Introduction

OUR esteemed Ambassador of His Excellency Polepole,

•Our guest speaker, the outgoing director general of the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ), Dr Eve C Gadzikwa

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e Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Honourable Kirsty Leigh Coventry

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e Minister of ICT , Postal and Courier Services, Honourable Jenfan Muswere

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e Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Honourable Tinoda Machakire

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e Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Development, Honourable Haritatos Vangelis

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e Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Development, Honourable John Bhasera

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Senior government officials here present, ICDZ Board Chairman, Mr Phineas Bvaka, ICDZ Board Members, ICDZ Individual Members andCorporate Partners, Media partners here present, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, a good morning to you all .

It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you to the second ICDZ 40 under 40 Influential Young Business Leaders Luncheon convened in order to celebrate good governance, entrepreneurship and exemplary leadership.

A brief background:

e 40 under 40 was initiated by the ICDZ in an effort to recognise and appreciate exceptional young business leaders who have contributed towards the growth of the economy. ese young leaders have exhibited innovativeness and astuteness in the midst of challenging times currently grappling the nation.

ey seized and pursued commercial opportunities that have made their organizations realise sustainable growth. ey have evidently committed to make Zimbabwe an upper middle income economy by 2030. It is against this background that the ICDZ made a call for nominations to reward and recognise “this influence”. e public and business community had the opportunity to nominate individuals according to the clearly communicated criteria. Following the call, a total of 200 nominees were received.

ere were from across different categories including government, mining, construction, insurance, health-care, ICT.A due diligence exercise was then carried out to verify the information received for the nominees. After a rigorous adjudication process the number was then narrowed down to 40. ese are the 40 young influential leaders that we are all gathered to celebrate today.

I would like to conclude by appealing to all business leaders here present to join and support the Institute, the most preferred home of Directors. As directors we have onerous responsibilities and in ICDZ we have a body responsible for nurturing your interests and supporting your development.

All the programmes we offer seek to contribute towards success of directors and businesses and, indeed all other organisations. We are proud to announce our internationally recognised Professional Director Certification Course endorsed and supported by Governance Solutions Canada.

is comprehensive programme for professionals like you and will have its inaugural class running from the 30th of May-03 June 2022. Graduates of this Certification Programme are accredited (Pro. Director) status.

is certification covers key areas including governance and strategy, governance and risk, people, board effectiveness and resources.

We are confident that it is pivotal in assisting you to not only match the current professional qualifications but be fully equipped to tackle any future market challenges. As our motto goes, Better corporate directors, better boards and better business.

ey say that life begins at 40 but these young business leaders have somewhat defied the odds and made great strides before 40! Let me end by extending hearty congratulations to all those young leaders being celebrated today Congratulations,