He explained, "the funds would be used for expansion of Zutshwa Salt production. The tests have indicated that it is 99.9 percent pure salt. Our intention is to expand production so that we can be able to meet market demand in our country. After expansion we foresee increase in our employment rate. Our output will also triple." Mr Molefe said the project currently employed 25 people on rotational basis every three months. He said the expansion project would start by August. He said, "we will start with a minimum of four boreholes which will provide us with more mineral (salt deposit). After that we will increase the ponds from the current 44 by building another 10 bigger ponds. We will also employ more than 45 people on permanent basis. Our output will triple and we will be able to meet the market demand and export. We are working on acquiring certificates of origin in order to be ready for export." Mr Molefe said LEA started working with the trust in 2015 by developing a business plan that led to P1.5 million funding from constituency development fund, which enabled them to increase ponds from 16 to 44. He said Zutshwa Salt supplied all Botswana Agriculture Marketing Board facilities in the southern part of Botswana with salt, together with Maun. Also, Mr Molefe said their salt was safe for consumption by people and livestock. He said their salt was cheap as 50 kg bags cost P54.50 and 65 kg lick blocks cost P70. Zutshwa Salt plant supervisor, Mr Pobiso Kgamatona, said their main challenge was constant breaking of equipment due to corrosive effect of salt. He said they use a simple method of harvesting salty water into ponds and allowing it to crystallise before adding iodine to it 73254943 mail@zutshwasalt.com The above case study is an excerpt from the Botswana Daily News published 20 July 2023 (https://dailynews.gov.bw/news-detail/74160) QUESTION 1 [25 MARKS] Use the case study above on LEA to answer the questions below. You may use other resources to supplement your answers. a. Zutshwa Salt project intends to enter the Namibian market as well as the rest of SADC and you have been tasked to assess its attractiveness. Conduct the analysis using the Porter's Five Forces (PFF) Model. (15 marks) b. Name and rank two cooperative strategies that you would recommend for accessing the market you have chosen in (a) above. (4 marks) c. Explain two (2) characteristics of salt mined at Zutshwa, and argue why each one is a source of its competitive advantage. (4 marks) d. Zutshwa was able to raise capital from SADC, UNDP and RDC. Explain, using examples in the case of Zutshwa, what aspects of the business model do financiers use to decide to fund or not to fund (2 marks)

Carlos Cavalas, the manager of Echo Products’ Brazilian Division, is trying to set the production schedule for the last quarter of the year. The Brazilian Division had planned to sell 70,070 units during the year, but by September 30 only the following activity had been reported:     Units Inventory, January 1 0 Production 71,100 Sales 63,700 Inventory, September 30 7,400   The division can rent warehouse space to store up to 30,500 units. The minimum inventory level that the division should carry is 2,800 units. Mr. Cavalas is aware that production must be at least 4,440 units per quarter in order to retain a nucleus of key employees. Maximum production capacity is 44,200 units per quarter.   Demand has been soft, and the sales forecast for the last quarter is only 19,500 units. Due to the nature of the division’s operations, fixed manufacturing overhead is a major element of product cost.   Required: 1a. Assume that the division is using variable costing. How many…

Rare Agri-Products Ltd. is considering a new project with a projectedlife of seven (7) years. The project falls under the government’ssubsidy program for encouraging local agricultural products and iseligible for a one-time rebate of 25% on any initial equipmentinstalled for the project. The initial equipment (IE) will cost$41,000,000.An additional equipment (AE) costing$3,500,000 will be needed at the end of year 3. At the end of seven(7) years, the original equipment, IE, will have no resale value butthe supplementary equipment, AE, can be sold for $50,000. A workingcapital of $1,350,000 will be needed.The project is forecast to generate sales of agri-products over theseven years as follows:Year 1 70,000 unitsYear 2 100,000 unitsYears 3-5 250,000 unitsYears 6-7 325,000 unitsA sale price of $150 per unit for the first two years is expected andthen decline to $90 per unit thereafter as the newness of the productloses some sheen. The variable expenses will amount to 30% of salesrevenue.…

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