BY MOSES MATENGA
ZIMBABWEAN investor Ken Sharpe on Friday joined some of Africa’s leading business moguls, who were honoured at the Forbes Best of Africa Awards held virtually by the Foreign Investment Network (FIN) Leadership and Philanthropy Round Rable.
Sharpe, chairman of property developing firm West Properties, became the first Zimbabwean to be recognised in Forbes Best of Africa Awards where he bagged the best of Africa Award of Excellence innovative chief executive officer of the year award.
In accepting the award, Sharpe said: “My dream is to bring to Zimbabwe what I have seen in other countries.
“There is no reason why we can’t bring Dubai here in Zimbabwe.”
“I see hope and a bright future for Zimbabwe, I know we can build Zimbabwe and we are doing that brick by brick,” he said.
“Africa is a continent of enormous, but untapped opportunity, mostly the news from Africa is negative — about corruption, inept leadership and mediocrity, but that is not the whole story.”
The guest of honour at the event was the Nigerian vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, represented by the country’s minister of Trade and Investment Niyi Adebayo, who delivered the goodwill message during the event.
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Analysts described the event as one of the biggest and most prestigious in 2021 meant to celebrate important personalities, who have and continue to have significant influence on the business, political, leadership and economic landscape of Africa.
Mark Furlong, president of Customs Solutions at Forbes presented the awards with Sharpe being one of the recipients, who bagged a gong.
Other winners at the event included Wendy Ackerman, a prominent Cape Town businesswoman who received the Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ackerman was instrumental in the development of the Pick-n-Pay brand alongside her husband, Raymond.
Ghadiyali Zuliquar, a multi-faceted technocrat, businessman and leading entrepreneur in the Middle East, Dalith Steiger, co-founder of the award-winning, Start-up, Swiss Cognitive, Rajan Mahtani, a Zambian business magnate, chairman of Finance Bank Zambia Limited and Sam Matekane, an entrepreneur and chairman of Matekane Group of Companies Lesotho were also among the recipients.
