Buy Zimbabwe is rolling out technology aimed at helping consumers distinguish genuine products from counterfeits, as the organisation steps up efforts to protect local manufacturers, preserve jobs and limit the health risks posed by fake goods.
The programme, unveiled on the sidelines of the Anti-Counterfeit Day event at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, will combine product verification, supply-chain traceability and public awareness campaigns.
Buy Zimbabwe chairman and chief executive officer Munyaradzi Hwengwere said counterfeiting had spread well beyond the products traditionally associated with illicit trade. Bread, batteries, rice and chemicals were among the goods now being copied, he said.
“Imagine, bread is now counterfeited in this country. Batteries are counterfeited. Rice is counterfeited. Chemicals are counterfeited,” Hwengwere said.
The economic cost is also substantial. Previous estimates have put Zimbabwe’s annual losses from counterfeit products at about US$1.2 billion, while more than 20 000 jobs are believed to be lost each year. The full health impact, particularly from fake food and other consumer products, remains difficult to quantify.
Hwengwere said Buy Zimbabwe’s response would rest on three pillars: improving the detection and confiscation of counterfeit goods, strengthening traceability and making consumers active participants in the fight.
“Firstly, we need to strengthen measures to detect counterfeits, including confiscating the products. Secondly, traceability technology, especially for retailers, because with current technology a product can be traced to its source. Finally, consumer awareness — we need to get the consumers involved,” he said.
At the centre of the initiative is a locally developed verification system being introduced in partnership with Owana Lost and Found. The system will embed a QR code in the Buy Zimbabwe insignia, enabling shoppers to scan a product with a mobile phone before completing a purchase.
Owana owner and Buy Zimbabwe technology partner Tofara Yaniso Dube said the scan would return key details that could help establish whether a product was authentic and properly accredited.
“The Buy Zimbabwe insignia will incorporate a QR code from Owana. The QR code from Owana is what a customer will scan when buying a product in the shop,” Dube said.
The information may include the product description, the manufacturer, its expiry date and whether it has been accredited by Buy Zimbabwe. Where manufacturers supply the relevant data, the platform could also identify the retail outlet at which the item is being scanned.
Dube said the system had been designed around a “defence in depth” model, using several safeguards instead of depending on one security feature that counterfeiters could easily defeat.
The technology is intended to give manufacturers a clearer view of how their products move through the market. It could also alert brand owners when goods appear in foreign markets and help flag suspected copies sold outside Zimbabwe.
Dube cited the possibility of tracking a product as far as Angola. If a counterfeit version of a Zimbabwean product appeared there, he said, the system could help identify the activity and notify the manufacturer.
The partnership has also introduced the concept of an “external brand inspector” — a role focused on monitoring product distribution, checking retail presence and identifying possible counterfeit versions of legitimate brands.
Hwengwere said technology had become essential because counterfeiters were improving both the appearance and pricing of their products. In some cases, fake goods are packaged to closely resemble the genuine article and sold at comparable prices, making visual checks increasingly unreliable.
“The counterfeiters are very smart. So now they are making product packaging the same, including pricing. So this is a continuous exercise. That’s why technology works, and we will continue to work hard and ensure the culprits are dealt with,” he said.
He warned manufacturers, traders and other participants in the counterfeit trade that they could face prosecution and the confiscation of their goods.
“Making or selling counterfeit products is a criminal offence, and it is theft. If you steal, you face the consequences of the law,” Hwengwere said.
He stressed that enforcement agencies could not tackle the problem alone. Manufacturers, retailers, consumers and law-enforcement authorities would all need to share information and act against suspicious products across the value chain.
Consumers, meanwhile, were urged to look beyond unusually low prices when choosing what to buy. Hwengwere cautioned that a bargain could carry a far higher cost if the product damaged a person’s health.
“Cheap can be expensive. It’s not all things that are cheap that are good for your health. Sometimes you can buy a cheap product and, guess what, you pay heavier fees in hospital,” he said.
Buy Zimbabwe has already run awareness campaigns targeting selected products, with what Hwengwere described as encouraging results. But he said the work would have to continue as counterfeiters changed their methods and searched for new ways to evade detection.
Hwengwere said a combination of stronger enforcement, reliable product verification and informed consumers would be critical to protecting Zimbabwean industry and supporting the country’s economic ambitions.
“Safety must be taken out of this economy, otherwise 2030 will not be achieved, because we are allowing people to steal and get away with it,” he said.