While most Zimbabwean companies are struggling to grow, Innscor just added $176 million in revenue in one year.

That's more than Dairiboard's entire revenue.

Here's the full breakdown of Innscor's Results, including the big lesson for any business leader.

Let's Unpack! Innscor’s Financial Results

Innscor posted a solid set of numbers, with the highlight being revenue growth of 19% to reach $1.09 billion.

That increase from last year was $176 million. To put that growth into perspective, it represents more revenue than Dairiboard, which holds a 37% market share in the country's milk market.

We’ve said this a lot lately,

In Zimbabwe, banking does not exist in the typical sense.

In most cases, you have payment processors, custodians, and property companies.

The following visual displays the banks in Zimbabwe with the largest investment property holdings, along with a comparison of select banks in South Africa. To recap, an investment property is a property held for capital growth and/or earning rental income.

ZB Financial Holdings (ZB) has the biggest investment property portfolio at $137 million. However, this is also because it owns Mashonaland Holdings, which is actually a property company with $93 million in investment property. However, even after that is taken out, ZB still has investment property worth over $40 million.

Part of the reason CBZ wanted to buy ZB was actually due to its property portfolio. Newzwire quoted the CBZ CEO as saying.

"Our main attraction is not really banking, but the other business units, which is your insurance, which is your property.”

Who are Zimbabwean Banks Lending To?

This visual shows the proportion of total loan balances held in personal lending (loans to individuals) compared to other classes of lending, such as business lending.

In other words, the chart highlights which banks lend the most money to people rather than corporations and other institutions.

The outlier is First Capital Bank at 51%, which we covered this week and highlighted this ratio as a potential driver of its strong performance. The low ratio of Steward Bank at 8% is surprising. Historically, Steward Bank was positioned to become a leading retail bank through its partnership with EcoCash and Econet, even enabling customers to open a bank account on their phone in just 60 seconds.

I would have thought they would have a stronger presence in retail lending as well, but it doesn't seem to have been the case, as at their year-end, 29 February 2025.

Perhaps this is a temporary situation, as Steward Bank is in the process of transitioning after being acquired by TN Group and rebranding as TN CyberTech Bank, with the ambition of becoming a Neo-Bank (a digital-only bank that operates primarily through mobile apps and websites.)

First Capital Bank's Financial Results: A Zimbabwean Bank Making Money From Loans, Not Charges?

As EcoCash, Mukuru and Innbucks eye new opportunities, could First Capital's approach be the blueprint?

An argument could be made that in Zimbabwe, banking does not exist in the typical sense.

Instead, what you have are payment processors and custodians.

Proof of this is the fact that the banking sector generated only 10.4% of its income from interest income, which is typically the core of a bank's activities.

First Capital Bank, however, is an exception in that it still generates 46% of its income from interest income from loans and advances. Given the context, this percentage is actually quite high.

But what is more intresting is who First Capital is lending to.

This fact indicates potential market gaps that companies like Mukuru, Innbuck or even Ecocash could take advantage of.

Let’s unpack! First Capital Zimbabwe’s Performance

Based on their most recent results for the half-year ended June 30, 2025, First Capital reported a strong start, with a 13% year-over-year increase in net income.

This growth was driven by a big jump in net interest income, which rose 32%.

Why Starlink is the Best Thing To Happen to Econet.

Econet has one major risk, and it's not competition from Starlink.

Let's Unpack! Starlink isn't a direct threat to the mobile business; in fact, since Starlink's launch, Econet's income from data revenue has increased by 36%, which is the same rate it was growing the year before.

So there hasn't been any meaningful slowdown.

1/11 In its latest report, the Insurance and Pensions Commission revealed that pension funds have once again marked up the value of their property portfolios — even as rental yields slipped to just 3.7%.

At the same time, the very companies that contribute to these pension
funds and rent space from them have increased their overdue payments by 37%.

How much longer can property valuations keep rising?

Let's Unpack! 2/11 About the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC)

IPEC regulates Zimbabwe’s largest institutional investors — pension funds and insurance companies, which together hold and deploy the biggest pools of long-term capital in the economy.

Because of the above, IPEC reports can show you what is happening and what might happen next in the entire economy.

This month, IPEC released their 2025 Q1 Pension report.

1/23 Edgars just released some really interesting financial results, and so I will be publishing something soon.

In the meantime, here is a recap from the archives to get you up to speed!

🔄🔄

Truworths And Edgars Were Never Clothing Retailers

They were more like banks with a side business of selling clothes.

Understanding how to identify this can help you save your business from sudden failure and find your biggest opportunities!

🧵 THREAD 🧵

(from the archives). 2/23 People often define companies by the products they sell. For example, if I sell paint, I'm seen as a paint manufacturer.

The issue is that the visible product or service may not truly drive the business's economics.

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.”

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.

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.

1/17 Major retailers in Zimbabwe are struggling.

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?

/1 Demergers and Butcheries

Demergers have become quite popular, with companies like Innscor, Econet, and Meikles pulling them off in recent years.

The goal of a demerger is often to unlock value, which, interestingly, is similar to what butcheries do.

Let's unpack!🧵 /2 Demergers are essentially when a company splits off one of its businesses to operate independently and often to list separately.

These transactions "unlock value" because the parts of the business, when separate, are often more valuable than the whole.

A bit like a cow.

1/23 Simbisa Brands: A cash printing machine.

A good Cash Conversion Ratio, which measures a business's ability to turn profit into cash, is typically anything above 1.0. Simbisa Brands has a Cash Conversion Ratio of 2.6 based on its latest results.

For comparison, Innscor and Delta, both companies that are performing well, have cash conversion ratios of 1.0 and 1.8, respectively.

Simbisa is doing what most companies struggle with: turning profits into lots of cash.

Here’s how—and why investors should take notice.

Let's Unpack!🧵 THREAD 🧵 2/23 About Simbisa Brands

Simbisa Brands is in the Quick-Service restaurant business.

Their biggest offerings are related to chicken, with brands like Chicken Inn, Nando's, and Galito’s.

They also have a strong presence in other categories, such as Pizza, with Pizza Inn.

1/9 You May Like German Cars, But You Will Probably Drive A Chinese One

Another Chinese car brand, Changan, is reentering the South African car market. This will bring the number of Chinese car brands available in South Africa to 18 by the end of the year.

That’s a lot, and the Chinese are not stopping. Here is why..🧵 2/9 China was late to start manufacturing cars, with the first locally assembled car, the Dongfeng CA71, not being produced until 1958 (see picture below).

Compare this with Germany, which started in 1885, and Japan, which started around 1907.

But things have now changed..

This 27-Year-Old Document Was At The Center Of Econet's Historic IPO And Will Teach You About Vision, Building A Team and Being Bold Even As Young Person.

You can read all 46 pages or spend 5 minutes reading the thread below - you won't regret it.

🧵Thread (from the archives) By December 1997, Econet had finally been awarded a telecom license.

But after a long battle, the company was financially stretched so Strive Masiyiwa and team came up with a crazy idea - raise cash directly from the public through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Is OK Zimbabwe about to Collapse?

I looked at the most recent financial results to see if the empty stores were a temporary glitch, as OK says, or if Zimbabwe’s biggest retailer is in danger of complete collapse.

Let's Unpack!

🧵THREAD🧵 At first glance, OK’s half-year results look pretty good.

Revenue was up 47%, with volumes up 28%. EBITDA (a type of operating profit) increased 44% to $17mn.

This looks good until you start examining “Earnings Quality,” a must-know concept when evaluating companies in Zimbabwe.

1/16 Tupperware is bankrupt and closing up shop in South Africa.

What happened?

The business model that made it a success ended up making it a failure.

Here's the cautionary tale of Tupperware's rise and fall that all business leaders and entrepreneurs must know...🧵 2/16 Earl Tupper started Tupperware in 1946, and in its early days, it was sold in hardware and department stores.

However, despite a lot of investment, the business struggled until a single mother from Detroit changed everything.

1/11 In 2012, South Africa’s Murray & Roberts sold its 46% stake in Murray & Roberts Zimbabwe (now Masimba Holdings and Proplastics Limited) to a consortium of mostly local investors.

The stake was sold for R10 million rand, about $1.3 million. Today, it would have been worth over $18 million and worth more than half of Murray & Roberts Group.

Let's unpack! 2/11 Typically, when a multinational company with a well-known brand sells its interest or exits, people tend to feel less optimistic about the company that is left behind.

This is understandable, but often, breaking out of a multinational company can have significant benefits for the new standalone company, especially in volatile markets like Zimbabwe, where speed and flexibility are key.

Another example is Deloitte Zimbabwe, now Axcentium, after a management buyout that ended its association with Deloitte Global.

At the time, there were doubts about whether the new firm could retain clients after losing the Deloitte name.

However, not only has Axcentium managed to retain blue-chip clients like Zimplats, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), but it has also won key clients like Nampak from PWC (which has also now exited Zimbabwe) and Tanganda from EY (which is technically a one-year extension).

Chinese stocks are currently flying.

If you want to make money on the stock maket you need to understand market sentiment.

Here is a how I lost thousands of dollars on Chinese stocks even when the companies I invested in were fantastic. The last few years, Chinese stocks have taken a beating.

Take Alibaba for example, which once traded at about $300 per share but until recently was worth well under $100.

1/18 To analyse the impact of Starlink on Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ) we first need a recap of the telecommunications (telco) business model in its simplest form.

Let's unpack this and then later how Starlink comes in.

The telco business model is made up of four key sequential, simultaneous, and repeating cycles.

🏦 Borrow 🛰️ Build 🤳 Sell 🤝 Service.

This is a simplification but let me explain each cycle and then illustrate with MTN. 2/18 The first thing telcos need to do is BORROW because telecoms is a capital-intensive business and so self-funding is difficult.

Once you've borrowed, you BUILD (and maintain) the network and infrastructure that people will use (think base stations, etc.).

After that, you SELL people access to the network so they can make calls and use data etc. and with the sales you generate profits.

Then, with those profits, you SERVICE the loans (i.e., pay back the banks) and since you've serviced the loans, you can then BORROW more money, and the cycle repeats.

1. This is a company you need to watch.

TDW is shaking up Zimbabwe's property industry with millions in USD revenue, over 70% annual growth, and hundreds of homes built.

Let's unpack, the property industry, why TDW is growing so fast and the company's potential and risks.

🧵 2. Troika Design Workshop (TDW) is an architectural design studio that also owns a property development business called Turnbury Property Developers.

The company was founded in 2015 and is run by a team of young professionals with an average age of 33.