A week in Harare 🇿🇼, a thread about being a Zambian visitor in Zim. You’ve seen the BBC coverage now here are the facts. We need African perspectives on African adventures
#RT
and 👍🏽
This is my sister Tinana Wonani, who ran for the position of Independent Member of Parliament for Nyimba constituency. She didn’t make it this time but the effort bravery to take that step is amazing and a reminder for all of us to dream big 💥
Got to love Zambia 🇿🇲- where else in the world can an off duty security officer casually stroll into a take away to order lunch with a shotgun over his shoulder and nobody is worried?
In 2010 with very little cash, I bought a plot with a friend and started building for the first time with zero experience. The beautiful outcome hides the series of painful lessons learnt in the process. I’m going to do a thread on how to do it ahead of a Jun webinar.
There are local artists and there is Charles Chambata. He stands out as a master with carvings that make you say, I’ve never seen that before.
RT if you agree , I’ll post more of his incredible work later
This young woman is the strongest person I know.
As a 2nd yr med student, she fell ill, had chemo, two trips to India 🇮🇳, was in a wheelchair ♿️ and missed an entire yr of school before battling back to this!
Licensed medical practitioner, Dr. Luanaledi Chunga
#drnaledi
#god
Minding my own business thinking of kandolo at Levy Mall then boom 💥 I hear a Saxophone 🎷player, a talented one, busking.
His name is Ahmed Zimba, 0974801827 akzee365
@gmail
.com
#RT
share and like, if you agree, push him up.
My 3yr old walked through the CBD of Lusaka for the first time. He was very concerned about the mountains of rubbish on the street. Kept on pointing it out and asking who is cleaning it?
If a little kid can see it, what are LCC doing? 🛻
#wecandobetter
#thisisajoke
Went into a furniture shop at East Park Mall and was reminded of the fact that there are levels to this 🤣
To borrow a phrase from Dragons Den, “this investment isn’t for me - I’m out”
Teachers are discovering what accountants learnt 20yrs ago.
Studying a course doesn’t entitle you up a job, it only proves that you’re capable.
Many trained teachers have brilliant careers in Comms, HR, banking etc.
#moveon
The man on the right was appointed Finance Minister by the man on the left. Note that he’s standing, he’s not on his knees thanking him for the job. He’s there to work for him and for this country and not to praise him as a disciple. Let’s learn from this.
#respect
#letswork
Sprinter Muzala Samukonga won the 400m at the Botswana Grand Prix on 29 April in a time of 43.91 - here’s why it’s an incredible feat we may never see again 🧵
#muzala
👍🏽 RT
My late father said to me, “if you want extraordinary results, you need to put in an extraordinary effort” 🏋🏽🏃🏾🥊
Regardless of what the economy is doing in 2024, it will be my most successful
To give myself a head start, I’m working every single day of 2023
#worktime
Society house a thread 🧵 - details are pretty sketchy so any additions or corrections are welcome
Designed by famed Serbian architect, Ivan Straus, the 20 floor Society House was Zambia’s tallest building when it was completed in 1973
#societyhouse
@Wika_Kawina
Today, for the 13th consecutive year, my mother and I gave a small prize to the best G7 Student at Sacred Heart school.
And for the 3rd time while we’ve been doing this, it’s also a national top score!!!!! 🏆
What a school, what a legacy 🙌🏾
When I compare it to Nigeria, it’s night and day. In Lagos for example (that I visited this time last year), someone will tell you what the problem is and offer you 3 solutions.
In Zim, the attitude was very different. It’s kind of “This is how it is”
My thread 🧵 on poverty in the 1990s
Looking back, the 90s for Zambia was like an B rate action movie 🍿-completely crazy 🤯
In 120 months, we had the fall of a political titan in KK, a complete economic meltdown, a terror plot, a disputed election and a military coup
RT 👍🏽
1. Harare is Beautiful
It’s like being lost in Lusaka. The avenues, some of the buildings, companies all look familiar. For those who havent been, Harare is a beautiful place but behind this face is an unusual economy. A friend said to me, “we’ve normalized the abnormal.”
Dynamism - when I first met this guy he was working an accountant at the office. Dedicated, first in last out. He left.
4yrs later I go to a comedy show and he’s headlining. Next he set up a media company, now he’s just a full blown entrepreneur 🙌🏾 Nkisu
Don’t apply global economics to Zambia. During the global financial crisis, our economy grew. During the electric car revolution, we’re building lots of new gas stations ⛽️ 🤷🏾♂️ 🇿🇲
So proud of Z right now.
A friend visiting from Kenya lost his wallet on Thursday.
Three days later, we went back to the restaurant where it was last seen and the staff at Millas had kept it for him.
Even the money was still in it 🙆🏽
#zambia
My 4yr old son says to me, “I’ve seen a toy plane in my room, give it to me.” No chance, not the Nkwazi.
Dusting it down reminded me of why I bought it in the first place. A Zambian parastatal had operations in London and NY...... If they could do it then....we have work to do.
At 25 I complained to my late father that my life wasn’t going anywhere.
His response was a turning point in my life
“It’s your own fault, if you want extraordinary results, put in an extraordinary effort”
Those words have carried me through all sorts of adversity
#pushon
Numbers don’t lie. Zambia’s GDP per capita is higher than that of Kenya and more than double that or Rwanda. We just do an awful job of promoting our country 🇿🇲
4. Visa is globally accepted right?
Wrong. I learnt that there are two types of VISA cards, local and international. In a week in Harare, only the hotel, one restaurant and our cab driver accepted international cards. The restaurant Pariah State at Sam Levy had excellent food!
3. It’s a cash economy
The physical local currency is in extremely short supply. In a week I didn’t touch a single bank note. Instead the economy is run on mobile money. Ignoring the fact that I was foreign, people kept on encouraging me to pay with Ecocash.
Zambia is totally paradoxical.
One group of people say they are looking for opportunities and another in employment are so lazy they are barely bothered to serve clients 🤷🏽
Motor manufacturers generally make reliable cars but in Z we invariably buy old Jap recons. Once it’s been in the sun for 10yrs, exported across the globe 🌍 etc and arrives in Zambia it’s a different beast. Here is a buyer’s guide based on my own & other’s bad experiences
Debunking the myth that Zambians go to the US to suffer is Zig Founder, Christopher Chileshe. Bringing it back.
A young man with a vision for himself, Zambia and all of Africa. Believe in him, work with Zambians.
#visionary
#zedguymakingit
#hustlefreehustle
A 5 Star Presidential Address in which HH rejected hooliganism in markets, bus stops and other trading centers. “The police will confront you” IMO, he’s passed his first test of good governance, many more to come.
Costs are rising faster than wages so the only way forward is to make better use of the money you already have. I’m issuing 10 tweets in 10 days to promote financial fitness over the Xmas period
Birthday dinner for the amazing
@KupelaClarke
Mabula by Afrigonia, Acacia Park - they may as well call it amazing 🤩
Best restaurant in Lusaka ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
#brilliant
🔥 - 👏🏽♻️ 👍🏽
2. Shock 1 - Roaming Doesn’t Work. Got to the airport and my roaming didn’t work. Bought a cross border WhatsApp bundle, waste of cash, doesn’t work. The phone occasionally rings, you pickup and can’t hear a thing.
Starting a series of tweets to help SMEs. The main focus is what I’m calling translation, the gap between planned and actual financial results.
Topic 1 - Accounting for a Farming Venture.
Many will try, few will succeed, this is why.......watch this space
Zambia is a strange place. You’ll have hundreds of mobile booths “competing,” lined up next to each other, all open at 8am when people are at work and close at 17hrs as people are about to head home 🤷🏾♂️
4. There is no change!
Heard USD was accepted again so I carried $200, trouble was, nobody had change to give. If you’re not spending the whole note, you’re encouraged to use Ecocash. Even if you sign up an Ecocash account, putting money on it is another challenge
We need to press the reset button on our crazy, 1950s transport system that says all buses must transit through town.
Half the people in the buses 🚌 clogging the CBD aren’t even going to town?
Why do we need experts to tell us things we already know?
#lccfixit
Entrepreneurship thread 🧵
Along Lukasu rd, Lusaka, behind ISL is an Ntemba called Browns.
This is a fascinating case study of entrepreneurship. Why are they growing when so many others are complaining?
#zbusiness
The Card Machine is Not Working
I later learnt that “the card machine is not working” is code for we don’t accept international cards. Even in the departure lounge of the airport, the cafe claim “the card machine is not working” we were encouraged to pay with Ecocash 🇿🇼
The most exhausting part of a build is getting started 🤷🏽♂️
Finally deciding on what the plan is then finding the resources to do it.
I’m declaring it now, this will be the sight of our greatest triumph
Vida Cafe, great coffee but am not sure about the need to shout South African chants like “Woza Wena” when you walk in?
So out of context, it’s the business equivalent of a fake accent 😂
Maybe it’s just me 🤷🏽
#beyou
Next year I turn 40. I remember finishing high school at 17. What’s interesting and frightening is that if I intend to retire at 55, I have less time available to me between now and then than I’ve already spent in the ‘workplace’....
#nodignityinpoverty
@FMwenge
Farewell Kingsley Chinyama, mathematician and IT Analyst who’s joining KPMG Belgium’s 🇧🇪 Cyber Defence team
A golden talent with limitless potential 🙌🏾
#kpmg
#newbeginnings
#gamechanger
KKIA - The arrivals lounge is fabulous but completely impractical.
No shops and the people picking you up should wait outside, even if it’s raining 🌧️
I’ve tried to make sense of it but I can’t, maybe am missing something 🤷🏽
We are in Oxford -
@KupelaClarke
’s graduation day 👩🎓
Flying the flag 🇿🇲- Zambia ku chalo
Kupela ku chalo
@MukoshaMulenga
jewels by eleoragems
@OneSquareK1
The story of our visit is interesting…a thread
When people said Pick n Pay was closing at East Park I was skeptical but you wouldn’t pay premium rentals to have empty shelves would you?
#sellittozambians
#callme
11 Nov Remembrance day. N.Rhodesian soldiers fought in WWI. My Great Uncle Smart Phiri from Nyimba fought in Burma. The names of the places they saw became the names of Barracks in Zambia. Arakan, later known as Rakhine State was their landing point in Burma!
Despite the outward indicators of economic and social progress, I am poorer than my father at this age and he was poorer than his father.
Zambia needs to change.
#itendswithme