Crisis aiding us to invade fresh market frontiers: Masiyenyama
THE Institute of Corporate Directors Zimbabwe (IoCDZ) in December recognised outstanding personalities in the corporate world under various categories. Lincoln Masiyenyama, (LM), scooped the Young Corporate Director of The Year Award — Best Start Up Company. Business reporter Melody Chikono (MC) spoke to him about his award, the company’s operations and challenges, as well as the future outlook. Below are the excerpts of the interview:
MC: You have won the young corporate director for the year, best start-up company award. Congratulations. Can you take us through your operations?
LM: Nakiso Borehole Drilling was established to fulfill a number of water-based factors, which include meeting the market demand for water solutions and supplies and also to meet the pressures for novel forms of solar-powered water systems.
We have been highly responsive to the demands of the markets in which we operate and this has led to our growing reputation as an innovative company that develops novel solutions for specific customer requirements.
Led by the needs of our customers, we have strived to always provide quality products and solutions to precisely meet their requirements with efficient service and always at the best possible price.
Our expectation is to continue expanding and providing innovative solutions to satisfy the demands of our growing client base through continuing to supply firstclass support to customers with our highlyskilled and trained service department and engineers.
We believe in maintaining a standard of quality and excellence that speaks for itself as we strive to give our clients the best services that we can. Besides an inviting, relaxing atmosphere and an empathetic reception staff, our team works to provide water services that not only improve access to water, but also your quality of life.
MC: What do you think has given you the cutting edge over your peers in the industry?
LM: God’s grace above all. Nakiso is graced by God, that sets us apart. The other cutting edge that Nakiso has is that we are customer service oriented. We always want to know how best we can serve our clients.
MC: The world is facing the problem of climate change. How are you contributing to mitigating these challenges?
LM: So far we have donated a borehole to Chitungwiza and partnered in Epworth for two boreholes. We also did the Highlands police borehole. We are in the business of life since we are in the business of water. Water is obviously a strong contender in issues to do with climate change
MC: A number of crimes have been committed in past years in the borehole drilling business, with people being duped of their hard-earned money by people who do not even have equipment. How have you managed to distance your brand from such activities?
LM: It is unfortunate that there will always be bad apples in any basket. We, at Nakiso Borehole Drilling, are the good apples. We have worked hard. We will continue working very hard in the building of the brand. What we understand is that the brand is connected to your ethos as a business, and, therefore, there will be no shortcut and we will not short-change our clients. Our service is guaranteed to ensure that we provide the best service pre-, during and post-our work
MC: Can you tell us about the investments you’ve made in the business so far?
LM: Nakiso Borehole Drilling has the privilege of being able to capitalise where others are de-capitalising. We started off with one truck and now we have a fleet of trucks.
MC: Zimbabwean industries are battling antiquated machinery, mainly due to lack of access to foreign currency. How do you intend to address such a challenge?
LM: We have leveraged on several techniques, which include the Diaspora market, import-substitution and promoting the use of local products to avoid importation. Our long-term motive is to go regional, while we seek alliances for credit lines with foreign companies.
Overall, mechanisation has been very difficult indeed. The foreign currency allocation even through the RBZ auction floor has been very difficult to access. We trust that the situation will improve as the system perfects itself this year. In the interim we manage with what we have. There has been some traction on those issues so far. It may not be to the capacity that we want, but we will get there.
MC: What is your outlook in 2021 in terms of volumes and footprint?
LM: 2021 is set to be a year of exponential growth and increased territory. We have many new ventures that we are looking into, which we believe are strategic. With that, our volumes and footprint will increase.
MC: Are you considering investing in partnerships?
LM: I believe in smart partnerships and if one such partnership was placed before me, I would be more than willing to take it up. I also understand that partnerships do not necessarily mean seeing things the same way, but it’s important that our goals and focus is in unity. There are more advantages than disadvantages to a partnership — it just has to be the right one though.
MC: What have been the challenges that you have faced so far and how have you managed to address them?
LM: In this environment, the challenges are many, but in the same breath, the solutions are many too. The key issue is to think outside the box. The challenges that we are coming across are actually helping us to open up other horizons and other ways of thinking. The Covid-19 pandemic has been the biggest challenge in 2020 and now 2021, but I see grace through it all because in spite of it, we have still managed to grow and to establish a brand.
LM: Are there any diversification plans? MC: I have already alluded to 2021 being exponential in growth — there’s much scope in our strategy for diversification. We will, however, reveal this at the appropriate time, as we are still engaged in discussions and deliberations.