While the debates as to whether or not it’s a new decade rage on people who make things happen are busy making them happen. There are a few things to take note of which will shape the way we do business and basically live life in the new year and going forward. Timing is everything and if you’ve been watching the trends you’re poised to take advantage of timing better than others. Here are 5 important business trends we identified that you can expect and prepare for in 2020.

The shift to digital

In all honesty, it is happening at a very slow pace but it is happening none the less. There are many hindrances to its full takeover ranging from matters as simple as electricity available to complex matters such as infrastructure planning. However, we are firmly heading for the digital years. Zimpapers results show that last year the media house claimed 2% of its revenue came through digital channels. They are certainly not the first to it. However, this is something we will see more of and as it is adopted into the mainstream businesses will need to think more digitally.

Mobile apps

Mobile apps are taking over the world as a whole. In Zimbabwe, the case is a little more complex. The general struggle to introduce successful apps in the country continues. This in part can be explained by the lack of net neutrality that bundles present. Zimbabwean apps such as Sasai have in my opinion failed for one major reason, not offering anything new or necessary. Don’t get me wrong, we need to chat but we have WhatsApp for that. China needed WeChat because they don’t have WhatsApp. As long as the solutions offer no new or sorely needed features that are specific to Zimbabweans the likelihood of flourishing is still far away. Hopefully, we will see more of this approach going forward.

Mobile payments solutions-  we need more

Mobile payments solutions are a big business trend to watch globally in 2020 going forward. Zimbabwe, for once, has been ahead of the curve with mobile payments due to economic circumstances but unfortunately our main mobile payments platform Ecocash wasn’t working well most of 2019. Furthermore, the system has had complications with integration but that has more to do with Econet’s relationship with banks. The fact is we need more and if we are at all fortunate, better payment systems. The times that Ecocash went down last year were terrible times for people with no credible alternative. While Net One’s One Money launched a campaign to aggressively attack the payments space it will take a little more than that to get a credible alternative. However, we sorely need at least one.

Solution-based business

Solution-based businesses or Zebras have been the most successful type of Zimbabwean startups over the last few years. No surprises there as the situation gets tighter in Zimbabwe solutions become more and more valuable. The problem that has plagued many Zimbabwean startups is solving problems that do not exist or are already solved. In the last few years, I’ve been privy to an early look at many cases of businesses which were the driven by the ability to do something or manipulation of technology rather than a customer or market-driven need. The end result is a poor startup ecosystem in the country. We need more Zebras in the country, businesses which satisfy financial objectives in the process of solving real problems that people face.

Alternative energy

2019 presented a new low in our electricity situation and the picture doesn’t look like it’s going to get better any time soon. There are complex infrastructure and supply-side issues that need to be dealt with but our power authority seems more focused on raising foreign currency for power imports. Zimbabweans have an admirable habit of learning from the past. The economic malaise of the 2000s taught all and sundry the value of a stable currency and once we tasted the stability of the greenback people have stuck to it. A sneaky return of the Zimbabwean dollar by whatever name could not fool people. The electricity situation is likely to be treated with the same approach and where fuel-based generators have been the solution in the past, the fuel situation in the country has made this alternative undesirable. LPG which will also fall under ZERA pricing may soon go the way of petrol. Solar looks the only way out and a real growth area in the next few years with big businesses going the same way. As more people go off the grid we will also see a reduction in demand on the national grid, not enough to mask the incompetence of our power authority, however.

These big trends combined are going to influence the 2ay business will be conducted over the next few years and just how they are approached may inform how soon, if at all, we dig ourselves out of our problems.