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Prosper Ndlovu in Gaborone, Botswana

SHE was only 19 when she established Thandie’s Village, a local company that specialises in value addition of the baobab fruit into a range of high-value products.

The dream to grow big and the self-drive to defy the odds has yielded results as the young company has carved a niche in the market. 

Thandie’s Village is among the 23 Zimbabwean companies exhibiting at the ongoing Global Expo Botswana here.

Ms Ngonidzashe Mazhura (25) says she is grateful to ZimTrade, which has worked with her in training and developing exporting capacity, including facilitating her participation at the expo. 

Having been inspired and fascinated by healthy living and lifestyle, she started Thandie’s Village, named after her mother. The company uses the Baobab fruit to make various products.

Ms Mazhura is a producer of baobab powder, which has a higher concentration of Vitamin C and iron, as well as baobab oil from the seed, which is used as a cosmetic mostly by women.

“Our baobab oil is organic and packed with anti-aging properties, helps relieve eczema, and also removes stretch marks to name a few. Our baobab powder which is used in smoothies, salads, shakes, baking, and more has 10 times the Vitamin C than in an orange, four times the iron in spinach, and disease-fighting antioxidants,” she said.

The company also produces baobab candy, a value-added healthier snack as well as baobab coffee.

“ZimTrade has been helpful in terms of helping me market my products, learning how to run a business, and networking. We are still growing as a company and regard ourselves as an SME,” said Ms Mazhura.

“We want to make baobab products the number one snack in the world, especially given the growing health consciousness and we see ourselves making inroads in this. There is a future in this and baobab is a billion-dollar venture.”

The youthful entrepreneur said the positive market reception for her products at home and at the expo was encouraging. 

She said they have expansion plans, and strive to be the biggest baobab supplier in Zimbabwe in the next five years tapping into the local and international market. 

Ms Mazhura said her company was also working with communities who harvest the baobab fruit from different parts of Zimbabwe, noting that they assist them with training and safety issues to ensure environmental sustainability.

Ms Mazhura said her passion for creating a business with a health-conscious focus on diet issues was inspired by her background in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which has a record of mainstreaming healthful living. 

She said the baobab fruit, for instance, has several medicinal qualities that help ease the disease burden, and these attributes have been confirmed by scientific findings.

“As a young entrepreneur, I believe it’s high time as women we move out of our comfort zones and do the impossible to distinguish ourselves in business, and we can make it,” said Ms Mazhura.

Thandie’s Village employs five workers and is based in Harare.

Growing exports is at the heart of Zimbabwe’s transformation drive towards an upper-middle-income economy status vision by 2030. The participation of women and the youth in this drive is also critical as it promotes inclusive development and ensures all Zimbabweans play a role in developing their country.