Ngoni Dapira
THE posthumous Lifetime Achievement award honour for the late business magnate and socialite Hlanganiso Matangaidze will be among the major highlights of the 2019 edition of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Manicaland business awards slated for Golden Peacock Villa Hotel in Mutare this Friday.

The annual awards are meant to honour outstanding companies and businesspersons who would have excelled in their business endeavours in the past year. This year’s awards will be running under the theme, “Expanding Horizons: Dynamic Solutions for Economic Growth.”

ZNCC regional manageress for Manicaland and Chiredzi, Perpetual Guwila said as usual this year’s event aims to create linkages between businesspersons in Manicaland from across the board, honouring and acknowledging their efforts. “Last year our theme was on consolidating the new normal economy through policy reform and now it’s on dynamic solutions for growth. We are ready to host the event and we would like to thank stakeholders and individuals who took part in the nominations process. We always try to get new players to nurture new businesses exceling, but also do thorough vetting to come up with the best nominees,” she said.

Last year saw Rachael Mugwagwa the director of Rateable Investments that owns various business entities in Mutare with the latest being a hotel in the central business district of Mutare, Manica Skyview Hotel (former Mountview Hotel) and the sole Wimpy franchise in Zimbabwe, winning the Businesswoman of the Year award and coming out as first runner-up at the national awards. Whilst the Businessman of the Year award went to Isaiah Musabayana of the Eat n’ Lick fast food franchise.

Guwila said some winners bounce back because of new projects they would be undertaking which will be difficult to go unnoticed. She added that there were 16 categories this year, but the nominees list for the Exporter of the Year and the Local Authorities award winners which are adjudicated separately by the requisite authorities, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Office of the Manicaland Provincial Administrator respectively would only be announced at the awards ceremony.

Guwila said the posthumous lifetime achievement award honour for the late Matangaidze was well deserved as he had served Manicaland diligently in the business circles and left a legacy that would be cherished for years to come. The late Mutare based business mogul who was popularly known as Matan, passed away on 29 December 2018 at the age of 55 after succumbing a long illness from renal failure and chronic diabetes. Ever since he transferred from Harare to work in Mutare in 1985, after just being employed as a young assistant manager at the Bank of Credit and Commerce (BCC) now known as the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ), Matangaidze worked at the bank for seven years and fell in love with Manicaland, which became his home away from home, in Shurugwi where he was born and raised.

The late Hlanganiso Matangaidze

Throughout his seven years at BCC in Mutare, he rose from assistant bank manager to bank manager and the experience there became his formative years that paved way for his destiny in the business world. During his tenure as a senior banker Matangaidze was also credited to have championed the black empowerment drive by government in the early 1990s as he facilitated loans which capitalised several indigenous entrepreneurs from Manicaland, who grew to become astute businesspeople. It was however in 1994 that Matangaidze started his own business when he founded Matan Holdings which started off with Matan Trucking. From there up to the time of his death, his entrepreneurial shrewdness saw him grow many enterprises comprising of Green Valley Farm which produces wine, Wise Owl Hotel, Pillaton Construction among many other venture subsidiaries in the entertainment and mining sector.

Up-to-date he remains a pacesetter as he is still the only Manicaland based businessman that won the ZNCC national Businessman of the Year award in 2006. His national award record was only broken in 2017 when Rusape’s Molly Mupfunya, the founding director of Milestone Group of Schools, became the first Manicaland woman recipient of the national Businesswoman of the year award in 2017. However, Matangaidze also remains the only Manicaland based businessman that served as a national ZNCC president in 2014. Whilst socially, in his past-time Matangaidze was also an avid football lover and served as chairman of Buffaloes Football Club from 2012 to 2015.

Ever-since the introduction of the ZNCC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, at provincial level the honourary award has been conferred to Ernest Mungwari of Tenda Transport, Gulam Adams chairman of Quest Motors Manufacturing, Hubert Masara the founding director of MasTransport, Joseph Sanhanga of Sanhanga Group of Companies, Wilson Khumbula from Checheche, John Masamvu from Rusape and Noah Taguta the leader of the Johane Marange Apostolic sect. Mr Sanhanga went on to become the first businessman from Manicaland to win the award at national level last year.

By the time of going to press on Monday, Guwila said they were still finalizing with their anticipated guest of honour and would only announce the name of the dignitary to the media on Wednesday.

ZNCC BUSINESS AWARDS NOMINEES LIST 2019

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs) CHAMPION AWARD
1. Plan International
2. World Vision
3. Rujeko Home Based Care
4. Tendai Chitowa Foundation
5. Nyaradzo Group
6. ZCDC
7. Nyangani Renewable Energy – Pungwe Solar Project

BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR
1. Muhammad Shiraan
2. Luke Masamvu
3. Charles Charamba
4. Isaih Musabayana
5. Tendai Dumbura

BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
1. Patience Maruni
2. Orpah Chikoka
3. Victoria Jakazi
4. Judith Shadaya

ICT INOVATION AWARD
1. Liquid Telecomms
2. Telone
3. Netone
4. Econet
5. Telecel
6. Africom

TERTIARY INSTITUTION AWARD
1. Mutare Poly
2. Africa University
3. Zimbabwe Open University
4. Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences
5. Mutare Teachers College
6. Magamba Training Centre

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION SUPPORTING MSME AWARD
1. Nedbank
2. CBZ
3. Agribank
4. FBC
5. Steward

MSME AWARD
1. Marjoh Launderette
2. Mutare Computers
3. RODMC Construction and Earthmoving
4. Mbanje Avomac
5. Cleverland Electrical & Hardware

PUBLIC ENTERPRISE AWARD
1. NSSA
2. TELONE
3. ZETDC
4. REA
5. ZINARA

RURAL BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR
1. Panganai Murigwa (Chitakatira)
2. Chipo Chitowa (Hauna)
3. Chiedza Magimuse (Nhedziwa)
4. Lovemore Mandimutsira (Watsomba)

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
1. Knowledge Murigwa
2. Lloyd Mapunga
3. Kudakwashe Mugwagwa
4. Martha Vhastiri

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AWARD
1. Joshua Maligwa
2. Prof Munashe Furusa
3. Bruce Henderson
4. Rachael Mugwagwa
5. Poniso Watema

ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT AWARD
1. SMEDCO
2. Destiny of Africa Network
3. Cairns Foods
4. Associated Foods Zimbabwe

EDUCATION ENTERPRISE AWARD
1. First Class Academy
2. Hillbright Group of Schools
3. St Noah Group of Schools
4. Gutika Academy
5. Riverside Academy

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
1. Hlanganiso Matangaidze