The OK Zimbabwe Revival Plan is missing a key element

We have had a couple of weeks to reflect on what has emerged from OK Zimbabwe and its Revival Plan. On the face of it, it is coming from a high-level or “we need to reassure investors” point of view, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. The plan unveiled by returning CEO Willard Zireva is built on three pillars:

1. Financial Stability - which was realised in part by the US$20 million rights issue and US$10 million through the sale of immovable assets.
2. Operational Excellence - this involves streamlining costs, further store refurbishments, and a staff reeducation program to meet quality service standards.
3. Transparency and Governance - an introduction of tighter controls, more frequent investor and market updates, and reconstitution of the board of directors.

Anyone who was looking at OK Zimbabwe’s situation over the previous half-decade will most likely come to the same conclusions. However, what appears to be missing is understanding the realities that have existed in Zimbabwe for some time now.

In Zimbabwe, economic shifts come thick and fast. Planning for a year has largely been reduced to, for most businesses, at most planning for the quarter, but more often it is a month-by-month observation of conditions to bring ideas from strategy to implementation.

For the individuals that make up the market, it is an even shorter period than that, with some households planning day-to-day. What all this means is that people in the country have become extremely savvy at managing resources, regardless of how meagre they are.