Capital markets gurus honoured

Listed companies and individuals in the capital markets segment were honoured in the inaugural Annual Capital Markets Awards hosted by Business Weekly in conjunction with London based Financial Markets Indaba (FMI) in Harare on Wednesday.

It was indeed a glamorous night as spectacularly dressed company representatives and operators in the capital markets walked to the podium to collect the awards compiled after a superb job by an adjudication team that was represented by Mrs Gloria Zvaravanhu.

Mrs Zvaravanhu is an accomplished accountant who is also chief executive of officer of Institute of Chartered Accountants Zimbabwe (ICAZ).

Some of the members of the adjudication team were drawn from business people and others from the accounting field, all with impeccable experience and integrity spanning into decades.

The inaugural awards are a landmark recognition programme to benchmark institutional achievements and performance in the markets and exchanges landscape of Zimbabwe’s Financial Services Sector.

The prestigious awards, recognised excellence in those institutions and individuals that have demonstrated a superior business strategy based on strong underlying fundamentals, highlighting emerging best practices in establishing robust market structures and identify challenges in executing sound operational processes that market participants can both learn and benefit from.

The awards were unique and became the only awards to recognise achievements in all the main segments of the capital markets through a poll of market participants.

FMI managing director, Patrick Muzondo, said the awards which were a success were dedicated to transparency and fairness evidenced through the various scorecards that were published on the website and on different social media platforms for all award categories.

“The Capital Markets Awards were a great success. The awards programme was endorsed by both the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. The winners were determined following an exhaustive evaluation of submissions along with on-site research and screening conducted by our research team
Emergent Capital Management.

“All the winners were well deserved nominees in recognition for their excellence and performance in the capital markets landscape of Zimbabwe’s financial sector,” he said.

In his introduction notes Business Weekly Editor, Hebert Zharare, saluted the capital markets actors and their role in national economic development, adding the publication, working with its partners wanted to make the awards an annual event.

“We are gathered here tonight to honour players in the Capital Markets sector whose role in mobilising resources for companies, governments and even individuals cannot be overemphasised. The prestigious inaugural awards’ goal is to recognise excellence in those institutions and individuals that have employed business strategies that market
participants can both learn and benefit from.

“It is very difficult today to imagine ourselves the time when there were no banks, stock markets, money markets, public debt — times when the fortune of people was only measured by the surface of land owned, by the number of animals one possessed as well as the number of work hands one would use in working the fields. Economies presented
themselves in the form of gold or silver goblets or jewels among others — but today, you (capital markets players) have transformed the complexion of the game,” he said.

“It is our hope as a national business publication and our partner to make this an annual event, where we recognise those dedicated to make an indelible mark in the capital markets in Zimbabwe.

“To all the participants here present, it is my sincere hope that this is the genesis of a cordial working relationship, first as associations and second as individual firms so that together we will help Zimbabweans create wealth for today and future generations,” he said.

The event was attended by captains of the sector including Zimbabwe Stock Exchange chief executive officer Justin Bgoni, Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe chief executive officer Tafadzwa Chinamo, investment manager for DBF Capital, Ms Linda Tsarwe and James Chitupa of BakerTilly Central Africa among others.-The Herald