The National Railway Sector Turnaround & Innovation Competition for Zimbabwe is an unlimited multi-prize contest that is designed to help creative and innovative Zimbabweans to dream, research, create, innovate, launch, implement, improve, and commercialize ideas, innovations, products, business proposals, and solutions that have the potential to contribute to the turnaround and development of the Zimbabwean railway sector through leveraging a vast and powerful support network comprising of railway sector players, government ministries, State-Owned Enterprises, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, donors, entrepreneurs, investors, small-to-medium-scale enterprises, startups, academic institutions, unemployed graduates, sponsors, partners, and other resources within and outside Zimbabwe, connections.
I invite you to become a sponsor of this contest, prizes, or any aspect of this contest.
Why you should sponsor?
By sponsoring you will be contributing to efforts to turnaround the Zimbabwean railway sector, develop the railway sector ecosystem, and develop the Zimbabwean economy.
As a sponsor you will get brand exposure, increased brand visibility, brand awareness, brand association with efforts to revive the railway sector and the Zimbabwean railway sector, local technology and solutions development, and more.
Depending on the type of sponsorship that you prefer or negotiate or offer, you could even provide judges for the competition and get a front row seat view of the entries and solutions that contestants offer.
You will even be in a position to offer any entry of your choice investment, a strategic partnership, or any prize of your choice, even plain old moral support.
Audience
The National Railway Sector Turnaround & Innovation Competition for Zimbabwe is targeted at innovators, entrepreneurs, creatives, and bureaucrats who are are at lrast 18 years old. There is no set upper age limit. The demands of the competition mean that who are interested in following this contest and competing have tertiary level qualifications and are fluent in English. The typical media followers of the contest will have an interest in railways, innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development, and will be a Zimbabwean in Zimbabwe. They are inspired by inventors and entrepreneurs who are creators of wealth and developers of product categories and not rent-seekers.
The National Railway Sector Turnaround & Innovation Competition for Zimbabwe is open to all adults, no age limits because some contestants will have decades of experience from working in the railway sector and therefore may have great ideas and innovations built on their work experience, has no set maximum number of winners because why just 5 or 20 winners out of 5000 contestants?, offers all kinds of prizes and not only prizes. Some sponsors may offer production of a contestant’s prototype, or even to manufacture the first batch of products, pilot testing facilities, or even cash, whatever the sponsor prefers. In the case of cash prizes, there is no limit, a sponsor could even decide to invest in a business proposal or startup of a contestant.
Due to cost and limited funding, unless there is a sponsor, I do not promise any events, but there will also be an opportunity to network online in the competition ecosystem. It is my wish to see the competition run all the way from November 2025 to June 2026, for at least 5 months. The website will also serve as a platform to provide visibility and a touch point to your brand.
It would also be great to have sponsors who could sponsor the contestants who have the most promising innovations, solutions, and proposals, to exhibit at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair 2026 and the Harare Agricultural Show.
The Zimbabwean railway sector has not been performing very well to the extent that a lot of Zimbabweans would want to follow the progress and results of this competition. There are a lot of railway sector stakeholders in various sectors of the Zimbabwean economy who are potential enterprise customers for various sectors, even yours. This being the first edition and competition of its type, a sample of the potential audience includes:
- Southern African governments
- Railway operators
- Railway sector stakeholders
- Experts from government ministries, academia, and the private sector
- Supporting industries to the railway sector such as mining, agriculture, energy, construction, finance, ICT, and others.
- Investors and investment promoters
- Agrodealers and commodity traders
- Specialists in various fields of expertise
- Property developers
- Transport operators
- Farmers
- Mining industry
- Entreprerneurs
- Innovators and inventors
- Startups
- Entrepreneurs
- Businesspersons
- Small and medium-scale enterprizes
- Software and hardware developers
- Policy makers
- Engineers
- Manufacturers
- Students
- Zimbabwean social media
- General public
Sponsorship levels
If you think these sponsorship levels are too high or too low, get in touch and make a counteroffer. This competition was really supposed to be also oddicially offering a total of US$1 million in cash prizes to get the high potential winning business proposals, innovations, and solutions off the ground, but because I am not rich I had to offer rewards or prizes or benefits that I knew I myself could deliver in the worst case scenario. Your sponsorship can help make this contest a success.
Title sponsorship US$100 000
There is only one slot for title sponsorship. The first fully paid offer at or above US$100 000 before 31 December 2025 secures title sponsorship. The sooner the better. In title sponsorship, your company name or brand name goes before the full title of the competition, and the full title will change to Your Company/Brand/Name National Railway Sector Turnaround & Innovation Competition for Zimbabwe. That means if your company name is Stimela, the title of the competition becomes Stimela National Railway Sector Turnaround & Innovation Competition for Zimbabwe.
The competition will run right to the end under your title sponsorship as agreed. Title sponsorship is very visible, offers high brand visibility, brand association, and has many other marketing benefits. Your can even run your own mini-contests associated with your title sponsorship. You are even free to propose to me the benefits to your business that you want in return for title sponsorship. This will be title sponsorship for the turnaround of an economic sector that the whole of Zimbabwe wants to prosper. Even Zimbabwe’s neighbours want better railways in Zimbabwe.
US$100 000 will pay for operations, marketing, support for contestants, and any other needs of the organizer. Even local soccer teams and celebrities have been paid more and some local celebrities have been gifted more money by a single individual.
If you feel that US$100 000 is too much or too little, get in touch to offer a proposal for your title sponsorship and to discuss your title sponsorship needs. There will be a lot more interest in the competition once the whole of Zimbabwe hears that there is a lot of money that has been sponsored. Your sponsorship needs must be aligned with the vision of the organizer and the spirit of the contest.
Platinum US$25 000
There are only 5 slots for Plaatinum level sponsorship. This is a custom-made sponsorship package where you submit to me your sponsorship proposal for US$25 000 and if it is good I run it. We can discuss your specific needs and desired results to ensure that you get value for your money and satisfactory returns on your sponsorship investment.
I am very open to innovative and creative ideas. You could even come up with a proposal, plan, or design for how your money will be used. Your company logo or personal photo (subject to approval) and a link to your website will be shown on the front page of the website and prominently at the top of the sponsors list just under the title sponsor until the official end of the contest. Get in touch to discuss your Platinum sponsorship.
Gold US$5 000
There are 10 slots for Gold sponsorship level. Fell free to submit to me your proposal or to request one from me. I don’t believe in limiting sponsors to a few options. Your company logo or personal photo (subject to approval) and a link to your website will be shown on the front page of the website and second in ranking on the sponsors list until the official end of the contest. Get in touch to discuss your sponsorship.
Category US$1000
Sponsor a category of your choice, whether it is Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Agriculture, Mining, Engineering, a sector, a discipline, gender, a political party, a church, arts, brand, whatever the category you can think of. You could sponsor a category that will be named after your company or your brand or your own name. Get in touch to discuss your category sponsorship.
Silver US$500
Will go towards covering the expenses of running the contest. If there are 25 Silver level sponsors, we can go to ZITF 2026 and everybody will get brand exposure from it. Your company logo or personal photo (subject to approval) and a link to your website will be shown on the front page of the website and third in ranking on the sponsors list until the official end of the contest. Get in touch to discuss your sponsorship.
Bronze US$250 per month
Will go towards covering the expenses of running the contest. Your company logo Your company logo or personal photo (subject to approval) and a link to your website will be shown on the front page of the website for a month. Get in touch to discuss your sponsorship.
Vision 2030 (No one left behind, from US$10 per month)
This is ideal for individuals and entities that want to show their support of the contest, even in a small way. In the Vision 2030 package, your name or desired name or up to 3 words in text and a link to your website (for example: Anonymous, Buy Shoes, Name Middle-name Surname, etc.) will be on the sponsors list for a month.
Lots of Zimbabweans pay US$10 a month for blue ticks (checkmarks) on Twitter (X) and US$30 a month for Starlink. Surely if they can pay for a tick they can pay at least the same amount to the railway sector of their country. There are no photos for this package, just text links or text only.
When you have your name listed among the sponsors, you can get to show your friends that brick by brick you are funding building Zimbabwe with your money. You can even tell your friends that you are an official sponsor of the contest. Get in touch to discuss your sponsorship.