The Sunday News
BUSINESSES in Zimbabwe especially Bulawayo have been scaling down operations or closing down due to financial constraints but the future is not all that bleak as witnessed by the performance of certain individuals and companies.
One such story is that of Mrs Ruth Ncube, First Mutual Life managing director, who was bestowed with the prestigious Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Businesswoman of the Year Award for 2014.
Speaking at the ZNCC annual congress, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha said it was imperative to hold workshops where businesspeople who excel share their experiences with others to show that although the country was undergoing economic difficulties, there was still hope for economic growth and revival.
“We are working on hosting a workshop for businesspeople that excel in their respective areas so that they can share and give advice to others, businesspeople like Ruth Ncube who despite a challenging economic landscape, have managed to stay afloat,” said Minister Bimha.
Sunday Business could not wait for the workshop for successful people to share their experiences but traced Mrs Ncube to get an insight of how she had risen above the rest at such a challenging time
In an exclusive interview, Mrs Ncube revealed that in order to survive the myriad of challenges, First Mutual Life had already adjusted its strategy matrix having derived the economic theme from Zim Asset towards Small and Medium Enterprises, Agriculture, Mining, informal markets and the civil service.
“We see good prospects to grow the businesses through the use of strategic partnerships, robust client relationship management for organic growth and the use of technology to streamline product distribution and premium collection costs.
“We have embarked on a renewed focus on micro- insurance with an emphasis on smes, churches, and burial societies in and around Bulawayo and the response has been so promising.
We are also looking at supporting agricultural financing models by providing bespoke insurance packages to support the Zim Asset targets on agriculture.
Most importantly, we do have a solid corporate customer base in this region,” she said.
As a businessperson who operates businesses in all cities, Mrs Ncube said she looked at issues affecting business in Bulawayo as an affirmation of the challenges that exist at national level and not as peculiar to the city alone.
She said Bulawayo’s major challenges may be stemming from its proximity to South Africa and Botswana as imports from these countries had practically replaced local manufacturing, an area that has been a domain of the city.
“The same trend has been noted across the country with figures from the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries showing a decrease in capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector. While a number of closures and relocations have been noted in Bulawayo, there also have been some sizeable investments in new technologies, new products and increased capacity utilisation in some companies. First Mutual Life remains positive on the potential that lies in Bulawayo and a number of initiatives for the short to medium term are in the pipeline,” said Mrs Ncube.
She said they were particularly excited about the prospects of Government affording the city of Bulawayo Special Economic Zone status as this would help in attracting new investors and stimulate both the revival and growth of industry.
“Furthermore, improved access to the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) is also expected to go a long way in helping resuscitate industries across the country – including in Bulawayo,” she said.
On being accorded the Businesswoman of the Year award, Mrs Ncube said it was a huge honour for the First Mutual Life team to get this recognition from the ZNCC for the good work they have done over the past few years.
She said FML aimed to remain the epitome of innovation in creating wealth for life.
“We have fostered our position as the most visible financial risk services brand in traditional markets, low income and the rural markets. The recognition we have received from ZNCC gives me a great feeling as it is a major vote of confidence on our people, processes, strategies and objectives that gives assurances to our policyholders, regulators and shareholders,” she said.
Speaking on the achievements of FML in 2013, Mrs Ncube said the year 2013 was a watershed for First Mutual Life as they introduced a mobile insurance funeral cover, the e-FML, a brand new concept that has never been seen the world over.
She said this was a purely mobile and automated funeral policy whose registration and premiums are paid using the mobile phone and provide a funeral payout starting from $500 for a monthly premium of 80 cents.
“Furthermore, through our commitment to innovative products and excellence in service delivery, First Mutual Life was ISO certified — an achievement which took much commitment and hard work from the team. Under my leadership at First Mutual Life, the business was accorded the Superbrand Prize, Brand of the Year, in the insurance category for two years running.
“We also established a value adding partnership with POSB, the country’s only savings bank with a unique clientele base — the same clientele we have viewed as vital in advancing financial risk cover inclusivity in the country,” she said.
Mrs Ncube said she was driven by passion about her work. She said it was important to be motivated and driven to be the best that she could be at her job.
“As aptly said by Dr Martin Luther King Jr ‘If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’
“I have built a leadership personality based on diligence, reliability and integrity. I strongly believe in multi-tasking, delegating and team work. As a result, I have witnessed my team putting together a multi-million dollar business supported by over 500 000 policyholders, members and subscribers. It’s great to put in place a team that cares about their company and about doing a good job,” she said.
Sunday Business asked Mrs Ncube how she feels being a successful woman in a world dominated by men and she said while the world was dominated by men, the financial services sector in general and insurance in particular was even a more pronounced haven for men hence a woman had to work twice as much as a man just to be recognised and one needed to develop themselves into a personal brand.
Mrs Ncube urged all businesses in the country to revisit their business models and adopt models that are viable.
She said aligning cost structures to the prevailing environment, harnessing proper financing structures and aligning company strategies to the government’s economic blueprint Zim Asset was critical for the survival and growth of the business and the economy.
First Mutual Life Assurance Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Mutual Holdings Limited whose primary business activities are the provision of life assurance, retirement benefit products and other long-term financial security products.
It is the African benchmark in this field whose lifeline is to safeguard and grow the wealth of its clients.
