Think Zim, buy Zimbabwe

I AM sure that I speak for every Buy Zimbabwe champion when I say that it is exciting to see more and more people buying local goods ahead of imports. Recently, we had the launch of the "Proudly Zimbabwean Promotion" that runs till February 3.

The promotion is about celebrating being "Proudly Zimbabwean" and according to Spar it is "a campaign that acknowledges and celebrates Spar's longstanding history of supporting local people, communities and business".

According to the chairman of the Guild of Spar Grocers, Evan Christophides: "Spar - (is) your local global independent retailer supporting local products, local brands, and Zimbabwean manufacturers."

This effort definitely needs to be applauded especially considering the direction the country has been taking.

At the close of last year we launched the "Zimbho Promotion" through our Zimbho brand, which created a lot of excitement and added value to the process of buying Zimbabwe.

Some of you will recall the Zimbho brand was created by the young aspiring entrepreneurs who were contestants in the "My Own Boss 2012" competition who wanted to create a brand that celebrates the essence of being Zimbabwean through an array of merchandise and activities.

The challenging finalist on the show, Smanga Zhou, added an interesting twist to the show when he creatively conceptualised  "Quality Brands Christmas Promotion", whose grand draw will be held on February 2.

Lucky shoppers in both the "Zimbho" and the "Proudly Zimbabwean" promotions will be able to beat the proverbial January disease as they stand a chance to win prizes for their loyalty to local brands.

Not only do we look forward to finding out which lucky shopper will walk away with the grand prize of the Hyundai i10, but we anxiously await to see how well our local products performed during the festive season which is naturally a peak period for shopping.

Buy Zimbabwe salutes the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Mimosa Mining Company, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and MERJHK Consultancy Firm on the "Let's Go Zero Campaign".

This marks a pivotal moment in efforts to tackle the road carnage on our roads.

This in an effort to improve co-operation between the three parties spearheading the "Let's Go Zero Campaign".

Speaking during the official signing event held at the Mimosa Mining Company head office in Harare, Traffic Safety Council managing director Mr Obio Chinyere said: "The union between the parties will go a long way in sensitising road users on safety.

"The signing comes at a critical time after over 250 people perished during the festive season on our country's roads."

Like I mentioned last week, the statistics are definitely alarming. My take is, we cannot afford to continue to sit back and relax as we continue to lose our valuable workforce due to gross negligence on the roads.

Speaking to Mr Chinyere at the event, I realised that the campaign is spot-on in targeting behavioural change as a way of reducing the road carnage.

It is us who continue to use faulty vehicles on the roads, it is us who continuously buy second-hand tyres from roadside vendors.

It is us who use cellphones while driving, it is us who enjoy one beer too many while we drive and it is us who do not to sleep before embarking on long drives.

As a matter of fact, the list of ill-behaviour on our roads is endless yet we continue to ignore these.

We actually owe it to ourselves to act responsibly in the same manner that Mimosa Mining Company and Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe have taken it upon themselves to show their human and responsible side.

According to the Mimosa Mining Company managing director, as responsible partners, the parties have taken it upon themselves to be part of the global effort towards a "Decade for Road Safety" which targets to reduce road traffic accidents by 50 percent by the year 2020.

We all have to believe that zero harm is possible, so the message is: Let's Go Zero.

I believe that it is not too late to slightly readjust our New Year's resolutions to also include a little bit of responsible behaviour on our roads.

Over and above that, as buy local champions, we also look forward to responsible buying behaviour in each one of us.

Admittedly, it is not easy because of a number of concerns that might be shared by consumers about buying local, but the truth is that wherever possible, we should always think Zimbabwe first, to create pride, wealth and jobs.

Till next week . . . God bless!

-----------------
Robert Garai Muganda is the General Manager, Media and Communications at Buy Zimbabwe.  He can be contacted on: mobile: 0772 714 233 email: robert@buyzimbabwe.org.zw website: www.buyzimbabwe.org.zw Facebook: buy zimbabwe campaign