A person must be motivated by the joy to provide good services and be inspired by the importance and relevance of their job or business towards the betterment of their country. This is the same kind of desire that drove one of the movers and shakers in the corporate world to become one of the top achievers in the banking and corporate finance sector. It brings to mind the words of the Nigerian Christ Embassy Pastor Chris Oyakhilome who said: "You may be a trader, cleaner, teacher, civil servant or a chief executive, no matter the job or business you do, let your goal be to render service. And that way your greatness will be inevitable."
At 40, Mr Tawanda Nyambirai the TN Holdings boss has managed to achieve what most could have considered impossible for someone who is a lawyer by profession. How can a lawyer make a breakthrough in the complex banking sector? His secret is that of treating his customers as kings as he makes it his business to know what customers need and then reaches out to meet those needs.
He is the major shareholder in TN Holdings through his investment vehicle Nyambirai Associated Trusts. TN Holdings is the holding company for TN Financial Services (Pvt) Ltd, TN Asset Management (Pvt.) Ltd, TN Microfinance and TN Harlequin- a furniture division.
To meet people's needs, Mr Nyambirai saw it fit to bring the banks to the people and not the other way round. That is the reason why he places most of his banks in clothing shops, furniture and grocery outlets like Greatermans and Meikles to make it more convenient for the customers. The down-to-earth father of eight would rather describe himself as " a sinner saved by grace" as he is human and makes mistakes like any one of us. "I usually don't like talking about my personal life as there is a temptation to talk about the good and leave out the bad. "Mostly when I say I am a Christian people tend to build an image of me and half the time they forget that I am also human like anyone else who makes mistakes." he said. A staunch Warren Buffet fan, the TN Holdings Limited chief executive is inspired by the billionaire's investment principles.
He however, does not believe in having a mentor because he says it tends to elevate an individual and model someone as an example that is worth being followed. "I believe in genuine friendship and fellowship from whom I can learn and who can learn from me as well. Friends do not speak down on me but they are there to encourage me," he said. The Apostolic Faith Mission follower is motivated by the desire to change lives and assist the less privileged and make others avoid the pitfalls he fell into. Mr Nyambirai is motivated by love and focuses more on what he wants tomorrow to be like.
"I'm not building a business for today but I am modeling it in what I want to see it being tomorrow. As other banks are retrenching I am actually going against the grain as I am recruiting people because I know that the future of banking needs one to have skilled staff," he said.
Challenges are not meant to destroy you, they are meant to groom you and it takes self-confidence, discipline and focus to be an achiever, said the staunch Dynamos supporter.
Mr Nyambirai said that during the hyperinflation era many Zimbabweans lived like there was no tomorrow but on their part they remained conservative and knew that there was a tomorrow that required them to work hard. The lawyer-cum-businessman who was born in the farming community of Lalapanzi did his primary and secondary education in Chiungura in Gutu and A-Levels at Chibi High School. He went on to attain a law degree at the University of Zimbabwe in 1992 and he also holds a certificate in International Conflict Resolution studies from the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Mr Nyambirai comes from a broken family of 16 and is happily married to Ketty Nyambirai.
Mr Nyambirai described 2010 as a "good and blessed" year for him and his organisation as he was named the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Harare regional and national businessman of the year award. His company was also awarded the best commercial exhibitioner at the Harare Agricultural Show. In December last year, Mr Nyambirai won an international prize in Geneva, Switzerland, known as the Platinum Technology award for quality and best trade name.
He also got a "special award" from Tsitsi and Strive Masiyiwa for being an individual who was most supportive of the charitable activities they carry out. The successful businessman reflects with a lot of pride to the law practice that he built since it delivered value to his clients who still have fond memories of him.
Mr Nyambirai said he was particularly proud of his achievement as part of the legal team that successful led NMB Bank to dually list on the Zimbabwe and London Stock Exchanges.
He said that he managed to create a thriving bank because he had been patient for eight years since 2001 and put all his strength in building a bank that will not be short of capital.
"From humble beginnings in 2001 TN Financial Services offered advisory services and we used it as a platform to build capital to start a bank. "We preserved the capital and kept little in cash therefore suffered little losses during hyperinflation," he said. TN Bank was among some of the banks that satisfied Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe minimum capital requirements way before the deadline last year.
He added that in a few years his bank expected to have one of the largest branch networks in the country as they were expecting to have more than 32 branches and most of these will be in Econet and Meikles shops by June this year.
I'm no Masiyiwa front
TN Holdings founder and chief executive, Tawanda Nyambirai has insisted that he is “his own man”, dismissing speculation that he was a front for thenon- telecoms business interests of South Africa-based mogul, Strive Masiyiwa.
Nyambirai founded TN Financial Holdings in 2001 and engineered the group’s listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in 2010 through the reverse take-over of furniture manufacturer and retailer, Tedco Limited.
In addition, Nyambirai also chairs the Zimbabwe operations of Masiyiwa’s Econet Wireless while the telecoms entrepreneur has also become a key shareholder in the fast-expanding TN Holdings.
However, while admitting that it would be an honour to be a “front” for Masiyiwa, Nyambirai insisted that this was not the case.
“If there is anybody I would love to front for it is Strive Masiyiwa … it would be an honour,” Nyambirai said in an interview.
“Masiyiwa (is) an honest, generous, kind and humble man. He declared that his first (Econet Wireless) dividend after profit would go to charity and when he realized it he did just that and I personally distributed the money and would manage it for him and give it to charity so I know he kept his word ... he has educated over 40 000 orphans in Zimbabwe.
“So for people to say I am a front for him is a compliment and a privilege! But he is a shareholder and he is known and cited everywhere in the records as a shareholder at TN.
“People who do fronting deals do not do that. They are unknown in the background as the fronts play the role of owner. He would have been in the shadows.”
Nyambirai said Masiyiwa became a key shareholder in TN Holdings after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) ruled that bank executives could not be controlling shareholders of institutions they are supposed to be running.
“When the RBZ said I should dilute my shareholding I asked myself who the best person to partner with would be and I thought ‘Strive!” Nyambirai said.
“I was humbled and honoured when he had the confidence in me and my business to buy the shareholding. I am my own man and I have a shareholder in Strive whom I greatly admire!”
He also said TN Holdings was awaiting regulatory approval for the establishment of a cattle bank, a first for Zimbabwe. The proposed bank would allow farmers and individuals to use their stock as collateral when accessing credit.
“At the moment we are moving through the regulatory corridors,” he said.
“Steps are being taken, we have people all over the country talking to people, telling how they view it if we launch a cattle bank and the outcome is amazing.
“What is overwhelming is that it is not only rural people who are enthusiastic about the idea but also urban people.
“We have people living and working in the city who also have cattle in their rural homes as wealth and assets and they are very interested in the concept.”
Nyambirai said although significant progress had been made in improving operating conditions for business, the lack of liquidity remained a huge challenge.
“We operate in an environment and the major characteristic is illiquidity. We are operating in an illiquid market and whatever we do, we have to deal with that challenge,” he said.
“The way it affects us is there is more demand for credit than cash and very little cash is available. We have had to come up with strategies to deal with that problem and we seem to be winning.”
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