Business / Local
WATCH: Qoki women acquire coach
07 Jul 2023 at 03:08hrs | Views
THE entrepreneurship drive of Qoki Zindlovukazi women continues to scale dizzy heights after they bought a luxury coach which is set to ply the Bulawayo-Harare route.
The group comprising 30 women who are part of the 500-member Qoki Zindlovukazi, acquired a brand new 81-seater double deck bus.
Qoki Zindlovukazi was founded by Ms Sithule Tshuma who resided in the United Kingdom for 25 years before she decided to return home and invest.
She founded Qoki Zindlovukazi and now leads a group of 500 women who share her vision. The initiative is aimed at uplifting women in societies and scaling up Bulawayo's economic growth.
They inject capital for their projects through raising money as a group.
One of their impressive achievements is their housing project which saw them raise US$27 million to buy land.
They have since acquired land in Douglasdale, Woodville and other parts of Bulawayo to build houses.
The group is meticulously following the National Human Settlement Policy, ensuring that before issuing title deeds or selling plots, the land is serviced to provide essential amenities such as water and sewage reticulation, access roads, electricity and even broadband services.
Motivated by their initial successes, the women of Qoki Zindlovukazi decided to expand their aspirations beyond individual assistance by venturing into the transport sector.
Mrs Marvelous Sibanda, the representative for the bus project group, said their members who are in the diaspora have been raising the money for the past two years to buy the bus.
"The women were contributing whatever money they had starting from R20 000 and that money is equivalent to two percent shares. So the more money someone contributed the higher the shares," she said.
Mrs Sibanda said they managed to raise R800 000 to import the bus from the United Kingdom.
Some of the specifications of the coach include sockets for charging laptop and cellphones including a microwave that the crew uses to warm food for passengers.
It has a toilet facility which is wheelchair friendly. The seats enable people who are living with disabilities and using wheelchairs to easily sit comfortably without any hassle.
For families that love travelling together, the bus has a provision where the first eight seats of the bus are family friendly. The seats were designed in such a way that they are inseparable with table to enable them to have their meals.
The top deck gives a discerning passenger an opportunity to enjoy a spectacular roadside view of nature.
"Initially we wanted to ply the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route but for now we decided to temporarily shift to the Bulawayo-Harare route because of the poor state of the Victoria Falls Road, " said Mrs Sibanda.
According to their schedule, the bus will be travelling daily save for Wednesday.
Mrs Sibanda said plans are underway to acquire more buses and service more routes.
"Unfortunate by the time Government introduced an import rebate for buses, we had already bought our bus. My advice to other women is that we ought to work together as women and help empower each other by venturing in big projects," she said.
Mrs Sibanda said they are also targeting to employ more women.
"We are saying women with Class 1 driver's licence should come forward so that we can work together. As women, we believe in working with fellow women as the project is being driven by us," she said.
Through their perseverance and dedication, Mrs Sibanda said, women of Qoki Zindlovukazi are mobolising resources to venture into many businesses.
She said their visionary approach to development and their unwavering commitment to their country should serve as an inspiration to other women.
Speaking during the women empowerment summit and expo in December last year, President Mnangagwa said empowerment of women is a prerequisite for sustainable development and poverty reduction as well as the attainment of gender and social equality which are all necessary for ensuring vibrant, healthy and inclusive communities.
He said the Second Republic is committed to ensuring that women participated equally and had access to and control over capital and productive resources.
Economic empowerment of women under the Second Republic has contributed to reducing income inequality and boosted economic diversification. This included implementation of policies and programmes that ensured access to decent work and increasing their voices, urgency and meaningful participation in decision making at all levels.
Government is mainstreaming women in economic sectors such as mining, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing in furthering women empowerment and is implementing programmes for women empowerment which include financial inclusion, access to markets, capacity building, and provision of appropriate work spaces, value chains development and promoting rural industrialisation.
The group comprising 30 women who are part of the 500-member Qoki Zindlovukazi, acquired a brand new 81-seater double deck bus.
Qoki Zindlovukazi was founded by Ms Sithule Tshuma who resided in the United Kingdom for 25 years before she decided to return home and invest.
She founded Qoki Zindlovukazi and now leads a group of 500 women who share her vision. The initiative is aimed at uplifting women in societies and scaling up Bulawayo's economic growth.
They inject capital for their projects through raising money as a group.
One of their impressive achievements is their housing project which saw them raise US$27 million to buy land.
They have since acquired land in Douglasdale, Woodville and other parts of Bulawayo to build houses.
The group is meticulously following the National Human Settlement Policy, ensuring that before issuing title deeds or selling plots, the land is serviced to provide essential amenities such as water and sewage reticulation, access roads, electricity and even broadband services.
Motivated by their initial successes, the women of Qoki Zindlovukazi decided to expand their aspirations beyond individual assistance by venturing into the transport sector.
Mrs Marvelous Sibanda, the representative for the bus project group, said their members who are in the diaspora have been raising the money for the past two years to buy the bus.
"The women were contributing whatever money they had starting from R20 000 and that money is equivalent to two percent shares. So the more money someone contributed the higher the shares," she said.
Mrs Sibanda said they managed to raise R800 000 to import the bus from the United Kingdom.
Some of the specifications of the coach include sockets for charging laptop and cellphones including a microwave that the crew uses to warm food for passengers.
For families that love travelling together, the bus has a provision where the first eight seats of the bus are family friendly. The seats were designed in such a way that they are inseparable with table to enable them to have their meals.
The top deck gives a discerning passenger an opportunity to enjoy a spectacular roadside view of nature.
"Initially we wanted to ply the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route but for now we decided to temporarily shift to the Bulawayo-Harare route because of the poor state of the Victoria Falls Road, " said Mrs Sibanda.
According to their schedule, the bus will be travelling daily save for Wednesday.
Mrs Sibanda said plans are underway to acquire more buses and service more routes.
"Unfortunate by the time Government introduced an import rebate for buses, we had already bought our bus. My advice to other women is that we ought to work together as women and help empower each other by venturing in big projects," she said.
Mrs Sibanda said they are also targeting to employ more women.
"We are saying women with Class 1 driver's licence should come forward so that we can work together. As women, we believe in working with fellow women as the project is being driven by us," she said.
Through their perseverance and dedication, Mrs Sibanda said, women of Qoki Zindlovukazi are mobolising resources to venture into many businesses.
She said their visionary approach to development and their unwavering commitment to their country should serve as an inspiration to other women.
Speaking during the women empowerment summit and expo in December last year, President Mnangagwa said empowerment of women is a prerequisite for sustainable development and poverty reduction as well as the attainment of gender and social equality which are all necessary for ensuring vibrant, healthy and inclusive communities.
He said the Second Republic is committed to ensuring that women participated equally and had access to and control over capital and productive resources.
Economic empowerment of women under the Second Republic has contributed to reducing income inequality and boosted economic diversification. This included implementation of policies and programmes that ensured access to decent work and increasing their voices, urgency and meaningful participation in decision making at all levels.
Government is mainstreaming women in economic sectors such as mining, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing in furthering women empowerment and is implementing programmes for women empowerment which include financial inclusion, access to markets, capacity building, and provision of appropriate work spaces, value chains development and promoting rural industrialisation.
Source - Chronicle
