Young people doing it big in Tanzania: Wabantu Juice Company on the rise to create youth employment

I have always wondered whether our generation will produce great leaders while most of us have the tendency to wait for stuff to happen. Our donor funded attitude doesn’t help; “We beg the government and President to look at the youth and give us jobs”, “I have graduated but no one will hire me”, or “We thank the American People for bringing water in our village”. As young people, we face a lot of obstacles: Thought to be too young to be brilliant, not owning enough for collateral, not having enough capital, not having enough experience to get “entry level” jobs, or run multinationals, and yet we are expected to bring change. What change! How can they expect us to save a sinking boat if they won’t even let us get in the water because we are too young!

On April 21st, 2013, Fourteen Tanzanian youth gave my donor funded attitude a makeover. Fourteen young people from all over Tanzania, coming together and doing something that will greatly impact this country. They are setting a new trend of thinking. They are creating jobs for themselves and for others. They are living proof that we can make it if we try. They are from the Wabantu Juice Company, soon to be a household juice brand in Tanzania.

The Wabantu Juice Company is a startup, founded by Mr. Zahor A. Rashid, a Tanga Born 34-year-old, together with 13 young college students from the University of Dar-es-Salaam. They have joined hands with Tanzanian and Chinese investors, and are looking to sell shares to the public through the Enterprise Growth Market Segment of the Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange to raise capital and grow their company.

I decided to crash their launch party in order to speak to Zahor and the 13 students. I learned a lot about what makes a successful entrepreneur, and what it takes to make it in this Tanzanian wilderness with all the capital challenges, and bureaucratic hurdles one has to jump to get established. They were nice enough to indulge my many questions about their company, experiences and personal lives.

For the first part of the interview, I talk to Mr. Zahor A. Rashid, founder of the Wabantu company.

Tell me a little bit about Wabantu, and the Wabantu Juice Company.

I founded Wabantu three years ago to do business in Tanzania and China, but with a big interest in manufacturing industries. We act as a link between Tanzanian and Chinese businesses and help in purchasing things like machinery and other imports and exports. We are also the representatives of TCCIA (Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Agriculture) in China and have helped many Tanzanian businesses obtain what they need.

The Wabantu Juice Company came later, the first of many in the series of manufacturing industries here in Tanzania. Tanzania is rich; it has the raw materials, and the market. What is lacking is value addition and processing industries. For example people would come and buy fruits for very cheap, take them to Kenya, process them into juice, come back and sell the juice at very high prices. So if we have the materials, and the market, what are we waiting for? Wabantu wants to play a part in growing our manufacturing sector.

We seldom hear collaborations in Tanzanian startups. Why collaborate with the Chinese and the University Students?

Although I had the passion, and the ideas, I didn’t have enough capital or muscle to start by myself. It is hard to do it alone. Individuals have surplus money, but it is not enough to start big projects, and they may know where to put it and earn profit on the surplus. Coming together can eliminate the capital problem that is why we plan on selling our shares to the public through an IPO soon.

Also one person may not have enough expertise to run the business efficiently, and profitably. Collaboration helps in running the business. Collaboration is important.

But why college students and not people with years of experience?

For this idea to work, we needed fresh ideas. The youth have that…

There is a high unemployment rate even among college graduates. The solution was to create a company with these graduates. During the inception of the idea, the students volunteered to work with me. We spent one month learning, doing market research and preparing a feasibility study and business plan. We learned with and from each other, then approached other people with capital to be part of the project.

What is the challenge of collaborating with other people, the Chinese and Tanzanians as well?

Cultural differences. The Chinese have a different culture. But they really put all their efforts and brains in making things work. Tanzanians on the other hand, not all of course, but some of us, have a tendency “not to bother about alternatives or making things better”. “One failure is the end of trying”. Also people don’t put in their all in what they do. It is common to find a receptionist on a personal call during work hours and you would just wait for him/her to finish, and act as though your presence is troublesome. Then they get paid the same salary regardless. We don’t have KPI’s (key performance indicators) that determine if you should be paid for the job you did. In China, if you are late to work for half an hour, you find a deduction in your salary, no excuses. We can learn from how they work, but we also need to improve and do better.

Foreign investors are coming, and it is inevitable. People need to wake up and be part of the changes that are happening, before we wake up one day and find every major investment in the country is owned by a foreigner. We need to be the ones running the show and not the other way round.

When did the Juice project idea start?

January last year, so it took more than a year to get to where we are now.

Has there ever been a time when you have wanted to give up on the dream?

Never. I have never wanted to give up. I have had challenges, but not big enough to want to quit.

We have received a lot of support from the government through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing, from agencies like TanTrade, TCCIA, Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA), and from a lot of individuals that are willing to help us. If you start, a lot of people are willing to help.

How about in raising capital? Have you had any challenges?

Yes and no. No, because Tanzania has a lot of venture and angel capitalists, they just don’t know that they are that. So I found that a lot of people were willing to be part of the idea, and invest in it. And yes because, there is no formal structure or venture capital firms that look for ideas and invest in them.

Do you sense an opportunity here?

Yes. There is a big opportunity. Instead of people with entrepreneurial ideas looking for venture capitalists, venture capitalists should look for these new ideas, help build them and make money when they sell through an IPO. That is the business of venture capitalists and Tanzania has a serious shortage.

Have you ever been employed?

No, never.

Have you ever done something that was an epic FAIL?

Hahaha. I am a solution provider, failure is normal. I fail all the time. I try something, it fails, and then I try again differently until it works. When failure comes, the problem is not the idea itself. There is no such thing as a bad idea. It could be the timing or implementation. If the timing is not right, then the idea may fail for that time. For example, selling gas cookers ten years ago is not the same as now. So Timing of the idea also plays a big part.

Do you think a lot of Tanzanians go into business without enough research, and that in turn contributes to their failure?

Yes they do go in without enough research, but then again there is no need for that. We don’t have the funds or the experience to conduct research as developed countries do. We just need to get in the market and learn as we go. For example the Chinese, they don’t conduct research, they develop products and improve them as they go. It is not a bad strategy for someone with limited funds. We don’t need to know everything 100% before we get into it. We just need to start and engage experts where we are lacking.

You are 34 years old, how long have you been in business?

8 years.

Do you live in Tanzania or China?

Both, I am mostly based in China for now; even my wife and child are in China.

So you are married, how do you balance family and business?

It is all about timing and focus. You have to set time for business and time for family, and focus one thing at a time. There is a lot of sacrifice on their part as well, knowing that you have to put a lot of time in making your business. Without the support of my family, it would be difficult to do well in both.

Why Tanga?

Tanga is home. I am from there. But more than that, Tanga has a lot of fruits (mangoes and oranges), so it makes a lot of sense to have a juice factory in Tanga. The idea is to have a lot of specialized industries in areas where the raw materials are found.

What do you think makes a successful entrepreneur?

“roho ngumu” – Resilience. Belief that achieving greatness is possible – “mazuri yanawekekana”. “Nguvu nyingi” – Effort… a lot of effort.

What do you see in the future?

Wabantu “wengi zaidi”. More people involved. And Wabantu, getting involved in more manufacturing activities and agribusiness.

Why agribusiness?

Tanzania is an agrarian economy “nchi ya kilimo”, agriculture is our backbone, and there are so many opportunities in it. We just want to take the opportunities available.

What keeps you motivated?

Looking at the developed nations vs. Where Tanzania is vs. Where we can be, I am motivated to do what I am supposed to do and what I can do to get there.

It is all about the scale. If your friend has a better phone that gets on Facebook, naturally you’d wish to have one just like that or even better. The same thing applies to the society’s economy. We have resources, both raw materials and human resources, we have the market, so we just need to plan better, and work hard in order to develop from where we are to where we can be.

What can you tell Tanzanian youth today?

We need to learn to collaborate more and help each other in business. Be partners instead of competitors. Offer each other constructive criticism over just criticism aimed at destroying. “Kusaidiana na kushirikiana kuliko kukosoana”. People are quick to contribute for wedding ceremonies that have four parties; we can do that for business as well and develop our nation.

What sets Wabantu apart such that people should be a part of it when you list and have that IPO?

We are more than just businessmen and women that are about the bottom line “profits first, and then more profits” – “ faida kwanza, faida zaidi”. Our main aim is development and employment of the youth of this country. We buy locally made produce at fair prices, we remunerate our workers well, we are health conscious, using honey instead of sugar for our juice, but most of all we employ the Tanzanian youth. We are a company by the people and for the people; just profits will not blind our goal. We intend to make profits but not at the expense of the society. We are creating a win-win situation.

Mr. Zahor A. Rashid; a young Tanzanian with big dreams for himself, his family, and his country, a visionary that set out to implement his vision by collaborating with other youth from Tanzania, an example for youth in Tanzania. A mentor, a big brother, a friend, a colleague, a very smart person, as described by the thirteen college students he works with. A force to reckon with!

Zahor, together with the other thirteen young members of the Wabantu Juice Company, has certainly renewed my faith in the ability of the Tanzanian youth to create Change. Capital or no capital, Together, We Can Make It.

Stay tuned for the second part of this interview, where I talk to some of the 13 students that form the Wabantu Juice Company.

Many thanks to Mr. Zahor, and the Wabantu Juice Company for talking to us and inspiring the youth of Tanzania to take a chance and start an entrepreneurial journey that might just change our nation.

For more information about Wabantu, visit www.wabantu.com or write to them: info[at]wabantu.com.

We wish them the very best.