Gaborone — THE Global Expo Botswana 2025 ended on a high note for Zimbabwean companies as they secured new business leads and strategic synergies with the country scooping the top International Exhibitor Award, confirming its exporting capacity and high-quality products and services.
A total of 20 local firms drawn from different sectors participated in the neighbouring country's annual expo, which ended in Gaborone on Saturday.
The Zimbabwe Pavilion was a hive of activity during the weekly expo as buyers and suppliers visited stands and admired the exhibits.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
Botswana President, Duma Boko, also took time from his busy schedule to conduct a brief tour of the Zimbabwe Pavilion on Wednesday and was briefed about the diverse manufacturing, agriculture, services, and technology capabilities offered by Zimbabwe.
"Several commercial opportunities are now under active negotiation: horticultural produce contracts (fresh fruit and vegetables), FMCG supply agreements, and a range of services contracts," said Ms Nozipho Maphala from ZimTrade at the close of the expo.
"In addition to commercial deals, Zimbabwean firms and partners are finalizing partnership agreements for regional distribution of leather products and cosmetics, aimed at scaling market access in Southern Africa.
"Capacity-building and technical cooperation are also moving forward -- skills-training services contracts focused on modern farming practices and value-chain strengthening are being discussed to support long-term productivity and export readiness," said Ms Maphala.
"Overall, the expo delivered meaningful buyer leads, partnership frameworks for distribution, and tangible prospects for skills and services contracts that together position Zimbabwean exhibitors for follow-up negotiations and implementation."
In separate interviews, participating company representatives paid tribute to ZimTrade and the Government for supporting them to gain global exposure, saying the platform yielded positive results.
Viridi Solutions founder, Mr Collen Moyo, whose young company produces green oils, said he registered good business leads at the expo. "We are now registered in Botswana and there's a lot of demand for our products because they're eco-friendly," he said.
"You find that there's a lot of coal mining and other mining that is happening here in Botswana, so they're interested in using our products even in the shops. "There's a lot of demand for our products, so now we are here to finalise those supplies of the varied lubricants, and as you can also see, we have also listened to our customers to really change our packaging to meet their expectations or even to meet the expectations of the end users."
Riding on the positive feedback from Botswana, the local businesses are also looking forward to expanding to Namibia and other countries.
Bulawayo-based entrepreneur and Biltong producer, Ms Nobuhle Ntaisi of Nobby'Snax Company, said the Gaborone expo was an eye-opener and a starting point for big things to come.
"It was such an honour being here at the Botswana Global Expo. It was our first time being here, and we've had engagements with local people here," she said.
"There's talk of partnerships, there's talk of us bringing our meat to the site. At first, they were quite a bit hostile, saying, 'Are you sure you're bringing your beef here? This is a meat country; we have the best beef. We're like, yeah, we hear you, but we also have the best beef in Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe."'
Golden Harvest Honey chief marketing officer, Mr Clever Garirofa, said the expo gave him new clients who showed interest in the business, and most of them were willing to partner with the business in terms of collaborating and expanding beekeeping services into Botswana.
"People here liked our honey very much. It is a pure and genuine honey, with no adulterations or additives. They were so happy to enjoy our Zimbabwean honey, and we wish to have more engagements in some of the upcoming events, such as this one," he said.
Primrose Kamombe of Kuminda, a company that produces horticulture products including blueberries, said the Global Expo Botswana 2025 had a huge impact on their business.
"Our key objective was to establish contact with the regional market and try to get expansion in terms of supplying the regional market as well as expansion of production in Botswana, replicating the model that we have in Zimbabwe to be here in Botswana," she said.
"We managed to engage relevant entities here, the likes of the Minister of Agriculture, Directors in Agribusiness, and Directors of the Botswana Investment Trade Center, to appreciate their expectations. I think all in all it has been nice being here and we are hoping to generate good business from the trade fair".
Princess Malandu, director at African Crown, which produces natural hair products, said she got great exposure as a small business.
"It was a great opportunity to be on this global platform, and we hope to come back again next year. We are going to try our best to market our business more in Botswana because we do feel like we have potential to do well in this country," she said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"A lot of people love our products, and a lot of Batswana are really proud of their African hair, and that's what we stand for as African Crown.
"So, we really want to try our best to market as much as we can, get as many distributors to work with us, work with our brand, as brand ambassadors."
Mr Ronald Huku of King's Leather, whose company stand was one of the busiest, paid tribute bro ZimTrade and expressed excitement over new business leads.
"It was quite eye-opening for us. We have been exposed to so many things, the opportunities that are there in Africa. As King's Leather, our main reason for being here at the Global Expo was to identify opportunities for sustainable partnership with Botswana because we know Africa, we are one, and we have a lot of resources in Africa that are underutilised," he said.
"So, we believe that through partnerships, we can have a global voice. We can also export to Africa and other continents such as Asia, America, and others. So, for us at King's Leather, the Global Expo was a good platform for us to learn and to understand how best we can navigate such economic issues."
