Welcome to the Jungle
INTRODUCTION
Before we dive into the dynamics of business in Zimbabwe,
let me clarify the “monkeys” analogy. I’m not throwing
shade at employees or team members. The term comes
from the Zimbabwean proverb “Kurimira Makudo”, which
means “farming a portion for the monkeys to steal.” It's a
lighthearted way of saying that, in business, you always
need to account for some level of loss. This analogy is used
with humor and in the spirit of jest, so keep that in mind as
we explore the wild landscape of entrepreneurship in
Zimbabwe!
The Real Cost of Showing Up
CHAPTER 1
Employees love payday. They clock in, clock out, and
expect their salary at the end of the month. But for you, the
business owner, showing up alone doesn’t make money—
output does. Every employee should generate at least
three to ve times what you pay them. If that’s not
happening, congratulations—you’re running a charity. If
you’re paying someone who isn’t bringing in three times
their wage, you’re essentially the City of Harare or a
government department employing civil servants—not a
business.
Your money is made from output, but their money comes
from just showing up. You need to bridge that gap or you’ll
nd yourself frustrated every month, paying people who
bring in less value than their salary. If their output doesn’t
exceed their wage, you’re funding inef ciency, not growth.
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Different Kinds of Monkeys, Different Kinds of Theft
CHAPTER 2
In Zimbabwe, theft isn’t always someone sneaking away
with cash. It takes many forms, and it’s often subtle. Here’s
how the monkeys play their game:
1. TIME THEFT
Time is one of the most valuable resources in your
business, yet it’s often wasted in ways you might not even
notice. Employees, like many Zimbabweans, are addicted
to social media distractions like TikTok, YouTube, and
WhatsApp. But it doesn’t stop there. Some will take it a step
further, using your internet to download torrents or even
worse—watch porn on your network! These platforms and
activities steal precious hours, and meanwhile, you’re left
paying for their distractions.
We use apps like Trackabi to monitor all staff laptops and
track tasks on their phones. This has helped increase
productivity by 350%. Without these measures, your
bandwidth (and your pro ts) could literally be wasted on
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nonsense, while your team is working on “personal
projects” during work hours.
2. STOCK THEFT
Stock theft is more than someone walking out with goods.
Zimbabwe’s economic challenges have bred a culture
where employees bring their own products to sell at work,
pocketing the cash. Imagine employees adding their own
products to your stock—selling them in your store while you
foot the bill for rent and overheads.
"Vanhu vaigaraziva zvavakaba and they would count with
me during stocktakes. We would balance on paper, but in
reality, I was losing stock." — @anacoletah
Take, for example, a supermarket owner I know. He
discovered that some of his staff were stocking their own
cooking oil on the shelves, selling it right under his nose
while he paid for the overheads like rent and electricity.
This is the epitome of stock theft—employees using the
business for their own pro t while undermining the
company's earnings.
Then there’s my mentor, who runs a large fruit export and
logistics company in Zimbabwe. He uncovered a massive
operation where 60 tons of fruit were being
misappropriated every month by his staff. That’s 60 tons of
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stock disappearing—an enormous amount that went
unnoticed until it was too late. The scale of stock theft in
businesses can be staggering, and it’s often perpetrated by
those closest to the operation, making it all the more
dif cult to detect.
3. ZINO MENTALITY: UNDERCUTTING AND
CIRCUMVENTING YOUR BUSINESS
The “Zino” phenomenon—overcharging or adding
unreasonable markups without adding value—is proli c in
Zimbabwe. It’s not just about small-scale hustling, but often
involves employees or middlemen undermining entire
business processes. In a country where hyperin ation has
wreaked havoc, everyone’s looking to make fast money,
and some employees will exploit their position to pro t
without adding any real value.
For example, at Fresh in a Box in 2021 during COVID-19,
we discovered a major grift where warehouse staff and
partner drivers had convinced farmers to sell to them
directly at rock-bottom prices, only to sell the same goods
back to us at in ated rates. One sharp-eyed accountant
realised that invoices from about 10 suppliers had identical
design, text, logos, and phone numbers. When confronted,
a warehouse member simply shrugged and said, “Takango
negotiator mdhara, tikaisa zino” (bro, We just negotiated
and added our markup no biggie).
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What seemed like a harmless hustle was actually
undermining our entire procurement process, adding
layers of unnecessary costs that made the business less
ef cient and more vulnerable to nancial strain. This kind of
behavior is rampant in environments where trust is taken
for granted, and it can cripple a business if left unchecked.
4. KUNGWAVA NGWAVA (SIDE HUSTLING)
“Kungwava ngwava”, the art of side hustling, is a thriving
business on its own. Employees will sell perfumes, offer the
same services as your business, or even moonlight as your
shadowy competition. With inside knowledge of your
operations, they can undercut you while using your
resources—fuel, airtime, company assets like computers
and vehicles—to run their own gigs. This doesn’t just eat
away at your pro ts; it’s like unknowingly nancing your
own competition.
5. IP THEFT: WHEN YOU LET SOMEONE BECOME
TOO IMPORTANT TO LET GO
One of the most dangerous forms of theft is when an
employee controls your intellectual property and becomes
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too important to let go. If your business relies too heavily
on one person, you’re setting yourself up for disaster.
We once had a developer who controlled our entire
database system and code base for one of our apps. He
was the only person who had all the knowledge,
passwords, and ability to maintain the system. When he got
a better job offer abroad, he left us stranded. There was no
documentation, no continuity plan, and no one else who
could step in. As a result, the app became outdated and
unmanageable, and we had to spend over $35,000
redeveloping it from scratch. That’s what happens when
you let someone become too important to let go.
Sweat the Small Stuff—Or Get Sweated
CHAPTER 3
The small things in business will kill you if you ignore them.
It’s easy to focus on the big stuff, but the real losses are in
the details. If you don’t keep track of every little thing, from
who owns your social media accounts to how many pens
are in the of ce, the monkeys will eat you alive.
How many versions of Facebook pages exist for some
Zimbabwean companies? Quite a few. This happens
because business owners often don’t know who created
their Facebook page, who the admin is, or even the
password. Some owners lose control of their social media
because an underpaid intern who was given admin rights
has now left for Cape Town and taken the Facebook access
with them!
This issue isn’t limited to Facebook pages. Many
businesses have had to deal with multiple versions of
Instagram pages or their of cial website domain being
controlled by former employees or third-party developers.
If you don’t know who registered your company domain,
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controls your Google Analytics, or manages your business
WhatsApp number, you’re already at risk.
HERE ARE KEY AREAS YOU NEED TO DOUBLE-CHECK:
Who owns your Facebook page? Are you sure it’s under
*your* email, or did the person who set it up leave with the
admin rights?
Who controls your domain name? Is it registered under
your company email, or is it tied to a former employee’s
personal email?
Who manages your Google Business and Analytics
accounts? Are you still in control of them, or did someone
who left the company take access with them?
Do you have access to your business WhatsApp
number? Is it registered under the business or a staff
member's personal account?
Do you have an updated list of all your digital assets
and passwords? Are they securely stored and accessible
in case the person managing them leaves?
Who prints your receipts? Are you sure they aren't
printing fake receipts for your team?
Who handles your stock takes? Are the same people
managing both stock entry and exit? This creates easy
opportunities for theft.
Are there processes in place for cash handling? Do you
require requisitions and sign-offs for any money that leaves
the company, or can someone walk out with cash at will?
Where are your procurement documents stored? Are
they available to only trusted staff, or can anyone access
and manipulate them?
Do you insist on getting three real quotations for
procurement? Fake suppliers are an easy way for
employees to siphon money from you.
Who handles the of ce supplies? Even something as
small as toilet paper, cooking oil, or bond paper can be
stolen without proper controls in place.
Are employee email accounts tied to your company
domain? Or are they using their personal emails for
business, which can lead to losing communication history
and important client data?
Do you control the bank account authorisations? Or do
employees have too much access to nancial systems?
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Even the smallest things—like toilet paper, cooking oil,
pens, and bond paper—should be monitored closely. We
don’t allow cash to be handled freely by anyone. Even as
the owner of the company, I can’t just demand cash without
proper requisitions and sign-offs from my trusted nance
team. Every transaction is accountable. What is not
inspected, should not be expected, as my wife Nomaliso
(@nomalison) always says. Business owners must be
pedantic if they want to survive.
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Paying Employees Well & Incentivising Performance
CHAPTER 4
One of the most overlooked aspects of minimising theft is
the importance of paying your employees well and
incentivising their performance. When people feel valued
and motivated, they are less likely to look for ways to steal,
cheat, or hustle on the side.
In Zimbabwe, where salaries are generally low, employees
often turn to theft—time theft, stock theft, or even
information theft—to subsidise their income. This is where
the Zino mentality often kicks in. However, by offering fair
pay and creating a culture where employees bene t from
the business’s success, you can drastically reduce the need
for them to “hustle” on the side.
Performance incentives are key. Whether it’s pro t-sharing,
bonuses tied to business growth, or recognition programs,
when employees know there’s something extra to gain by
helping the business thrive, they become more invested in
the company’s success.
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A motivated workforce is easier to control and minimises
theft in all its forms. Employees who feel secure and
rewarded don’t need to steal time or stock to make ends
meet. As the saying goes, “Happy employees don’t steal—
they work harder.”
Delegate, Automate, Eliminate
CHAPTER 5
Running a business doesn’t mean doing everything
yourself, but it does mean making sure everything gets
done *right*. Here’s how you can manage the monkeys
without losing your sanity:
Delegate: Trust your team but verify their work. What’s not
inspected should not be expected. Delegating
responsibility is crucial, but it comes with the obligation to
consistently review and audit those responsibilities. No one
person should have full control of any part of the business
without oversight.
Automate: Use technology to reduce human error and
eliminate unnecessary reliance on individuals for critical
processes. Tools like Trackabi help monitor employee
productivity, while ClickUp ensures tasks are managed
ef ciently. Automation creates consistency and helps you
maintain control over processes that are prone to
manipulation.
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Eliminate: If a system or process isn’t adding value—or
worse, if it’s creating opportunities for theft—eliminate it.
The same goes for employees. If someone is not
contributing or is a known source of inef ciency or
dishonesty, don’t hesitate to remove them. A streamlined,
ef cient operation will minimise opportunities for theft and
improve overall productivity.
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Delegate, Automate, Eliminate
CHAPTER 6
Trust is a dangerous luxury in business. Even your most
trusted employees can turn against you if given the
opportunity. A zero-trust policy is essential in environments
like Zimbabwe, where the survival mentality is deeply
ingrained in the workforce. Every process, every
transaction, every system must be regularly checked and
rechecked.
"My staff was in ating supplier costs, leaving me to pay
in ated bills while they pocketed the difference,”—
@mufudzi
Implementing a zero-trust system doesn't mean you have
to micromanage every detail, but it does mean adopting a
system of checks and balances. Regularly audit your
suppliers, review employee activities, and maintain control
over all critical aspects of the business. Every corner of
your operations needs accountability.
In Zimbabwe, where hustle culture is thriving and
competition is erce, it’s important to remember that trust
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can easily be broken, and often by those you least expect.
Create a culture of transparency, where everyone is
accountable, and no one has full control over any system
without a backup plan.
CONCLUSION
“Kurimira Makudo" is the reality of doing business in
Zimbabwe. Theft will happen, but how much you lose
depends on how well you plan for it. Like a farmer who
plants extra crops to account for the monkeys, you need to
protect your core business by monitoring every aspect, big
or small. From client data to stock, from Facebook pages to
nances—watch everything, or someone else will.
The real key to success is knowing how to navigate a
culture of hustle and theft while fostering a motivated, loyal
workforce. By paying employees well, creating
performance-based incentives, implementing information
governance, and ensuring no employee is irreplaceable,
you can minimise your losses and protect your business.
Remember, what is not inspected should not be expected.
Stay vigilant, be pedantic, and use technology and
processes to safeguard your business. The monkeys will
always be there, but with the right measures in place, they
won’t take more than you can afford to lose.
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I read this on X and `lmfao from user: @CMb2StepsAhead
Gudo harina munda,
Rinokwira mawere kwavira
Asi unoriona rodya magwere
Asi harina munda.
Monkeys will always be lurking, waiting for their chance. It’s
your job to make sure they don’t take your entire crop.
Protect what’s yours, and ensure that when harvest season
comes, you’re the one reaping the rewards—not the
monkeys.
