ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe deputy chief executive officer Roy Chimanikire clinched two top awards at the Director of the Year Awards (DOYA) ceremony that was hosted by the Institute of Directors Zimbabwe (IoDZ) in Harare recently.
Chimanikire walked away with the overall Director of the Year Award as well as the Director of the Year in the “Large and Listed Companies” category.
A former senior partner at Deloitte & Touche who joined the Econet Group in 2009, Chimanikire thanked the IoDZ for the awards and lauded the institute for its role in promoting excellence and in raising the standards of “corporate governance best practice” in Zimbabwe.
“I would like to especially thank my Group CEO, Dr Douglas Mboweni, for his strong leadership, and the entire Econet family — our management and staff. I also want to acknowledge the Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Board for its unwavering support of the company,” Chimanikire said.
The DOYA Awards, which were introduced in Zimbabwe by the IoDZ in 2005, recognise the achievement of a single individual in Zimbabwe, who has distinguished him or herself as a board member. The award is meant to recognise an individual’s contribution to his or her respective board’s direction, strategy, and corporate social responsibility.
This year’s awards event was running under the theme ‘ESG for Greater Transparency and Sustainability’. Chimanikire, who is deputy chief executive, but also doubles as Econet’s finance director, was instrumental in helping the telecoms company achieve its corporate goals over the last decade.
During the period under review, Econet launched the country’s first high-speed Fifth Generation (5G) mobile broadband technology. 5G is a key digital infrastructure that is poised to position Zimbabwe as a digital economy, as well as enhance the country’s digital innovation and economic competitiveness.
In addition to contributing over $31 billion to the fiscus through taxes, Econet also implemented various Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives in its quest to create a sustainable future in the communities it serves.