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Kingdom Holdings poised for growth

Kingdom Holdings is on a massive regional and international expansion drive, says its chief executive and founder, Nigel
Chanakira. Chanakira, a successful Zimbabwean banker, urged students to remain confident and full of conviction if they want to make a difference in today’s world. In his presentation entitled “Creating and Operating a successful business venture”, Chanakira outlined the genesis of Kingdom Financial Holdings, a company he established in 1994.
Today, the company is one of the largest on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, with more than 2000 stakeholders and a net worth of 71.9 trillion dollars as of September 2007. It has a clientele base of over 35 000, with 18
operational banks in Zimbabwe. “Together with a group of friends, we started Kingdom Bank with self confidence and the conviction that we were going to be a success,” said Chanakira. “We had served people loyally, acquired experiences during
our working life and had made ultimate sacrifices at personal and individual levels. For us, the establishment of this enterprise was the penultimate.”
“My institution has always been focused on the aspect of wealth creation…we can rightfully claim that we were the first financial institution to develop black people’s understanding of financial systems in Zimbabwe; things such as ‘investments” and “money markets” are now understandable to ordinary citizens,” said Chanakira. “We also embarked on an entrepreneurship drive...our ‘Making Money Make Sense’ programme, have empowered ordinary black indigenous
people to be wealth creators and contribute to the economic growth and development of this nation.”
Chanakira urged the students to be resourceful and enterprising. “Africa needs serious entrepreneurs in order to transform lives and eradicate poverty,” said Chanakira. “I have always wanted to influence my world...and I feel I have fulfilled this by the phenomenal success and enterprise which is Kingdom Holdings today.”
For 2008, the company is pursuing consolidation with Meikles Africa, the Tanganda Tea Company and Cotton Printers, subject to shareholder approval, and a listing on the London Stock Exchange.