2. Standard Chartered (StanChart) in Zim was a solid bank making good money. In 2016 StanChart made $13 Million in profit and was the 3rd largest bank by deposits in Zimbabwe.
3. Compared to StanChart Globally, however, the Zim operation was still a “small fish"
StanChart Zim Revenue = $55.02 Million
StanChart Group Revenue = $14.06 Billion
StanChart Zim Size = 0.4%
The good thing was in 2016 the small fish had limited drama & was profitable.
4. When you are a small fish in a big pond not attracting unwanted attention is very important.
That is what StandChart Zim did from 2016 - 2018.
They did not really feature in the StanChart Group Annual report & when they did it was for good news -they had won an award👏🏾
5. In 2019, however, that changed. Zimbabwe was suddenly called out in the annual report because it had contributed to the increase of Credit Grade 12 Balances😤 (which is really bad see why in the next tweet).
6. Credit Grade 12 is the worst rating aside from defaulting.
Think of that friend who never pays anyone back - Credit Grade 12.
Zim being called out despite being only 0.4% of the business was a bad sign.
This wasn't necessarily local management's fault however...
7. ...These downgrade issues were probably linked to the reintroduction of the Zim Dollar in Feb 2019.
Whatever the case, the small fish had started to pollute the water in the pond and attract attention,
8. The following year, 2020, Zim was again in the group's annual report. This time because of a decrease in Credit RWA driven by the depreciation of ZWD against the US Dollar.
Whilst not technically always a bad thing it was clear that Zim was on the radar due to currency risks.
9. In 2021, Zim showed up again more related to COVID.
Considering StanChart is in 59 Countries, it's interesting how Zim ended up as one of the examples - attracting attention again.
Why does being mentioned in the annual report matter? See the next tweet...
10. The annual report is the most important document a public company releases yearly. The CEO, CFO, Directors etc spend 100s hours reviewing it.
A small operation should not keep popping up with anything but good news.
Otherwise, Execs start asking why are we in that market.
11. Unsurprisingly in 2022 the decision was announced. StanChart would be exiting 7 markets including Zimbabwe to focus on the "most significant opportunities for growth" (i.e. bigger fish that swim nicely)
The small fish was getting kicked out of the pond.
12. The exit was completed last week with FBC acquiring 100% of Standard Chartered. Another international company bowing out of Zim.
The same applies to most Global companies when small markets become a headache - the effort is not worth the return and so they rather exit.
13. In conclusion, if you are a small market like Zim, to prevent foreign companies from existing - you need to be stable, & predictable, & not take management's attention.
This is not easy in Zim & so other companies may still follow.
What do you think? Comment & Retweet👏🏾
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1/16 In 2023, OK spent millions to acquire Food Lover’s franchises in Avondale, Borrowdale, and Bulawayo.
Last week, the stores in Avondale and Borrowdale announced they are closing down.
Why is this happening? What went wrong, and what happens next?
Let’s unpack.
2/16 How Did We Get Here?
Back in 2023, OK Zimbabwe (OKZ) acquired Talwant Trading, which operated three Food Lovers Stores.
The idea behind the deal was to help OKZ get more into the “premium retailing of gourmet food as well as fruit and vegetables categories.”
3/16 The stores included in this deal were Food Lover’s stores in Harare's suburbs of Borrowdale and Avondale and one in Bulawayo.
Worth noting this deal excluded Food Lover’s Greendale, which is still independently owned.
Determining how much OKZ paid for Food Lover’s is not easy from public information as the financial statements hightlights a cash outflow of ZWL 3.7 billion for the purchase.
1/7 Comrades' Marathon Great Race, Better Business
The Comrades Marathon is an iconic race but could it be an even better business?
I looked through the race's latest financial statements, and this is what I found.
The race has been growing in revenue. Between 2023 and 2024, revenue increased by 22% from R53.9 million to R65.6 million.
This is impressive.
The big jump was driven by an increase in sponsorship, with Cell-C coming on board with a four-year sponsorship deal.
This indicates the brand of the Comrade's Marathon is growing well.
Further evidence is that for the latest edition, entrants were up 10% from
20,574 in 2024 to 22,670 in 2025.
2/7 What is even more impressive is that the event is comfortably profitable.
Worth noting, the race is not actually a "business" in the strictest sense, but an not for profit association.
So the "profit" is the difference between income and expenses, which called a surplus in the financials
In 2023, the surplus was R11 million dropping to R7 million in 2024.
The drop off in 2024 was reportedly due to once of the expense related to a settlement with the previous race manager.
As a result, there is reason to believe the 2025 edition should be more profitable and have a bigger surplus.
3/7 What you also see is that there is a healthy reserve of R42.8 million.
This is essentially the surplus (profit) of previous year's races.
This highlights two things.
1. Comrades has been profitable for some time 2. The race is a healthy position with some buffer to handle any emergencies (it had an operating contingent of R41 million in 2024).
1/14 Over half of Zimbabwean property owners have more than 80% of their net worth tied to property, compared to about 39% in the United States.
This is a problem that can also have a damaging impact for businesses and in the long run for property owners.
Here is what every property owner, investor and entrepreneur needs to know.
🧵 THREAD🧵
2/14 More Money, More Property
The chart below is from an online poll that asked property owners what portion of their net worth was tied up in property.
Of the respondents, 56% responded that more than 80% of their net worth was held in property.
3/14 This is not surprising.
Based on the research conducted in the last few articles, (see below for example) we identified that individual and institutional investors have disproportionately invested in property.
This is understandable, but may also present a big problem from an economic and business growth perspective.
For businesses to thrive, “risk capital” is needed.
Risk capital is money invested in new ventures, growing companies, or any entity that has a higher risk profile than the norm but also offers the opportunity for much greater returns.
Money invested in property is what I would call “idle capital”.
Property is not easy to divide or sell quickly, so that capital doesn’t “move” much; it essentially stays idle.
It also tends to be less risky, especially in markets like Zimbabwe.
If most of your net worth is tied up in property, you are less likely to invest much in other ventures.
OK is in distress. Choppies is out. Others are scaling back.
But one store—Food Lover’s Greendale—is not just surviving. It’s booming.
I partnered with @InjectaAnalytic to uncover the hidden data behind this growth.
THREAD🧵
2/17 One of the most important elements in retail is location, as it drives foot traffic.
The data below shows the number of upper to high-income homes within 2 km of the Honeydew Shopping Centre, where Food Lovers Greendale is based.
The data shows approximately 2,089 upper-middle to high-income homes near Food Lovers.
This indicates a strong base of customers with strong spending power, which is good.
But how does that compare to others?
3/17 Below is a comparison of Food Lovers Greendale, which is privately owned, and the other two Food Lovers' Outlets in Harare, which OK Zimbabwe owns.
The data shows that the Avondale branch has marginally more residential properties nearby than Greendale, which may indicate a more favourable location.
The low number of homes nearby in Sam Levy is likely due to the larger property sizes in Borrowdale, which may also indicate slightly higher spending power.
From this, it is not clear that Greendale has a significant advantage, although one trend that may also benefit the location is "densification."