HOME NEWS CATEGORIES TOP STORIES LOCAL NEWS BUSINESS LEISURE SPORT IN-DEPTH AGRICULTURE HEALTH FEATURES ENVIRONMENT & TOURISM BLOGS ABOUT ZIM PAPERS PHOTO GALLERY DOWNLOADS ARCHIVES CONTACT US NEWSPAPERS HERALD SUNDAY NEWS CHRONICLE KWAYEDZA MANICA POST H-METRO Wednesday, Jun 05th Headlines: Japan opens up to Zim Mbada Diamonds, NetOne dominate ZNCC awards Sunday, 02 June 2013 00:00 0 Comments and 0 Reactions Manicaland Bureau Mining giant Mbada Diamonds and mobile phone operator NetOne hogged the limelight on Friday evening after winning several awards during the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce 2013 Manicaland awards ceremony. It seems the businesspeople in Manicaland and the general populace in the province are beginning to warm up to Mbada Diamonds’ corporate responsibility drive that has seen the company pouring millions of dollars into the initiative as the company retained the top award for corporate social responsibility once again. In addition, the mining company bagged two more awards, winning the best mining exporter of the year award and an achievement in workplace health and safety awareness award. Mbada Diamonds executive board chairman Dr Robert Mhlanga put the icing on the cake to a perfect evening for the diamond company after he scooped the businessman of the year award while the company’s corporate service executive Mr George Manyaya came first in the marketing and public relations executive of the year category. Mbada Diamonds chief executive officer Mrs Patience Khumalo was on hand to receive her company’s awards from the guest of honour, Zimpapers chief executive officer Mr Justin Mutasa. NetOne also had a good evening after winning two awards for the outstanding business resilience in the telecommunication industry and the people’s choice award, which was voted for on the evening. NetOne managing director Mr Reward Kangai received his company’s awards and all delegates to the ceremony went home with new NetOne lines. NetOne has opened several agencies for its OneWallet service in Manicaland. “We are proud to be expanding our dealership network through equipping all our airtime dealers nationwide to become OneWallet money agents,” said Mr Kangai. The businesswoman of the year was Chiredzi’s transport mogul, Mrs Winnie Marange, who is said to have over 65 haulage trucks, whilst the rural businessperson of the year was Chipinge’s Mr Garikai Gwenzi. The small and medium enterprise of the year award went to Mr Silas Kaja, whereas Border Timbers and Halsteds Brothers scooped the agriculture and manufacturing exporter of the year awards respectively. In his keynote address, Mr Mutasa said value addition is necessary for economic growth and employment creation. “One of the biggest problems why we are remaining poor and not quickly realising the positive economic growth we desire is because we are exporting our raw products. We should embrace value addition as a nation,” said Mr Mutasa. He added that the country’s future now lies on the SME sector which is currently employing about 60 percent of the country’s jobs in the private sector and urged Government to invest more towards the SME sector. “Mutare Board and Paper Mill was the biggest employer in Manicaland and the sole supplier of newsprint in the country…It has since shut down and we are now importing newsprint, which subsequently means we are exporting jobs outside the country. “The country now survives on imports which is very sad and injurious on our economy…Not only in Manicaland but in Bulawayo most big companies are now ghost towns sending thousands of people jobless. What does this mean to business?... Even our motor industry is dead because of cheap Japanese imports. We talk about Willowvale Mazda Motor industries and Quest Motors. My view is that you do not destroy the house you are living in because you want to build a better room. Government should give more incentives to manufacturing industries and protect the local industry,” said Mr Mutasa. Mr Mutasa urged businesspeople to remain resilient and retain their tenacity. “It is quite unfortunate that the economic side of our country has not been rosy and it is our manufacturing industry which was mostly affected by sanctions that were imposed on our country. This is why I would like to heartily congratulate all the winners tonight for having the tenacity to weather the harsh economic conditions over the years and encourage you to soldier on as we strive to rebuild our economy.” The ZNCC president, Mr Oswell Binha, urged businesspeople to be more proactive on economic matters. “I would like to see a knowledge economy from Manicaland that will trigger development. I am however concerned about the way that you as captains of industry take lightly issues of policy engagement with Government. When it comes to policy engagement with Government, there is low uptake from you as the stakeholders, but yet you are the most affected. Businesspeople, let’s be proactive to effect policy change and advice to Government,” said Mr Binha. The 2013 Manicaland awards had 22 categories. Manicaland entries were taken from all the districts, namely Mutare, Nyanga, Rusape, Murambinda, Chipinge, Chimanimani and Checheche. Chiredzi is also incorporated in the Manicaland awards. back to top
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 06:46:52 +0000
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