Ngoni Dapira

THE 4th edition of Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Manicaland Businesswomen Awards roars to life tonight at Mutare Holiday Inn. This year’s awards will be running under the theme, “Celebrating Excellence Empowering Women.”

ZNCC Manicaland and Chiredzi regional manageress Perpetual Guwila said all is set for the awards. The awards start at 6:30pm. She said the awards recognize and celebrate Zimbabwean women contributions and achievements in various sectors of the economy.

“We are not just considering women that own formal businesses, but also professional women that are taking the bull by the horn taking up influential spaces in the corporate world. We consider women across the spectrum from small, medium to large businesses. Professional women in the corporate, public service, arts and sports sectors, we also consider them. In short these awards recognize women making strides in their businesses and professional careers,” said Guwila.

She said the provincial businesswomen awards are a brainchild of their chamber’s Women’s Desk which was established in 2013 to ensure women’s participation in mainstream business and unleash their entrepreneurial potential. Adding that the ZNCC Women’s Desk aims to build entrepreneurship ecosystems that support women-owned Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and provides a platform for practical support and advocacy.

Guwila said the Women’s Desk has been active over the years, organizing various initiatives including the annual Women in Enterprise Conference and Awards (WECA) at national level.

“So these regional awards are an offshoot of the initiatives of the Women’s Desk. Since 2022 we are seeing the awards grow with new categories being added each year to show that there is diversity in the line of business of most women led enterprises,” she said.

This year there are 22 categories namely, the Mining industry leadership award, Manufacturing excellence award, Women in hardware and construction award, Women in real estate and property development award, Education excellence award, Women in academia excellence award, Excellence in correctional leadership award, Women in finance administration award, Women in creative industries award, Women in music business award,  Woman of impact in music award, Women in marketing and communications leadership award, Women excellence in agri-business leadership award, Women in agri-tourism implementation excellence award, Outstanding hospitality and accommodation award, Excellence in event planning and décor award, Visionary women executive award, Trendsetter in fashion and beauty award, Women in innovation excellence award and the top special recognition awards of the evening, the Woman icon award, the Empowered woman resilience award and the Most influential businesswoman award.

Last year Judith Shadaya, a celebrated gold miner scoped two accolades, the overall winner in the Women in mining Awards and the Iconic woman in business Award.

The coveted Most Influential Businesswomen Award was scooped by Dr Susan Peters nee Mapara, founder and managing director of the exquisite hotel, Murambi East Villa amongst other entities in real estate. The history of Peters in business goes back to the 1980’s where she was amongst the first black entrepreneurs in the country to venture in the cosmetics industry, running several beauty salons in Harare which as some point reached up to 20. Her achievements back then saw her being accorded the ZNCC Businesswoman of the Year Award in 1987 and many others that followed up-to-date.