I been trying to find a way to invest money in Zambia but every one I talk to sounds like they are trying to scam me. So I’m here to ask you guys. What can I invest in what business will make money in Zambia? Is there anyone out there interested in being business partners? I’m American and married to a Zambian woman.
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Depending on your risk appetite. 1. Real Estate is a safety net, with that amount you can get good land in a high cost residential area and put up rental property, also you can put up flats in a low cost residential area . Another option is to buy land or houses near Universities and put up boarding houses (this is a guaranteed monthly return from K8,500 to K40,000 monthly). 2. If you are yet to, invest in bonds and live off the coupons, you can do bond laddering, that is make an investment of K200,000 every month for 6 months, that way your coupons come in monthly and your capital remains intact.
..for building you might have to engage a registered contractor as opposed to working with friends or family to avoid being scammed.
1) K1m wont be enough to buy and build in a high cost residential area as most plots start from K800,000 in those areas. Even in a low cost area, you can get land but building flats will cost some; probably K1.2 for 2x2 bedroom flats which will bring in K10,000 a month.
Even worse for land near Unis as plots are expensive as everyone wants to build boarding houses there. Also it takes around 7 years to get your money back in Zambia real estate so its impossible to get K40,000 per month on a K1m investment in real estate.
Bonds are even worse as Govt has increased taxes. The coupon for a 365 day tbill is around 14%, so OP would earn K140,000 from a K1m investment. After 20% tax deduction it will be K112,000 which is around K10,000 per month which is nearly the same as investing in property.
In my opinion, Zambia market is not exposed to interlock bricks, which will be useful for building Compound walls and resort like buildings and mansions. Both sustainable as well as affordable, old school business.
Interesting, can you please expand on this concept?
Basically for concentration in Zambia Concrete Holo blocks are used right now, for construction you have to use cement mixtures (Cement + Sand + Water) for joints, then after building you have to cure with water for next couple of days and then you have to again use the cement mixture to cover and level the surface, then painting
Instead if you use the Interlock brick which manufactured in many compositions say example 1 bag of cement for 11 bags of Soil 1:11 and it will be cured for 14 days as bricks for strengthening Construction is simple just locking the bricks correctly, then put the paste in joints to seals everything, paint some natural colour on top of it, low labour cost, less material, less time and overall good quality with earthy looks, sustainable as well as affordable.
Particularly all the raw materials can be sourced locally no import dependency, good employment opportunities for local and will be supported by the government.
Correct me if I’m wrong
No, it's a good idea. How long lasting is this brickwork in this method and is it much cheaper?
In terms of reliability its solid, back in India we used the same bricks for construction of our Power Looms Factory back in 2009 due to financial crisis we opted for this one. After so many years its still standing strong and tall, keep in mind its industrial usage for all these years. In terms of Zambia Market - as per my understanding every building needs the outer wall few going for steel structures but mostly leaning towards walls so initially targeting compound walls could be a great idea and then slowly transition to warehouses and resorts but the finishing would be different. In terms of cost, the composition is mostly good soil and some cement, labour also available. No dependence on imports except the machinery. For setup don’t buy the costly hydraulic machinery, start with manual press from Kenya and then see the market. You have to sit with construction contract companies and convince them to try out this or build yourself a compound wall and warehouse - rent it out to others and you know have showpiece with you. I’ve done the preliminary study and above is summary of that, if you interested you can try it out. For me as of now have so many things going around so cannot able to try this. Best of luck!!
Thanks, you've been really generous with this idea. Without giving specifics, do you mind saying what other businesses you are involved in?
I’m not a business man, Finance professionals taking care of Agro Chemicals distribution operations of one brand in Zambia, visited Zambia couple of times now and also have few connections over there. Currently I’m settled and working in Dubai. I thought of starting this business in Zambia that’s why done this feasibility study but its really impossible to manage it while in Dubai so maybe people like you can take advantage of it instead idea sitting in my mind. I’m planning to business in GCC region now.
I'm in your position, working abroad. I agree, unless you can find reliable staff you can trust 100% opening a bricks and mortar business in Zambia and running it remotely can be very hard.
Yeah, Zambia as a country is very good and has huge potential for these kind of old school business which won’t be fancy but very good opportunity and also it will help build the economy. Anyways nice discussing with you, have a good weekend my friend!
You could open up a brewery and call it Zambeer
Would you consider in investing in pharmacy business? Im in the process but it needs funding.
Dm me
The very fact that you are asking this question on this platform means business is not your occupation . My candid advice to you is to buy stock , bonds or invest in a mutual insurance fund with a good rate of return ... Live that money generating interest for you while you start a small business with 70 thousand or something around that much for you to learn what it means to run a business in Zambia . Once you go through this process your eyes will clear and you won't have to lose 1 million to learn these difficult lessons that most people learn when it's when it's already too late when they are hit with the entrepreneurship bug .Besides if the chosen field of business you choose is good it will grow its own capital . By then your capital would have also generated interest for you while you were busy exploring . You will thank me later 🙏.
Let him lose it all and we can have the episode 2 of how he got cheated. I gave him the same advice let a fool and his money part ways and stress instead of enjoying life
I have a masters in business from Clayton state university in America
Then my brother/sister you need an additional masters in doing business our our beloved Zambia 🙏
U have nothing positive to add to the discussion so have a good day
I am by no means disrespecting you or your well deserved accolades, the only point I am putting across here is having an idea and capital is one thing, bringing that idea to life in an environment like ours is another . I wish you nothing but success in whatever you undertake .
Or if your a baller do a logistics company and partner with rideshare apps You have 1 million in liquid cash you'd be able to get 7or 8 vehicles that essentially male you a net profit of atleast 100k a month. With good management ofcourse lol. I can't share all the details on a thread but if your interested in hearing more I actually already made a scalable business plan that's feasible in Lusaka I'm just trying to look for a loam firm that would give me lol but you can try to
Withdrawals from your ETF in Robinhood will be your most regular stream of income
That’s a waste of money. It’s a lot of cheap land in Zambia. It’s a big place with countless opportunities but a lot of work is needed
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Less work, less stress, no risk of losing it all overnight. All right keep us posted
Would you be willing to invest in a tech startup? Or do you have specific areas of interest?
What kind?
Let me text you
Ok dm
I think when it comes to business, think about something you would want to solve that you have seen people having challenges to access. Or something you have always wanted to do. Do your market research about Zambia and see what its lacking. Having money and not knowing what to do with it is hard. Take your time deciding on what to do.
Have you considered the business of real estate before?
Yes I have real estate holdings in Johannesburg
you need to do a market survey.
1 million Kwacha is about $44 thousand.
Real estate, one building will swallow the whole amount, the returns are low and long term recovery.
Government bonds isn to my specialty but might be worth it though slow but better than real estate.
Land hoarding. By prime land at low price and sell later at higher price. though inflation, devaluation not worth it.
you can also look at the problem in the area you are staying in or currently experiencing, can people pay for the solution you offer.?
Real estate, but shops instead of houses, cheaper to build and more money, that's what my dad did. If you need help finding prime areas send me a dm, dad works in real estate but only if it's Lusaka province I don't think he deals with plots outside of it.
Real estate makes sense at that level
Bonds??
Invest in a truck. I can provide the bookings and handle all logistics of it. All you have to do is wait for you share of the deposit. Dm for more
I am not in the best place to give you advice as I have ever touched more than 40 thousand 🥲, however it would be important to not that Zambia is a consumer nation. Most businesses that thrive are there to serve something for people to consume, weather it be electronics or food. If you want you could try to get into other spaces like manufacturing and going B2B (Business to Business).
Pick a boring business. Go stay in Zambia for a month or two, live like a Zambia and spend like a Zambian. Observe what Zambians buy everyday, then sell that
I'd be interested in being business partners. Right now , I'm bootstrapping to raise capital for a collateral based money lending company. If you're interested we can talk more. You don't have to invest the whole k1m. We could start small, test, scale. However trust is a thing we can work on. Most people here the advice is just wrong. Yeah bonds and fixed deposit accounts are ok but won't make you a lot of money and k1m is too little for real Estate investing.
Invest in my business plan for 35% equity stake. If serious, WhatsApp 0765708179
In zambia there's alot of profitable businesses you can start for example you can invest some of your money in shares, and if possible you can also open several stores across lusaka for example you can open multiple restaurants, apart from this you can also venture in mining by getting an artisanal mining license or even a bigger license, zambia has alot of minerals...in conclusion if you need a business partner you can just DM me coz I'm planning to set up multiple businesses but first I would like to open a 5 start restaurant.... I'll be glad to work with you 🙏❤️❤️
If you’re interested in real estate we can work together to build maybe flats or houses for rent, I also have some money it’ll be a shared risk, shared work load, shared profit, etc
How did you get k1 million?
Is it your first time doing business?
also business is a learning curve and almost no one gets it right the first time.
Personally I would suggest you do a business with k150, 000 - k250, 000 and keep the rest in case you want to make adjustments along the way.
You also have to ask yourself how you will take care of yourself mentally when you start the business.. And inevitably find out customers won't immediately fly in. How will you manage daily costs? Staff? Licenses? Miscellaneous bills? How will you handle the days you don't have hope?
It's also not just about the type of business but also about you. What is your workstyle? What hours are you willing to pour in? How much "dirty work" Can you do? .
Also... Have you prayed about it?
Investments I made in America
I see. All the businesses I know bar real estate are hands on requiring one's consistent presence.. which I am guessing you might not be able to provide.
I can't help
That’s exactly my issue. I’m looking for turnkey investments. I was thinking about an apartment community. I have one in Johannesburg it’s very tedious though
I'd suggest you continue with the same business you raised that 1M from. I mean you've experience with it and you know how to raise all that, why would you risk all that throwing it in unknown territory?
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Then you shouldn't sell it
Just buy a Toyota Land Cruiser with that money boss
Read financial books and understand the art of money. Then it will become easy for you to invest your money