwe since 2007. Her role involves control of the company’s commercial operation in Zimbabwe; co-ordination and management of the senior team; and liaison with local organisations including farmers, buyers and growers. She previously worked as the company’s finance director and regional origination and procurement manager. She holds a BSc degree in computer systems engineering, a CIMA qualification, an investment management certificate and an MBA. During her varied and highly successful career, which she talks about below, she has also worked for Coopers & Lybrand, British Railways, UNICEF, British American
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Zimbabwe mulls SMEs bank

Jun 03, 2012 By Praise Runyowa HARARE - The Government intends to soon open a bank that will exclusively provide loans and other financial services to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).  The initiative is part of efforts to empower the entrepreneurs, most of whom were failing to access loans at conventional banks owing to lack of collateral. In an interview last week, Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni said her finance counterpart, Tendai Biti, was already working on providing funds for the establishment of the financial institution. She said the project would ultimately leverage the sector and encourage joint work among beneficiaries. “The bank will enable those already in business as well as aspiring entrepreneurs to access capital,” she said. “They will become self-reliant; we want investors to come from within the country. We are hoping the bank will benefit them a great deal because they would have a be
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