Zimplats helping women move mountains

Zimbabwe is one of the countries in the world that constitutionally protect gender equality.
Under its Declaration of Rights, the supreme law of the land clearly states that every woman has full and equal dignity as men, including equal opportunities to participate in its social and economic activities.

The charter goes on to state, emphatically, that all laws, customs, traditions and cultural practices that violate or disturb the enjoyment of rights of women are illegal with regard to the violation.

These constitutional provisions give force and effect to regulations and frameworks on gender equality and equity, amongst them the revised National Gender Policy of 2017, which envisions a gender-just society in which men and women enjoy equity, and benefit as equal partners in the development of their country.

In 2011, Zimbabwe had also revised and adopted a broad-based Women Economic Empowerment Framework to channel strategic interventions in four pillars, namely (i) Women Business Ownership/Entrepreneurship; (ii) Women in key Economic Decision-Making Positions; (iii) Employment Equity and, (iv), Women from disadvantaged backgrounds operating informal and formal livelihood activities.

In response to the policies created by the Government, more women-led companies are now emerging in hitherto men-dominated industries such as construction, mining and manufacturing, even though the legacy gender imbalances and the inherent challenges of technical sectors have sometimes stood in the way of some of these women-led companies’ growth.

Fortunately, for some women facing challenges in realising their dreams, Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (Private) Limited – otherwise known as Zimplats – has since 2013 been lending a helping hand under its Local Enterprise Development (LED) Programme as part of their social performance initiatives.

Zimplats, which mines platinum group metals (PGMs) on the Great Dyke, currently has four women-led companies under the LED programme whose meteoric rise in their respective sectors reads like a fairy-tale. These include The Brooke Chemist (Private) Limited, which, apart from operating a thriving pharmacy in Harare, has broken into the manufacturing of sunscreen lotions and lip balm products used by people with albinism. As the company continues scaling-up its production, the interplay between demand and supply should see prices of these products, which are currently mostly being imported, receding as local supplies begin to dominate the market.

In the construction sector, Turf Brick Moulders (Private) Limited, has risen into a household name in Mhondoro-Ngezi where it started off with cement bricks, before expanding its product range to include pavers, sinks and air vents.

Another woman-led business, Telstone Trading (Private) Limited, has carved a name for itself for being the manufacturer and supplier of choice for corporate wear, protective clothing and school uniforms.

Not to be outdone is Dostaro Investments (Private) Limited, which has shaken the once male-dominated construction, mining and transport and logistics sub-sectors.

The million dollar question that begs for an answer is why Zimplats is coming to the aid of women who want to make it big in business. Zimplats’ Head of Corporate Affairs, Mrs Busi Chindove, said the company shares the view that for any economy to realise its full potential women should be part of the equation, more so given that they constitute a significant part of the world’s population at 49,58 percent.

In Zimbabwe, women constitute 52 percent of the country’s population of about 15 million people as at April 2022. The majority of them reside in rural areas where they survive on subsistence farming because there are not many opportunities that are available to them. If anything, most women do not own the land on which they cultivate crops mainly for subsistence purposes, with livelihoods heavily dependent on natural resources available in their localities.

To make a difference, Zimplats has sought to pay special attention to the needs of these women, starting with those in the two districts of Mhondoro-Ngezi and Chegutu, by providing them with opportunities to supply into the company and water their dreams throughout their entrepreneurship journey. Apart from providing the participating companies a ready market for their products and services, Zimplats’ assistance also comes in three forms, namely financial, technical, and commercial support. Financially, Zimplats helps them – on a case-by-case basis – meet some of their pressing financial needs. This could be through facilitating access to concessional loans or giving them the financial leverage; including making pre-payments in order to ease their cash-flow constraints. Technically, Zimplats hand-holds the LEDs throughout by mentoring them, building their internal capacities, and training them so that they’re able to meet not only the company’s supply requirements but those of other clients.

Over the years, the LEDs have benefited from the transfer of knowledge and expertise from Zimplats’ human capital base, including being mentored by senior management in the organisation. On the commercial side, Zimplats also ensures that these LEDs become commercially viable and that their operations are predicated on robust systems,  processes, and structures to make them sustainable, going into the future. The PGM miner is desirous to see these local enterprises becoming success stories, hence Zimplats’ efforts are aimed at helping them grow into sustainable businesses with a life of their own, with or without, Zimplats.

Zimplats is also keen to have them engage in programmes that will help them substitute imports; generate foreign currency for the country through exports and competing favourably in public tenders. A common thread that runs across all the participating companies is their total commitment to the values that Zimplats holds dear. These include, but are not limited to, the maintenance of the highest safety and health standards; protecting the environment; operating in accordance with the highest ethical standards and giving back to the communities in which they operate.

The LEDs programme also dovetails with many national programmes that Zimplats has been actively supporting, amongst them the government’s vision of transforming the country’s economy into an upper middle class by 2030 through, amongst other things, promoting local production of goods and services for import substitution and value addition.

The programme is also in sync with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), goals number 8, 9 and 10. Under SDG 8 is an undertaking by UN member states, including Zimbabwe, to promoting development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, and encouraging formalisation and growth of micro, small and medium sized enterprises, including through access to financial services.

By nurturing and nourishing small businesses, Zimplats has been able to give meaning to its purpose of “creating a better future through the way we do business, the metals we produce and superior economic performance – to improve the lives of future generations”.

Seeing enterprises that are part of the programme evolving from being no-name brands into household names that are creating jobs and contributing to the national purse through taxes, gives Zimplats a sense of  satisfaction.—Advertorial.