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Mrs Divine Ndhlukula Leonard Ncube in Victoria FallsTHE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce has elected Securico Services founder Mrs Divine Ndhlukula as its new president to become the second woman to ever lead the chamber. Mrs Mara Hativagoni from Harare is the only other woman to have been at the helm of ZNCC about a decade ago. Mrs Ndhlukula, who founded Securico in 1999, will be deputised by hotelier Mr Tamuka Macheka of Pocal Hospitality and Kestmer Investments. She takes over the leadership from Mutare businessman Mr Davison Norupiri. Employing more than 4 000 people at her security services, up from three employees when she started in 1999, Mrs Ndhlukula said she presents the future of Small and Medium Enterprises. https://divinesimbindhlukula.co.zw/wp-admin/Ndhlukula%20elected%20new%20ZNCC%20boss%20_%20The%20Sunday%20News_files/saved_resource.html “I have no big dreams but I shall continue to make the voice of business heard. I will be learning from my predecessors and my wish is to develop SMEs, we need to support them so they industrialise and create jobs. Above all I will strive to make sure ZNCC works with other organisations because we have a common purpose,” said Mrs Ndhlukula in her acceptance speech. There are four deputy presidents in charge of regions. Victoria Falls-based construction and transport businessman Mr Ozias Marange is deputy president for Matabeleland region while Mr Julian Mashavakure was elected on the Midlands ticket. Mr Mike Juru, proprietor of Integrated Properties which is into real estate business is deputy for Mashonaland while for Manicaland, Mr Kenneth Saruchera of Zimbabwe Open University was elected. ZNCC re-opened the Masvingo region and a deputy president will be elected soon. Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa who was guest of honour challenged the new leadership to move with pace in promoting the new normal in business. https://divinesimbindhlukula.co.zw/wp-admin/Ndhlukula%20elected%20new%20ZNCC%20boss%20_%20The%20Sunday%20News_files/saved_resource(2).html “You should think about how to enhance the new normal in business and redefine the role of the chamber on national economy,” she said.Meanwhile, there was a crop of new winners in the 2017 awards sponsored by Zimdef as the majority of traditional winner didn’t make it. Midlands-based Mr Darren Coetzee who is managing director of Dendairy was voted Businessman of the Year for his contribution to the dairy industry. The Businesswoman of the Year accolade went to Mrs Molly Tsitsi Mupfunya, a philanthropist who is into education and transport business. Mr Worthwhile Mugabe emerged first runner up in the Businessperson of the Year while well known Mr Obadiah Msindo of Destiny of Africa was voted second runner-up. In the women’s category, Mrs Mary Madzima of Navidale Textile and Mrs Sharon Stead of Amalinda Camp in the Hwange National Park were first and second runner-up respectively. Mr Never Nyemudzo, chief executive officer of CBZ Holdings came tops in the business leadership category shrugging off challenge from Ms Agatha Gandidze of Dendairy and Sydney Mutsambwa of Tongaat Hullets who came 1st and 2nd runner-up respectively. Sugar manufacturer Tongaat Hullets was voted best in the sustainability company award beating Econet and Mimosa while CBZ was voted the best financial institution supporting SMEs beating Agribank and Inclusive Financial Services. Kwekwe Polytechnic continued to dominate tertiary institutions when the Midlands-based college was voted best ahead of Chinhoyi University of Technology and Mutare Teachers’ College. Delta Corporation won the Enterprise Development category with Fairhill Farm and Mutare Polytechnic settling for second and third place. The Sunday News

Divine Ndhlukula is the founder of Securico Security Services in Zimbabwe and has quickly become a leader and inspiration for female African entrepreneurs. Securico is a full-service security company providing protection ranging from live surveillance monitoring to guard dogs. The company started with just Ndhlukula, four employees, and a small cottage. She overcame financial and societal hurdles to grow her company to one that now sees more than $10 million in revenue each year. Ndhlukula isn’t just wealthy; she’s likeable. Here are 8 reasons why people love Zimbabwean Entrepreneur Divine Ndhlukula. She’s one of Zimbabwe’s top employers of women Divine Ndhlukula’s company employs more than 4000 people including 900-plus women, making her one of the largest employers of women in Zimbabwe. Ndhlukula has encouraged women to enter security — traditionally a male-dominated profession, Her company was the underdog…at first Ndhlukula admitted in an interview that a lot of companies did not want to hire female security guards when she founded her company. This lack of confidence transferred over to her employees. Ndhlukula had to work hard to convince them they could do a “man’s job.” The only way to overcome the prejudices her company faced was to become better than the competition. She put a lot of time and effort into training her staff. Ndhulukula taught her female guards to be professional and proud in their work. Eventually, this “was noticeable on the market, and we grew,” she said. Her technology is cutting edge Securico has some of the most advanced and cutting-edge technology in the security industry. The company sets up access control systems that can allow entry via fingerprints, swipe tags and pin-codes. Securico also has remote monitoring services that can detect movement around isolated properties and record live footage. You can see a full range of her services at Securico.oc.zw. She’s always been money smart Ndhlukula has a degree in accounting, and her first major jobs out of college were in that field, but while working as an accountant, she had a side hustle buying clothes directly from a factory and selling them for a profit. She started paying some of her colleagues a commission to sell the clothes for her, She’s overcome adversity When Ndhhlukula was younger, her family was drowning in financial debt. Ndhlukula sold her truck to help relieve her family of debt. She was then forced to take out a loan to go into farming. Her first year as a farmer, Zimbabwe had a drought. She eventually went back to her previous work as an accountant, She connects with her employees Ndhlukula says that she works to connect with her employees and to get to know them so she can align “their personal goals with their business goals.” she told Howwemadeitinafrica.com that she aspires to know everything about her 4,000-or-so employees including their families, their aspirations outside of work and their worst fears. She won Most Influential Woman of the Year award In 2015, Ndhlukula was named Most Influential Woman of the Year for her concerted efforts in empowering women in Zimbabwe and the region. Other winners on that list have included Hilary Clinton, Michelle Obama and former Mozambican first lady Graca Machel. The award was given by Empowering a Billion Women (EBW2020), a global movement that gives women entrepreneurs the financial confidence,tools and resources to reach the $1 million mark in company revenue. She’s disciplined, but fun When asked to list her top business tips, Ndhlukula said “Pay it off, don’t pay it forward. Or put simply, be frugal.” She practices a lot of financial discipline and teaches it to her employees. But she isn’t above celebrating every small accomplishment of her staff. Ndhlukula says her company celebrates even the tiniest successes because “that is how people look forward to winning and being successful” according to Howwemadeitinafrica.com. The Moguldom Nation

A dynamic Zimbabwean businesswoman has been honoured by the United Nations for her success in business. NELSON SIBANDA reports. Divine Ndhlukula, 53, came second in UNCTAD’s Empretec Women in Business Awards and received her award from Tarja Halonen, the former President of Finland at a ceremony held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, last month. She is the founder and managing director of Securico and attributed her success to teamwork and professionalism. “The award does not reflect my achievements as an individual but Securico as a family and Zimbabwean entrepreneurship at large. My success sends the right signals to the world that the previously sleeping giant (Zimbabwe) is slowly awakening and has a lot to offer,” said Ndhlukula. She attributed her success to the smart, highly engaged and motivated staff who are the bedrock of Securico. The first prize went to the founder of Shefighter of Jordan, Lina Jalil Khalifeh while Lorena Maria Eugenia Picass of Argentina came third. The award honours businesswomen from developing countries who create successful companies that create jobs and became role models in their countries. Kitchen table Securico is one of the largest employers outside government with a staff complement of 4,000 men and women. It started with only three guards, operating from a family kitchen table without proper offices. The award honours her courage in starting the company from scratch without any previous experience and gives her valuable exposure and networking opportunities to raise global awareness of her business. It also facilitates a study tour sponsored by Emerald Publishing, the possibility of receiving remote consultancy services from graduate students within the Business Schools for impact Network, VIP participation at global relevant events (World Investment Forum in Geneva-Switzerland), sponsored by UNCTAD and GIZ. Ndhlukula will also be part of the International Women in Business Forum (Doha, Qatar), sponsored by the Qatari Businesswomen Association. This week, she will be among the top five finalists in the exceptional companies category of the Ernest and Young World Entrepreneurs’ Award to be held in South Africa. Competitors were drawn from across Africa and the Securico boss will be among the favourites to pocket top accolades. She has already won more than 15 local and International Business awards. Several flops Ndhlukula suffered several flops in earlier business attempts due to lack of a clear road map, before she saw opportunities in the security sector and went for it. Her attempts at transport, catering and other ventures all failed to take off. “To realise my dreams, I had to have financial discipline and sow the values of my project into the recruited staff up to the last person in the organisation,”Ndhlukula said. She believes a key factor in the success of any endeavour is to marry the ambitions of members of staff with those of the organisation, as this leaves every stakeholder determined to reach the agreed destination. The most important element of success, Ndhlukula said, is to know what you want, gather courage despite the challenges and take the necessary steps without wasting time. “The largest obstacle to success is the fear to execute the plan. In addition, people who get into business just to make money without the desire to add value have little chance of success,” she said. To ensure the survival of the company, Ndhlukula has put clear succession structures in all departments and staff are encouraged to continue acquiring relevant professional knowledge. In the past security guards were held in low esteem, but Securico has transformed the security industry in a big way. The quality of training, remuneration, staff turnout and professional conduct of the personal has made people respect the security industry like any other profession. More reliable The company has worked tirelessly to convince clients that female guards are equally competent with men and are actually to a large extent more reliable, as they have little potential to connive in crime. To raise efficiency in the industry, Securico was a leader in the introduction of electronic deployment and supervision of security guards. Ndhlukula gives her time to make the world a better place by sharing knowledge with other women both locally and across the world. She offers life skills and assists women to scale up their businesses. At the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, where she is Vice President and Chairperson of the Women’s Desk, Ndhlukula has pioneered the Women in Enterprise Conference and Awards to mentor women in business in Zimbabwe and to celebrate their success. During her years in the security business she has capacitated herself by attending various developmental programmes locally and internationally. Leadership awards -UNCTAD/Empretec Women in Business Award 2014 -Finalist in the EY Global Entrepreneurs Awards 2014-Exceptional category -Woman investor of the year 2013: Zimbabwe Investment Authority -One of the top ten Influential Entrepreneurs Post Independence Zimbabwe 2013 by Empretec -Overall Continental Winner (services) Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government 2014: CEO Magazine South Africa -African woman of the year 2013: Africa Achievers Awards -National Annual Quality Awards Individual Winner 2012 Securico awards -Super brand of the year 2012 and 2013 (security sector) -African Awards for Entrepreneurship Grand Prize Winner 2011 -National Quality Awards (NAQA) company of the year 2011 (large enterprises) -7th Best Employer for 2010, 2011 and 2013 -Most customer focussed security organisation-Service Excellence Awards 2012 and 2013 -Corporate Philanthropy Award 2013 Biography Divine Ndhlukula was born in Gutu in 1961. She did her primary and secondary education at Zvinavashe, Bondolfi and Makumbe Mission before proceeding to Commercial Careers College for an accounting course. She worked as an accounting officer at ZBC, Old Mutual and marketing executive at South Hampton. Driven by the desire to determine her fate, she left employment and started a transport and catering business which flopped. She then started Securico security company with three guards from her kitchen in Marlborough.The company slowly grew and she moved to offices at the National Sports Stadium. She ran the office, deployed the guards, drove the company vehicle and did the accounts among other

“I got the idea thanks to a gap I saw in the market,” said Divine Ndhlukula during her keynote speech at the 2014 Anzisha Prize awards ceremony this week, where 12 of Africa’s top young entrepreneurs were honoured in Johannesburg. Divine Ndhlukula Ndhlukula is the entrepreneur behind one of Zimbabwe’s largest security companies, Securico. She started it in 1995 with only four employees and today it has grown to over 4,000, including 1,000 women. The company is also expanding operations into Mozambique and Zambia. But according to Ndhlukula her road to success has not been easy, especially being a woman entrepreneur in a typically male-dominated industry. Addressing the young entrepreneurs in the audience, she shared 10 lessons she has learnt over the years that have helped her grow Securico into today’s large enterprise. Here are her pointers. 1. The customer is always king “I always knew that treating the customer as the boss was the key thing,” she began. “And creating value, giving the best value… is the way we built loyalty.” She added that the amount of money an entrepreneur or business makes can be directly related to the amount of value they provide for their customers or clients. 2. Look after your staff “Success depends on employees. For me knowing and connecting with my employees is very important. I have done that very well.” Ndhlukula explained that by connecting with her employees, she was able to create a “sense of belonging” for them in the company, and ensure they bought into her vision. “I have ensured that I aligned their personal goals with their business goals and that makes everybody go in tandem with each other. I try to know almost all my 4,000 employees: their families, their aspirations, their worst fears and so on.” 3. Success comes with hard work “I have learnt that earning by working hard is the way to go,” she said, adding that the magic formula for success is always simply: “The right attitude, plus hard work”. 4. Embrace new technologies According to Ndhlukula, Securico is constantly adopting (and adapting to) new technologies, and she advises entrepreneurs to always keep an eye open for new technological developments in their industry. 5. Executing a plan needs discipline “One of the key features in any business leader is execution… and it is a critical block in building a successful enterprise.” She quoted Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan in their book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. “Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective. Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.” 6. Always be frugal “Pay it off, don’t pay it forward. Or put simply: be frugal,” she continued. To build a business, entrepreneurs will need to ensure they have strong financial discipline in their management, she emphasised. 7. Never stop learning “The seventh lesson that I learnt is to always keep on learning. I believe in learning all the time, I’m a life-long learner… I also believe in re-learning, because there are always new things coming out. My kids are teaching me things today.” 8. Celebrate success “In our company we believe in celebrating success because it creates, and maintains, momentum,” she noted. “Everyone celebrates even the little things that we succeed in doing, and we have a jolly good time. That is how people look forward to winning and being successful. Because they know there are rewards of celebration.” 9. Failures can be valuable Acknowledging and accepting failure is part of the entrepreneurial game and Ndhlukula said she has had her share of failure. However, failures have taught her valuable lessons that made her into a stronger entrepreneur today.  “For me, failure teaches self-confidence and tenacity.” 10. Use your business ‘to do good’ “What Africa requires are entrepreneurs that start up and create not just wealth for themselves, but employment for others, because that is what is vital for sustainable development.” Young entrepreneurs should, where possible, look to have a positive social impact in their environments, she emphasised. “One of the things I noted in my country was that women were not getting the opportunity to get formal employment, in particular the many widows and the single mothers due to HIV/Aids. Today our company is arguably the largest employer of permanently employed women. We employ over 1,000 women, contributing at least 25% of our workforce.” How We Made It In Africa

Divine Ndhlukula started Securico, a small security business, from the cottage of her small house in Harare with only five employees, little capital and no experience in the security business. She was determined to take on the big and established security companies who had become a cartel in a largely male-dominated industry. Today, her $13 million business employs more than 3,000 employees and has become Zimbabwe’s most successful security firm. Before she founded Securico, Divine exemplified a true Smallstarter in her small and humble beginnings in business. During her time as a white-collar employee, she was ordering clothes from factories in Harare and selling them to colleagues. She used the proceeds from this small business to buy a heavy-duty truck that she leased out to construction companies. And then, she pivoted into the security services business. Securico personnel during a training session In December 2011, Divine won the Africa Award for Entrepreneurship ahead of 3,400 nominees in 48 African countries. Her company, Securico, has won 11 national awards since the company started operations in 1998 and is the first Zimbabwean security outfit to obtain the ISO international Quality Management certification. Divine is a staunch believer in the galore of opportunities and potential in Africa. According to her Forbes interview, she advises young and aspiring entrepreneurs to: ‘work your plan with passion, determination and diligence, and when a bit of cash starts rolling in, have the discipline to know that it is not your money yet.’ Divine Ndhlukula’s story is another proof that determination and passion are far more important than capital and experience in the success of an entrepreneur. A key lesson here is the power of starting small. Smallstarters have the hunger, passion and scale needed to create upsets in any industry, no matter how dominated they are by the existing players! Have you been using your day job, gender or lack of experience as excuses from taking action on a small business idea you’re very passionate about? We hope Divine has inspired you today! Remember, you can find more interesting success stories and business opportunities like this one in the Business ideas section of Smallstarter. Smallstarter 14 March 2013

Divine Ndhlukula is a Zimbabwean businesswoman and farmer who was born on February 5, 1960 in Gutu, Zimbabwe. She has gained wide recognition for her entrepreneurial skills, having built an over 4,000 strong employee base from the humble beginning of her garage. She has an MBA in Business Administration from Midlands State University and another MBA in Business Administration also, from Women’s University in Africa, in recognition of her effort in business leadership and efforts on gender equality. She started SECURICO, a security company, in Dec 1998 right in the cottage of her small home in Harare with 4 employees, after she realized that there is a gap in the market for a service and quality oriented security services provider. SECURICO is the Zimbabwean manned security company to be certified to the internationally acclaimed ISO9001:2008 Quality Management System. SECURICO is also the largest employer of women in Zimbabwe – currently 900 outside government. It is one of Zimbabwe’s largest security companies. The Harare-based outfit is a market leader in the provision of bespoke guarding services and cutting-edge electronic security solutions. She is also the Managing Director of DDNS Security Operations (Pvt) Ltd. This is the holding company for SECURICO SECURITY SERVICES; Canine Dog Services and MULTI-LINK P/L, an electronic security systems company. In an interview with a Zimbabwean newspaper she said, I thought there was a gap in the industry. Companies that were there were not living up to the needs of the clients. The industry was renowned for wild cat strikes and guards generally were perceived as the lowly-paid in any sector. I wanted to change the perceptions and create a niche in which people could carve out a career and I knew I needed to go in with a different approach and that approach was going to make the difference , the people had to be key or central feature of the vision. Some of her awards and recognitions includes, Empretec Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 and Empretec Entrepreneur of Decade (Services Sector) 2002, Manager of the year 2005 for Zim Institute of Management, Celebrate a Sister Business award 2006, Institute of Directors Zimbabwe Director of the Year (SMEs) 2008, Institute of Directors Overral Director of Year(Run Up) 2009, Zimbabwe Women Filmmakers/UNifem Business Award 2010, National Quality Awards Company of the Year 2011, Zimbabwe’s 7th Best Employers 2010 and 7th Best Employer again for 2011, Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship 2011 Grand Prize run by Legatum and Omidyar, among others. Women of Rubies 13 March 2013

‘Meet the Boss’ is a How we made it in Africa interview series where we pose the same ten questions to business leaders across the continent. Divine Ndhlukula Divine Ndhlukula, founder and managing director, SECURICO, Zimbabwe. 1. What was your first job? Accounts clerk 2. Who has had the biggest impact on your career and why? My parents as they were business people who worked hard and built a formidable business. I then knew that was the route I would follow. In my later years as a young woman, I then met some very formidable women who had made it and was inspired to know that it was indeed possible for an African woman to define her own destiny by just believing in oneself. One such defining moment for me was in The Hague in 1985 when I attended a conference on women empowerment and met one Esther Ocloo from Ghana. 3. What parts of your job keep you awake at night? Issues to do with the level of corruption brought by competitors who offer bribes to some of our clients to get them to sign on with them. The clients’ focal persons then bring out all sorts of reasons and manners to try and get you out so that they can give the contract to the person offering bribes. 4. What are the top reasons why you have been successful in business? 5. What are the best things about Zimbabwe? 6. And the worst? 7. Your future career plans? Social entrepreneurship 8. How do you relax? 9. What is your message to Africa’s young aspiring business people and entrepreneurs? Seek opportunities that are plenty in this emerging African economy, then embrace risk to actualise them. Along the way you need to believe in yourself, have loads of determination, work hard and be the best that can ever be in your chosen market. Keep a sober head and remain focused. Do not rush to conclude that you have made it. Always expand your dreams and reinvest your money into the business. Avoid the trap of leading a luxurious life at the expense of the business. 10. How can Africa realise its full potential? Divine Ndhlukula is the founder and managing director of  SECURICO, a security service provider in Zimbabwe.  In 2011, Ndhlukula won the Grand Prize at the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship for SECURICO. How We Made It In Africa

Entrepreneurial activities go beyond handcraft as it cuts across ideas birthed from the desire to meet a need, and solve a problem in the society. This was what prompted the setup of SECURICO Zimbabwe which was founded by Divine Ndhlukula. Here is her very inspiring startup story. Founder and Managing Director of Zimbabwe’s first ISO certified Security Company SECURICO; Divine Ndhlukula has risen above all odds of life to make her company a success. Divine Ndhlukula founded SECURICO Security Services from humble beginnings in Zimbabwe in 1998. She identified a need in the market for a quality-oriented security company and she has driven SECURICO to become the market leader in Zimbabwe. She has tackled a previously male-dominated industry head-on and her business success story is nothing short of remarkable – marking her as one of Africa’s most tenacious and inspiring women entrepreneurs. SECURICO today provides its clients with a complete security solution – uniformed armed officers, armoured vehicles for transportation of valuables, onsite banking, trained guard dogs, and electronic security systems. The company also does private investigations, employee vetting, and security consulting. From a young age, Divine had always told herself and everyone around her that she would be an entrepreneur and run her own large business in the future. This was driven by her recognition of the need to create a decent and secure livelihood for her family. Her quest to start and run her own business stayed with her throughout her formative years when she was studying and working to build her career.  She set out to learn all the critical elements needed to run a successful business, undertaking various development programmes along the way, enrolling on an Entrepreneurial Development Programme in 1995. At the same time, she started researching and tracking various entrepreneurial opportunities in the local marketplace, eventually in 1998 seeing a potential business opportunity in the security services sector. Divine had identified what she saw as glaring service delivery and professionalism gaps in the private security sector, inspiring her to create and build a new type of Security Company with a difference. She was also motivated by a desire to empower previously disadvantaged women in Zimbabwe who were not able to access opportunities for formal employment, recognizing that the security sector had the potential to be a large-scale employer. The company is presently a leader in the provision of bespoke guarding services and cutting-edge electronic security solutions. While setting up her business in the male-dominated industry was no cakewalk for Divine, she has taken her company within 15 years to the highs she dreamt of. The $13 million (revenues) company presently has more than 3,400 employees – 900 out of which are women. Having won several accolades for the entrepreneurship, her company was awarded the prestigious Legatum Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship last year. With numerous educational degrees and profound work experience from her past jobs, Divine has established an empire of security services that now gives a tough competition to Security giants like Midsec and Fawcett. “Our vision as SECURICO is that we become a leading security organization in the Southern African Development Community region and continue to grow at the targeted rates and make our company a truly international business” says Divine. Divine has an Executive Masters in Business Admin from Midlands State University and an MBA from Women’s University in Africa which was conferred in recognition of her business leadership and gender equality initiatives. She also holds Accounting and Marketing Management diplomas. She has done several executive development programs among others: Success Motivation International – Dynamics of Successful Management; Empretec Entrepreneurial Development Program; Strategic Business Management by AF International in Sweden, Millennium Training Program for Directors by International Finance Corp (IFC) Divine worked for ZBC from 1980 to 1982 as an Accounting Officer, Old Mutual as an Accounting Officer from 1982 to 1985 and then for Intermarket Life Assurance Company as Marketing Executive from 1995 to 1999 where she left to fulfil her vision to start SECURICO in 1999. Her leadership excellence has been recognized by the corporate fraternity as evidenced by the numerous business accolades she has won, among others Empretec Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 and Empretec Entrepreneur of Decade (Services Sector) 2002; Manager of the year 2005 for Zim Institute of Management; Celebrate a Sister Business award 2006; Institute of Directors Zimbabwe Director of the Year (SMEs) 2008; Institute of Directors Overall Director of the Year(Run Up) 2009; Zimbabwe Women Filmmakers/UNIFEM Business Award 2010. Her company has won several awards such as- National Quality Awards Company of the Year 2011, Zimbabwe’s 7th Best Employers 2010 and won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship 2011 Grand Prize run by Legatum and Omidyar. Divine has a GREAT passion for women’s economic and social empowerment and involves herself in a number of women organizations. She is a role model who has been encouraging women and young people to become entrepreneurs. Through her conscious and deliberate efforts, women are now accepted in the security sector with her company employing more than 900 women, arguably the largest employer of women in Zimbabwe outside civil service. AMAZONS WATCH