DOLLARS & SENSE
TBY talks to Stella Sata Rukayi, Managing Partner, and Simba Rukayi, Managing Partner of Plan Store Business.
BIOGRAPHY
Stella Sata Rukayi and Simba Rukayi started Plan Store Business Solutions in 2012 to provide entrepreneurs with business development services. They help entrepreneurs improve and grow their businesses as well as prepare them to get funding. Stella is also the co-founder of The Stella Project; a not-for-profit organization that empowers marginalized communities. Stella is a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow. Simba is a seasoned entrepreneur with over eight years of experience in business development services.
BIOGRAPHY
Stella Sata Rukayi and Simba Rukayi started Plan Store Business Solutions in 2012 to provide entrepreneurs with business development services. They help entrepreneurs improve and grow their businesses as well as prepare them to get funding. Stella is also the co-founder of The Stella Project; a not-for-profit organization that empowers marginalized communities. Stella is a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow. Simba is a seasoned entrepreneur with over eight years of experience in business development services.What has been the impact of your mobile app launched over two years ago?
STELLA SATA RUKAYI In 2015, we launched the Plan Store mobile app. The app made it easy for entrepreneurs to plan ahead, asking critical business questions and helping them pitch their idea to investors with realistic numbers. The development of this app was partially funded by a grant from UKAid through its implementing partners PEP-Z. The app has been downloaded and used by over 400 SMEs across the country. It has been an effective tool for entrepreneurs to receive intelligent business advice on pricing and many other excellent tips on planning their businesses. We have also helped over 100 entrepreneurs to create a comprehensive business plan or proposal following the use of the mobile app.
Can you elaborate on your program of business and entrepreneurship trainings for informal businesses?
SIMBA RUKAYI Following the success of the mobile app and our ability to give business development services to entrepreneurs, we wanted to extend our services to marginalized entrepreneurs who could not afford to pay for our services. We partnered The Stella Project, a not-for-profit organization co-founded by Stella and David Nelson Bassey, and were able to conceptualize a business and entrepreneurship training (BET) project for marginalized entrepreneurs. Through the BET project, we provided action-oriented and practical business and entrepreneurship training to 40 marketeers (market stall owners). This program was supported by the US government through a partial grant from the US Embassy in Zambia as well as the Twaala Restaurant.
SSR The BET project first targeted the most marginalized entrepreneurs in Zambia: marketeers. They are at the bottom of the pyramid of entrepreneurs, yet are extremely important to the economy. We also had a deliberate 60% target bias to women and young people because women and youth often do not get opportunities to improve their knowledge. We further provided an aftercare mentoring and support system for up to 12 months for each of the trained marketeers. This includes assisting them with creating accounting and financial managements systems, savings groups as well as value addition strategies. Those that have smartphones or children with smartphones were also shown how to use the Plan Store app.
What opportunities are there for investing in business development services in Zambia?
SSR The number one opportunity is that Zambian entrepreneurs have embraced the power of entrepreneurship and want to learn more about how they can improve and develop their businesses. As a result, entrepreneurs are willing to pay for business development services and so organizations can tap into this huge untapped market.
What measures need to be taken to improve the current financing and banking systems for informal businesses in Zambia?
SR The current banking system does not make it easy for an informal business to open a bank account. The banks either ask for too many documents due to the new Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, take too long to open the bank account, or have high fees or high opening balances. It is important to make opening a bank account both time efficient as well as financially friendly for informal businesses in order to avoid a situation where a business person keeps money in their shop or under their mattress.
SSR For example, marketeers may not be high earning individuals but they run a highly liquid cash based business and making it easier to open a bank account and to manage transactions would result in their cash being in circulation. Lending to informal businesses must be with the end game of allowing the informal business to grow. It is important for finance and microfinance institutions to be interested in the development of the business and not to only focus on receiving interest. If institutions train informal businesses in financial management, the loan would be put to good use and would improve the overall financial position of the business, making it easy for one to pay back.
DOLLARS & SENSE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Year In Review
What A Year
Zambia has long been a bastion of stability in Southern Africa, and while its economy has been rocked in recent years by the falling value of copper prices, a devaluating kwacha, and high inflation, through the Economic Recovery Program the government has bold ambitions to right the ship.
read articleReview
Convoke, Confound & Collect
Squeezed between a rock and a rather hard place by the slowdown in Chinese demand for copper, by far Zambia's biggest export and government-revenue generator, President Lungu has been forced to get creative in his country's alliances to broaden revenue streams and lessen its dependence on the vagaries of one foreign market.
read articleGuest Speaker
Dr. Stergomena L. Tax, Executive Secretary, Southern African Development Community (SADC)
TBY talks to Dr. Stergomena L. Tax, Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), on regional economic development, boosting pan-continental free trade agreements, and improving security through mutual development.
read articleInterview
Susan Sikaneta, Ambassador, Zambia to Ethiopia & Permanent Representative to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa
TBY talks to Susan Sikaneta, Ambassador of Zambia to Ethiopia & Permanent Representative to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa, on championing peace across the continent, advancing women's rights, and promoting Pan-Africanism.
read articleInterview
Sebastian C. Kopulande, CEO, Zambian International Trade & Investment Centre (ZITIC)
TBY talks to Sebastian C. Kopulande, CEO of Zambian International Trade & Investment Centre (ZITIC), on taming austerity, stimulating sustainable growth, and creating the framework to support entrepreneurship
read articleFocus: Zambia Plus
Adding it All Up
On October 20, 2016, at the 2017 Budget Address, Finance Minister Felix Mutati launched the government's economic recovery program, christened "Zambia Plus." The program is designed to spur domestic productivity, through strengthening ties and collaborating with external donors and developers.
read articleReview: Banking
Macroeconomics Rule the Roost
In its ongoing efforts to diversify away from one principal commodity, copper, the government fosters the development, standardization, and efficacy of the private sector. In doing so the systematic support of the financial universe, especially banks, is vital, as is the goal of financial inclusion.
read articleFocus: SME Growth
IMF support program
An IMF support program stands to provide Zambia with some much-needed discipline on its expenditure and operational efficiencies; however, many caution the need for Zambia to determine what it wants to achieve and how the program will benefit the country.
read articleInterview
Christabel M. Banda, Executive Director, Insurers Association of Zambia (IAZ)
TBY talks to Christabel M. Banda, Executive Director of Insurers Association of Zambia (IAZ), on the evolution of the local insurance landscape, raising awareness, and tackling challenges in the sector.
read articleFocus: Solar
Sunny Side Up
As power demand continues to rise and power production continues to fall behind, it's the same old story for Zambia, still wrestling with an ongoing energy crisis. Public- and private-sector drives are seeking to mitigate this deficit by activating the country's solar industry.
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Margaret K. Chalwe-Mudenda, Director General, Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA)
TBY talks to Margaret K. Chalwe-Mudenda, Director General of Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA), on new projects, the ZNDC, and expectations for the year ahead.
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Hon. Dora Siliya, Minister, Agriculture
TBY talks to Hon. Dora Siliya, Minister of Agriculture, on the investments being made in agriculture to enable agricultural households, diversifying Zambia's basket of produce, and making international markets more accessible for local producers.
read articleInterview
Hon. Charles R. Banda, Minister, Tourism and Arts
TBY talks to Hon. Charles R. Banda, Minister of Tourism and Arts, on the wealth of tourism destinations within Zambia, efforts to bring more visitors to the country, and what the Tourism Development Fund will contribute to developments.
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