🙏 Thank you to everyone who participated in our poll. We asked which Zimbabwean entrepreneur inspires you the most, and the results clearly show who resonates with our business community.
Poll Results: Which Zimbabwean entrepreneur inspires you the most?
Total votes: 400
Poll Results:
Strive Masiyiwa (Econet & Liquid) → 219 votes (54.8%)
Tinashe Mutarisi (Nash Paints & Furniture) → 42 votes (10.5%)
Phillip Mataranyika (Nyaradzo Group) → 35 votes (8.8%)
Shingai Mutasa (Investment & Real Estate) → 11 votes (2.8%)
Divine Ndhlukula (Securico Security) → 10 votes (2.5%)
Phillip Chiyangwa (Property & Business) → 8 votes (2.0%)
Kudakwashe Tagwirei (Sakunda Holdings) → 7 votes (1.8%)
Tawanda Nyambirai (Banking & Investment) → 7 votes (1.8%)
Nigel Chanakira (Banking) → 6 votes (1.5%)
Wicknell Chivayo (Tenders) → 5 votes (1.3%)
Alex Mashamhanda (Mashwede Holdings) → 4 votes (1.0%)
None of the above → 46 votes (11.5%)
Key Findings:
Strive Masiyiwa’s Entrepreneurial Journey: With 54.8% of votes, Strive Masiyiwa represents the ultimate entrepreneurial success story built from vision, persistence, and strategic thinking. Starting his career as an engineer, his breakthrough came when he recognized the massive opportunity in telecommunications at a time when Zimbabwe’s telecoms sector was monopolized and underserved.
The path to building Econet was far from smooth – Masiyiwa faced years of legal battles and regulatory challenges as he fought for a telecommunications license against entrenched interests. His persistence through these obstacles, including spending significant personal resources on legal fees and enduring years of uncertainty, demonstrates the resilience required for transformational entrepreneurship. When Econet finally launched, it revolutionized telecommunications in Zimbabwe and across Africa, making mobile communication accessible to millions of people who had been excluded from traditional telephone networks.
Masiyiwa’s influence extends far beyond business success – he has built a massive 5 million Facebook following, inspiring entrepreneurs across the entire African continent with his mentorship posts, business insights, and motivational content.
Tinashe Mutarisi’s Inspiring Rise: Securing 10.5% of votes, Tinashe Mutarisi represents one of Zimbabwe’s most compelling rags-to-riches stories. Starting from absolute zero with no capital or connections, he built Nash Paints and expanded into furniture manufacturing through sheer determination and strategic thinking. His journey from having nothing to becoming a household name resonates deeply with ordinary Zimbabweans who see their own struggles reflected in his early hardships. This inspirational narrative is amplified by his 800,000 Facebook following, where he regularly shares his entrepreneurial journey, business insights, and motivational content. Mutarisi’s willingness to openly discuss his humble beginnings and the challenges he overcame makes him particularly relatable to aspiring entrepreneurs who may feel that business success is only for those born into privilege.
Phillip Mataranyika’s Industry Transformation: With 8.8% of votes, Phillip Mataranyika represents a powerful story of breaking racial barriers through strategic career pivoting and entrepreneurial vision. Starting his professional journey as a Financial Advisor at Old Mutual, Mataranyika gained valuable experience in the financial services sector before making the bold decision to leave the security of corporate employment to venture into the funeral services industry. This career transition was particularly courageous given that the funeral industry was traditionally white-dominated and required significant capital investment and community trust-building. As a black entrepreneur who rose to dominate the funeral services industry, he conquered the sector and built Nyaradzo into a household name that every Zimbabwean recognizes. His success demonstrates how determination, vision, and strategic industry knowledge can overcome historical barriers and create lasting market leadership.
Shingai Mutasa’s Strategic Excellence: Securing 2.8% of votes, Shingai Mutasa represents the sophisticated world of investment and real estate. As a strategic investor and property developer, he has built a reputation for identifying undervalued opportunities and transforming them into profitable ventures. His flagship development, Joina City, has become a household name and iconic landmark in Harare’s central business district, demonstrating his ability to create lasting value in Zimbabwe’s property market. What makes Mutasa’s inclusion in the top 5 particularly remarkable is that he achieved this recognition while maintaining an extremely low public profile with virtually no social media presence. Unlike the digital-savvy approaches of Masiyiwa and Mutarisi, Mutasa has built his inspirational influence purely through business results and reputation within industry circles.
Divine Ndhlukula’s Pioneering Leadership: Earning 2.5% of votes, Divine Ndhlukula stands out as the only woman entrepreneur on the list and a true trailblazer in Zimbabwe’s business landscape. As the founder and CEO of Securico Security, she broke into the traditionally male-dominated security industry and built one of the country’s most respected security companies. Her success demonstrates exceptional leadership in an industry where women were previously almost entirely absent from executive positions. Ndhlukula’s achievement is particularly inspiring because she not only built a successful business but also paved the way for other women entrepreneurs to enter sectors previously considered exclusively male domains. Her presence in the top rankings highlights both the breakthrough achievements possible for women entrepreneurs and the significant gender gap that still exists in Zimbabwe’s most visible business leadership.
Clear Digital Influence Correlation: The top two vote-getters also happen to be the most active on social media, demonstrating how digital engagement and thought leadership significantly amplify entrepreneurial influence in the modern era.
Generational Gap: The list is overwhelmingly dominated by the older generation of entrepreneurs, most of whom built their businesses in the 1990s and 2000s. Young entrepreneurs are still to make significant breakthroughs to reach the heights achieved by this established generation, highlighting both the challenge and opportunity for emerging business leaders.
The Search for Alternative Inspiration: With 11.5%, a significant portion of respondents chose “None of the above,” indicating that a notable segment of the ZimLedger community looks elsewhere for entrepreneurial inspiration. This group represents an important insight into Zimbabwe’s entrepreneurial landscape – they may be inspired by younger entrepreneurs who have not yet reached the scale of the established names on the list, international business leaders, or entrepreneurs operating in emerging sectors like technology startups, renewable energy, or digital commerce that were not represented in the poll options.
The “None of the above” voters could also include individuals who prefer to draw inspiration from entrepreneurs in other African countries, global business leaders, or those who believe the most inspiring entrepreneurs are the small-scale business owners in their own communities – the market vendors, small manufacturers, service providers, and informal sector entrepreneurs who may not have household name recognition but demonstrate daily resilience and innovation. This segment suggests there is room for a new generation of business leaders to emerge and capture the imagination of Zimbabwe’s aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those who might connect more with contemporary challenges, digital-native approaches, or different industry focuses than the current established generation represents.
Business Insights for Entrepreneurs:
Vision and Scale Matter: Masiyiwa’s success demonstrates that thinking beyond local markets and building continental or global businesses resonates strongly with aspiring entrepreneurs.
Industry Diversity Creates Opportunities: Success spans telecommunications, manufacturing, funeral services, real estate, and security, proving that inspiration can come from any sector when executed with vision and determination.
Technology as a Game-Changer: The telecommunications revolution shows how technology-driven businesses can create massive value while solving real problems for millions of people.
Multiple Paths To Success: The top five represent diverse approaches – telecommunications empire building with continental digital influence (Masiyiwa), local manufacturing excellence with social media engagement (Mutarisi), funeral services industry transformation (Mataranyika), strategic real estate and investment success (Mutasa), and security industry leadership as a female pioneer (Ndhlukula).
Market Opportunity Lessons:
– Infrastructure businesses (telecoms, energy) create lasting competitive advantages
– Consumer-focused brands (Nash Paints, Nyaradzo) can build strong local recognition
– Financial services remain attractive but highly competitive
– Property and real estate continue to attract successful entrepreneurs
– Digital influence multiplies business impact and inspirational reach, but is not essential for success
– Traditional industries can be transformed through innovative approaches
What This Means:
The results reveal that Zimbabwean entrepreneurs are inspired by diverse types of breakthrough achievements – whether it is Masiyiwa’s journey from engineer to continental telecommunications empire builder with massive digital influence, Mutarisi’s remarkable rise from absolute zero to manufacturing success with strong social media engagement, Mataranyika’s strategic transition from Old Mutual financial advisor to funeral industry transformation, Mutasa’s quiet excellence in building real estate landmarks while maintaining minimal public presence, or Ndhlukula’s pioneering leadership as a woman in the male-dominated security industry.
All 5 demonstrate that sustained success requires not just business acumen but also the courage to challenge existing limitations and create new possibilities for future entrepreneurs.
Key Takeaway:
Success in entrepreneurship takes many forms, and the most inspiring leaders are those who not only build profitable businesses but also demonstrate that any barrier can be overcome through determination, vision, and strategic execution. Whether through digital influence or quiet excellence, local focus or continental reach, traditional industries or cutting-edge technology, the path to inspiration lies in authentic achievement and the courage to break new ground.
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