Buy Zimbabwe turns to technology to fight counterfeit products

Precious Manomano and Yeukai Karengezeka

Herald Reporters

BUY Zimbabwe has intensified its fight against counterfeit products by deploying technology to help identify fake goods, improve product traceability and empower consumers to verify the authenticity of products before making purchases.

The initiative is part of efforts to protect local manufacturers, safeguard jobs and ensure that consumers are not exposed to potentially harmful counterfeit products.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Anti-Counterfeit Day programme at the ongoing Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, Buy Zimbabwe chairman and chief executive officer Mr Munyaradzi Hwengwere said the organisation was strengthening its measures to detect and combat counterfeit goods across the country.

He said the scale of counterfeiting was more serious than many people realised, with a growing range of products being targeted by counterfeiters.

“Imagine, bread is now counterfeited in this country. Batteries are counterfeited. Rice is counterfeited. Chemicals are counterfeited,” he said.

Mr Hwengwere said the country was losing significant economic value through counterfeiting, with previous estimates putting the losses at about US$1,2 billion.

He said more than 20 000 jobs were estimated to be lost annually because of counterfeit products, while the health risks associated with fake goods, particularly food products, had not yet been fully quantified.

He said Buy Zimbabwe was therefore focusing on three key interventions — stronger detection and enforcement measures, product traceability and consumer awareness.

“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.

Central to the new strategy is the use of technology that will allow consumers and manufacturers to verify products and trace them through the supply chain.

Buy Zimbabwe technology partner and owner of Owana Lost and Found, Mr Tofara Yaniso Dube, said the organisation was working with Buy Zimbabwe to introduce locally developed technology specifically designed to make counterfeiting more difficult.

He said the system would incorporate a QR code into the Buy Zimbabwe insignia, allowing consumers to scan products using their mobile phones and obtain information confirming whether the product is genuine.

“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,” Mr Dube said.

Once scanned, the system can provide information about the product, including whether it is accredited by Buy Zimbabwe, the product description, manufacturer and expiry date.

Depending on the information provided by the manufacturer, the system can also identify the retail outlet where the product is being scanned.

Mr Dube said the technology was designed using a “defence in depth” approach, meaning that several security measures would be used rather than relying on a single mechanism to combat counterfeiters.

He said the system would also give manufacturers greater visibility of their products in the market and enable them to detect possible counterfeiting beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.

“For example, if their item is being taken as far as Angola, our system will tell them. And if in Angola there is a counterfeit that is making their product, the system will tell them that once we are making this particular margarine, there is a similar one, there is a counterfeit that is now being sold in Angola,” he said.

The technology will therefore not only assist consumers but also allow manufacturers to monitor their brands and identify potential counterfeit activity in different markets.

Mr Dube said Owana had also developed what he described as a new profession, the “external brand inspector”, which would help brand owners monitor how their products were being distributed and identify possible counterfeit versions.

Mr Hwengwere said the introduction of technology was necessary because counterfeiters were becoming increasingly sophisticated.

He said counterfeit products were now being packaged to look almost identical to genuine products, with some counterfeiters even replicating the pricing of authentic goods.

“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 and traders involved in producing or selling fake products that they risked prosecution and 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,” he said.

Mr Hwengwere said combating counterfeiting required cooperation across the entire value chain, from manufacturers and retailers to consumers and law-enforcement agencies.

He urged consumers to be more vigilant when purchasing products, warning them against being attracted solely by unusually low prices.

“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.

He said Buy Zimbabwe had already conducted intensive awareness campaigns around some products, with positive results, but more work was required as counterfeiters continued to change their methods.

Mr Hwengwere said stronger enforcement, technology and public awareness would be critical in protecting Zimbabwean industries and supporting the country’s economic development aspirations.

“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.