I felt honoured to be a part of a great initiative by Megafest to celebrate women achievers in business. In their June/July magazine edition, I featured with a similar title. It was a totally humbling experience as women have become a force to reckon with in fields that were largely reserved or seen as only male suited.
Women have come out and proven that they are capable individuals and human beings. A Ghanaian proverb in the Fanti language has always held fast in my heart since the first day I came across it. It says, “When you educate a boy, you educate an individual and when you educate a girl, you educate a nation.” This proverb confirms the phenomenal nature of the impact that a woman can have when empowered. If a woman can turn a house into a home you can imagine what she can do with a business. She can turn the business into a formidable organisation that holds the love and passion of a mother who in most cases is the true visionary for the “family”. Men will agree with me that most of them have become great because there was a woman somewhere, a mother, a sister, a partner or a wife spurring them on to greatness. I do not take for granted the fact that policies in Zimbabwe encourage women to go forth and be the very best they can. This is something that we should congratulate ourselves on as a nation. I was listening to ZiFM as I was driving to work a few months ago, and got the shock of my life when they broadcasted that women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia because of cultural reasons. I imagined how I would cope with my responsibilities and duties if I was not allowed to drive. In Zimbabwe, women have flown an airbus, never mind just drive a car. Emily Njovani was the first woman pilot to fly an Air Zimbabwe passenger plane and many have since followed in her path. The vivacious Chipo Matimba is one such woman. She flies the Boeing and the airbus quite comfortably. It is not a surprise that she scooped the Megafest Special Women Award 2016. If this does not inspire a woman somewhere then I do not know what would.
Zimbabwe recognises that equality of gender is a basic human right. If a woman has the right criteria for a job she will be given a fair chance to defend her selection. The country has produced phenomenal women business leaders such as Thembelihle Mloyi – Altfin Health company, (her story is in fact amazing and yet it is largely untapped. I urge fellow scribes to record her story in detail. It tells of a woman who has led her organisation to dizzy heights while other divisions around her folded.) Charity Jinya – MBCA, Chipo Mtasa – TelOne, Nomathemba Ndlovu – ZITF company, Eve Gadzikwa – Standards Association of Zimbabwe, and Linda Masterson – Edgars. All these women run successful and savvy businesses. This list is far from conclusive, but it is fairly representative of the great potential and ability of women in Zimbabwe.
It is my hope that the success stories of these women may inspire a girl child somewhere out there in Zimbabwe. This should also motivate and encourage educators to start teaching leadership skills to the girl child at an early age. In fact with the statistics in Zimbabwe where there are more girls than boys in the population, what choices does the country have but to ensure that it empowers the women in our society. By becoming the first woman junior city council town clerk myself back then in 1995, I still believe in firsts for woman and like my own father would continuously say and therefore made me believe. There is room at the top for women. Let this be every woman’s motto as they wake up every day and watch the dizzy heights that this can accelerate our country to. Till next week, keep reading and remain brand-savvy.
Stha Magida is happy to receive your thoughts and comments. She is contactable on [email protected]
