Zimbabwe AI Firm Eyes US, Southern African Markets

Zimbabwe-founded artificial intelligence company Shamwari.io is seeking to expand its footprint in the United States and Southern Africa amid growing demand for technology that helps small businesses automate customer service and sales operations.

The company, founded by software engineer and AI strategist Cee Jay Besa, says more than 200 entrepreneurs in the US are now actively using its Shamwari Operating System.

The development follows the company's unveiling at the Zimbabwe AI Summit, where it showcased its approach to using artificial intelligence to address everyday business challenges.

Shamwari.io is targeting small and medium-sized enterprises that often struggle to manage customer enquiries, respond to missed calls and follow up with prospective clients.

Its platform uses AI receptionists, automated messaging, appointment scheduling, intelligent websites and lead management tools to help businesses improve customer engagement.

Besa said many businesses were losing potential revenue because of poor customer communication rather than a shortage of customers.

"Business owners spend thousands of dollars trying to attract customers, but what happens when someone calls and nobody answers? What happens when a potential customer requests an estimate and nobody follows up? That's the problem we're solving," he said.

The company is leveraging its growing US customer base to support an expansion strategy that also targets Botswana and South Africa.

Besa said discussions were underway with business leaders in the two countries to explore potential partnerships, business training programmes and the introduction of its AI platform to local entrepreneurs.

The company is also targeting the US holiday trading season through a fourth-quarter campaign covering Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas and New Year.

The campaign is aimed at helping businesses manage increased customer enquiries and sales during the busy festive period.

Shamwari.io says one of the businesses that adopted its growth approach, a landscape design company, doubled its annual revenue from US$400,000 to US$800,000 within three months.

However, the figures have not been independently verified, and the company has not disclosed how much of the reported growth was directly attributable to its technology.

Besa said the response to the company's US launch had strengthened his confidence in the platform's potential.

"The US launch was incredibly successful. We had members of our team and investors fly in to celebrate this milestone with us. Seeing the excitement, the adoption and the positive feedback from entrepreneurs has given Shamwari.io tremendous confidence in what we're building," he said.

The company's expansion plans come as businesses increasingly explore artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and reduce the time spent on routine administrative tasks.

For Zimbabwean technology entrepreneurs, the move into international markets also presents opportunities to demonstrate that locally developed solutions can compete beyond the domestic market.

However, sustaining growth will depend on the company's ability to retain customers, demonstrate measurable results and establish partnerships in the markets it intends to enter.

Besa said Shamwari.io's broader objective was to help entrepreneurs move beyond discussions about artificial intelligence and begin integrating the technology into their daily business operations.