SAM DARWISH HAS CHOSEN EMERGING MARKETS AS THE UNIVERSE IN WHICH TO GROW AND CONNECT. READ ON ABOUT THE TOWERING AMBITIONS OF THIS ENTREPRENEUR WHO ROSE AS AN ENGINEER TO RUN ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST PROVIDERS OF TELECOMS INFRASTRUCTURE, RECENTLY LISTED ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We went through a lot of hardship, but what that period gave me was a lot of focus and determination. I became an avid reader, thanks to my father’s modest bookshelf, and I used to read his books regularly with a passion. There was nothing to do because you could not go out and play in the streets. The easiest thing for me, which was the most valuable thing for a kid to do, was to read.</blockquote>



SAM DARWISH is no stranger to adversity. He spent his early childhood trying to survive the hardships brought on by the brutal civil war that gripped the West Asian country of Lebanon that he called home. Today, he is Chairman and CEO of IHS Towers, the largest telecommunications infrastructure company in Africa and one of the very few with global operations and aspirations.



With a current valuation of $7 billion, as per the company’s Q3 results last year, IHS Towers is one of only a handful of unicorns in Africa.



In October last year, Darwish marked another milestone by listing IHS Towers on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a lifelong dream for the telecom entrepreneur, and a move you don’t often hear about in Africa.



“When I rang the NYSE bell on October 14 2021, it was a privilege. I don’t think anyone of similar background or path has done this before. We are talking about ringing the opening bell of the NYSE, the largest stock exchange on earth and the pulsating heart of the global capital markets,” exudes Darwish when we meet him for this recent interview via Zoom.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Screenshot-2022-02-14-at-11.23.08.png" alt="" class="wp-image-54295" width="388" height="596" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Screenshot-2022-02-14-at-11.23.08.png 486w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Screenshot-2022-02-14-at-11.23.08-195x300.png 195w" sizes="(max-width: 388px) 100vw, 388px" /></figure></div>



From Lebanon to Lagos, he is beaming with pride in his business suit, but in scaling to those heights, taller than his towers, he has had to face some pretty low moments.



The trauma he faced in his early years seem like a lifetime ago for him now. Growing up during those bleak war-torn times in Beirut, Lebanon, Darwish had to find ways to not just survive but make meaningful sense of his long days.



“When you are a kid, you don’t realize that everyone around you is dying but over time you realize the adversity of the situation; when electricity is cut for days, when you see your father taking the battery out of the car and bringing it to the house so that he can light a bulb or turn on a small TV; you start to realize that things are not normal,” recalls Darwish of those dark times.



This difficult childhood helped embed two important traits in Darwish – the thirst for knowledge and the value of perseverance.



“We went through a lot of hardship, but what that period gave me was a lot of focus and determination. I became an avid reader, thanks to my father’s modest bookshelf, and I used to read his books regularly with a passion. There was nothing to do because you could not go out and play in the streets. The easiest thing for me, which was the most valuable thing for a kid to do, was to read.”



After receiving a Bachelor of Engineering degree – with distinction – in 1992, he joined MCI, a telecom carrier, as a satellite systems manager and over the following years became one of a small number of cell phone engineers in Lebanon.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-default is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We are the undisputed leader of telecom infrastructure in Africa. Our plan, however, is global. Excluding China and India, there are over three billion people in the emerging markets with less than a handful of infracos with a global emerging market focus.</blockquote>



A chance encounter with a group of Lebanese entrepreneurs who had acquired a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) license, brought Darwish to Nigeria.



“I helped set up the mobile phone network in Lebanon in the 1990s with Telecom Finland, and thought that coming to Nigeria would just be a two-year period to help set up another GSM network before continuing on to the United States.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Screenshot-2022-02-14-at-11.23.00.png" alt="" class="wp-image-54296" width="399" height="596" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Screenshot-2022-02-14-at-11.23.00.png 550w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Screenshot-2022-02-14-at-11.23.00-201x300.png 201w" sizes="(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px" /><figcaption> Photos by Maike Schulz/Gruber Photographers</figcaption></figure></div>



“Emigrating to the US had been my dream since I was young. I saw the US as the land of opportunity, the land where a person is respected as an individual with liberties guaranteed by its Constitution. In my opinion, this is the fundamental thing that defines America which is also why I’m delighted to have become a citizen,” says Darwish.



That two-year layover in Nigeria turned into 23 years.



During that time, Darwish set up IHS Towers, when the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo privatized the telecoms industry and issued licenses to telecom companies.



“I came from a country of four million people to Nigeria, a country of 150 million people. I felt like Alice in Wonderland given the size and the scale of the country. Yet despite the large population, there were barely any telephones in the country. I think at the time there were about 8,000 mobile phones and only a few hundred thousand fixed telephone lines,” says Darwish.



Nigeria is where he was able to put to test his perseverance and tenacity, traits acquired from his childhood.



“I think it’s important to persevere. Everyone has goals, dreams and aspirations. The difference between people who make it and those who don’t comes down to perseverance. You may fail once, twice or many times but you keep pushing until you make it. Along the way you may stop, reassess and potentially chart a new path to get to your goals. But one thing is for sure, never stop trying.”



No one believed the potential of the mobile telephony market given the high cost of service in the initial years. However, Darwish believed there was a way to reduce communication costs and make mobile phones accessible to anyone who wanted to get connected.



So, in 2001, he set up IHS Towers and started building towers for Africa’s mobile network operators (MNOs).



One of his first clients was Motorola who chose IHS Towers to provide all services related to building and running their towers.



A decade in, and there was more to report.



By 2010, IHS had shifted its focus towards the ownership model.



“We asked ourselves, ‘why don’t we own the towers ourselves and lease them to carriers’? Up until then, MTN, Orange and Vodafone all built their own towers. With each tower, these MNOs had to spend scarce resources on building their own towers, paying rent to landlords and setting up their own power supply; a very inefficient operating model. When we build a tower, we lease space for wireless antenna to several MNOs on the same tower. The infrastructure-sharing saves expenses for MNOs and also allows them to focus on their core business,” notes Darwish.



By 2012, the company had raised its first $79 million equity funding led by the International Finance Corporation.



In 2014, Darwish told FORBES AFRICA he was looking to raise $1 billion for his tower infrastructure business. Today, that investment stands at multiple billions of dollars, representing over 35,000 towers under management in 11 countries across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.



Along the way, his personal networth has also grown in excess of $500 million, his team confirm. (In the 2014 story on him in FORBES AFRICA, his wealth was cited as $200 million as valued by the Forbes wealth unit in the US.)



“We cover 750 million consumers globally – we either already operate or soon will operate in some of the largest emerging market countries – Nigeria, Brazil, Egypt and South Africa. We are the undisputed leader of telecom infrastructure in Africa. Our plan, however, is global. Excluding China and India, there are over three billion people in the emerging markets with less than a handful of infracos with a global emerging market focus.



“So much potential to grow! The average age in the emerging markets is 20 compared to 40 in the US or 45 in Europe. This is the future, and the universe in which we will grow. For example, there is no reason why IHS cannot be in 30 markets over time. We are the only company with African origins that has come from Nigeria, to list on the NYSE with approximately 35,000 towers pro forma including our MTN South Africa acquisition. This makes us uniquely skilled to tackle the global emerging markets challenges and succeed,” says Darwish.



One of the key reasons for listing on the NYSE, as opposed to an African stock exchange, was to help combat negative stereotypes about Nigerian-origin companies.



As Darwish puts it, this is an issue of governance.



“Investors want to know that you adhere to the best corporate governance practices and that you are a sustainable business. In my opinion, Africa suffers not from a lack of opportunities but from a perceived lack of governance. Investors expect a very high level of governance practices in terms of sustainability, gender equality, and ESG such as whistle-blowing, code of conduct&#8230; and companies need to have zero tolerance towards unethical behavior as part of their DNA to be able to attract capital to scale and grow,” Darwish says.



By coming to New York, Darwish is telling the world that this is the level of governance IHS Towers adheres to. “After all, the NYSE and SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) must approve your listing, banks must authorize it, you have the New York State and the Department of Justice watching you. We are now bound by the highest levels of scrutiny.”



Also, according to Darwish, only sustainable companies can scale in emerging markets because of the limited resources available to them compared to their counterparts in developed markets. So, he believes unless a company is respectful to the environment and community around its operations, there is no way it can scale.



“There isn’t enough to simply carve out and keep a piece. Companies need to expand their universe of opportunity and benefit collaboratively. That’s what building connectivity does.”



Another strategic reason for choosing the NYSE was due to the capital-intensive nature of the business. After investing billions of dollars, Darwish believes they have barely scratched the surface.



“If you look at Africa today, only about 40% of Africans have access to 3G or 4G mobile services, compared to 85% or higher penetration in the developed markets. On the continent, 5G is only available in South Africa. I believe that internet access will evolve in two ways in Africa; 5G services will be offered to address the high-speed mobile communications needs of consumers and fiber to the home or business will be deployed to solve high bandwidth connectivity demand. Both types of networks are substantially underdeveloped both in Africa and other emerging markets and require billions of dollars of investments.”



Consider IHS’ primary geographies – Africa and Latin America. According to Darwish, the average American consumes about 11GB of data a month compared to 1GB in Nigeria and 2.5GB in Brazil. This means there is room for tremendous growth via the provision of better and broader broadband connectivity. This requires greater access to capital which is best found in deep-pocketed destinations outside Africa.



“Remember the most fundamental premise for telecom connectivity is that every human being wants a bigger, wider broadband pipe no matter where they are or who they are. It’s up to us to satisfy that demand. The Covid-19 crisis taught us that whilst the world could survive with less planes, cars and trains, it couldn’t survive without the phone!” says Darwish.



So where can you find that type of money? New York, says Darwish; the NYSE has 10 times the depth of the London Stock Exchange, he adds, and that was his primary goal.



With the new inflow of capital investment, Darwish has embarked on some key strategic acquisitions.



In October last year, the company signed a partnership agreement with the Egyptian government to erect and lease to MNOs 5,800 telecom towers in Egypt during the first three years of the license term. However, IHS plans to expand further as it believes the country is on an upward trajectory.



The following month, IHS Towers signed agreements to acquire 5,709 telecom towers in South Africa from Mobile Telephone Networks Proprietary Limited (MTN), one of Africa’s leading mobile telecommunications groups.



IHS Towers will also provide Power-as-a-Service (PaaS) to MTN at approximately 12,800 sites across South Africa (including the acquired 5,709 sites). On closing, the company says this will make IHS the largest independent towerco in South Africa. In addition, IHS will become the main towerco in the three largest economies in Africa, further strengthening its leadership position on the continent.



Within the company, the growth trajectory has earned Darwish plaudits.



William Saad, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of IHS Towers, talks about his dedication and commitment to success: “Since the first day we co-founded IHS, his focus has been on building strong foundations to be ready for where we are today. Some people dream and talk about their dreams, but, Sam, when he dreams, he turns the dream into a goal and ensures it comes true. That only happens with dedication, long hours, sacrifices, research, learning, planning&#8230; and the proof is the size and geographic spread of IHS today.”



“In my five years working closely with Sam, I’ve been wowed by his ability to successfully lead a company operating in so many complicated places. What I’ve seen as truly special, has been his ability to successfully grow the company’s footprint and bottom line while at the same time truly being devoted to employee wellbeing,” attests Mel Immergut, the former Chairman of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley &amp; McCloy.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">I believe that internet access will evolve in two ways in Africa; 5G services will be offered to address the high-speed mobile communications needs of consumers and fiber to the home or business will be deployed to solve high bandwidth connectivity demand. Both types of networks are substantially underdeveloped both in Africa and other emerging markets and require billions of dollars of investments.</blockquote>



IHS’ signing of the MTN deal coincided with the completion of an agreement with TIM S.A., a Brazilian MNO and fiber operator. IHS acquired a 51% controlling interest in FiberCo Soluções de Infraestrutura S.A. (FiberCo), a former subsidiary of TIM S.A., which includes TIM’s secondary fiber network and assets, in addition to the provision of fiber optic infrastructure services as an Open Fiber Network Service Provider. FiberCo will complement as well as help further develop IHS’ tower footprint in Brazil (currently comprising of around 5,000 towers) in addition to generating revenue from fiber-to-the-X services.



“Brazil has about 200 million people, and Latin America is a few years ahead of Africa in terms of telecom sector development. FiberCo’s network passes over 6.5 million locations; 3.5 million of which is Fiber- to-the-Home and 3.4 million Fiber-to-the-Cabinets. This deal makes us one of the top fiber players in Brazil and positions us for the imminent 5G growth,” says Darwish. Whilethisdealisattractivefromareturn perspective, the main reason Darwish is excited is because of its importance to Brazil’s 5G network rollout.



“Up until now, location has been the most important part of cellphone network rollouts. FiberCo’s 70,000km of fiber strands run through the busy streets of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, etc. This network complements the roughly 5,000 towers we own, and the land bank we acquired last year. This combination makes IHS the most strategically placed digital infrastructure operator in Brazil to assist with the rollout of fast 5G networks by MNOs and other telecom operators. Very exciting!”



The new acquisitions undoubtedly make IHS Towers one of the largest telecommunication infrastructure companies globally. The focus for Darwish now is to use IHS’ increased platform and capital base to help advance Africa’s development through further deployment of digital infrastructure.

Screenshot 2022-02-14 at 11.23.16

‘THE COVID-19 CRISIS TAUGHT US THAT WHILST THE WORLD COULD SURVIVE WITH LESS PLANES, CARS AND TRAINS, IT COULDN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT THE PHONE!’

Electric car billionaire William Li, the so-called Elon Musk of China, entered 2020 in a terrible predicament. His publicly-traded electric vehicle concern, Nio, had consumed some $6 billion-plus in funding and was in a cash crunch so dire it warned investors of “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”



By February, Nio’s shares, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, traded as low as $3, valuing the company at less than its total cash raised. Dizzying losses meant Li’s electric car dream was proving harder than expected to realize, and then came Covid-19. With Nio’s stock limping along, down 80% from its first day of trading, Li turned to governments around the world for bailout cash.



On April 10, the company’s wholly-owned California-based operation, Nio Inc. USA, applied for and was granted a $5.4 million loan as part of the Cares Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), via its lender East West Bank. The cash was used to save 204 jobs, according to its application, and was part of a series of bailouts that helped save Nio and eventually turn its founder Li into a billionaire many times over. In April and May, Nio also raised over $1 billion in new cash from the Hefei and Anhui municipalities in China via manufacturing and investment partnerships.



Since its bailouts, Nio has transformed from a desperate electric vehicle concern into a stock market darling, fueled by a speculative investment mania not seen since the dot-com-era. It’s shares now trade at over $46, or a $60 billion-plus market capitalization. With its soaring valuation, Nio has raised more than $2 billion in new cash by selling stock, some of it used to redeem investments made by Chinese municipalities, according to prospectuses.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/william-li/?sh=74ba8b3911a1">Forbes values Li’s net worth at $7 billion</a>, almost entirely based on Nio’s skyrocketing stock.



Despite its success, Nio plans to keep its PPP bailout money, which was intended to keep struggling small businesses in the U.S. afloat. The millions of U.S. bailout cash the company was granted sits in its U.S. banks account and will be used for expenses. Says a Nio spokesperson in an email to&nbsp;Forbes, “NIO’s research and development center that is part of NIO, Inc. and based in San Jose, California, applied for the program and received a loan of $5.4m on April 13, 2020. The maturity date is 2 years after April 13, 2020 (i.e. April 13, 2022) with an annual interest of 1%. The entire amount has been kept in NIO’s US bank account and used for US payroll, rental expenses, and utility bills.”



Nio is far from alone among well-funded electric vehicle and self-driving car startups that took taxpayer cash. EV and self-driving car startups now worth $75 billion on public and private markets took over $50 million in PPP cash, according to&nbsp;Forbes’&nbsp;research. Many, like Nio, have decided to keep the cash even as their fortunes soar and their founders become billionaires. Included in this group are a number of EV startups that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2020/11/19/the-looming-spac-meltdown/?sh=d02d47770d7e">have cashed in on the speculative Spac boom this year to go public</a>.



Soaring EV and autonomous driving Spac concerns such as Hyliion, Luminar Technologies, Nikola Motor, Canoo, Velodyne Lidar and Lordstown Motors all took millions in PPP money. While Hyliion and Luminar have since completed their Spac IPOs and returned their $10.1 million and $7.8 million PPP loans, respectively, filings indicate Canoo and Velodyne Lidar have not returned their bailout money.



Electric mini-bus startup Canoo, which has raised over $1 billion in funding according to PitchBook data, was valued at $1.8 billion in a merger with a Spac named Hennessy Capital Acquisition IV, which raised $600 million in investor cash. Since the Spac merger was agreed in August, Canoo has seen its implied valuation surpass $3 billion based on a heavy speculative buying. Regardless, the company recently told investors it expects to see its $7 million PPP loan forgiven by taxpayers.



Says Canoo in a Dec. 4 filing. “During October 2020, Canoo submitted its application for forgiveness of the PPP Loan.&nbsp;Canoo has and intends to continue to use the PPP loan proceeds for purposes consistent with the provisions of the PPP and believes that such usage will meet the criteria established for forgiveness of the loan.” (A spokesperson didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.)



Velodyne Lidar, a startup selling self-driving car technologies, took $10 million in PPP cash. As a private startup, it raised hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital. Then, in July, it struck a merger with a Spac called Graf Industrial at a $1.8 billion valuation, raising about $400 million in new investor cash. Since the summer, Velodyne Lidar’s stock has doubled to a $3.5 billion valuation. At current prices, founder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-hall/?sh=7a1eb7dd6249">David S. Hall’s beneficial ownership of 59 million shares are worth over $1 billion</a>.



According to its financial disclosures, as of Sept. 30, the PPP loan was still sitting in company coffers. Says Velodyne in a Nov. 9 filing, “The principal and accrued interest are forgivable after 24 weeks as long as the borrower uses the loan proceeds for eligible purposes, including payroll, benefits, rent and utilities, and maintains its payroll levels and that approval is received from the relevant government entity. The unforgiven portion of the PPP Loan is payable in two years at an interest rate of 1% per annum, with a deferral of interest payments for the first six months.” (Velodyne didn’t respond to an email seeking comment).



Electric bus startup Proterra is one of the most well-funded Silicon Valley EV startups ever, raising a $750-million-plus from backers like Masa Son’s SoftBank and George Soros, according to PitchBook. It took a $10 million PPP loan in April from Town Centre Bank. Says a spokesperson of the loan, “We can confirm that Proterra received a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan earlier this year, which supported our ability to maintain a full workforce as we’ve navigated the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond that, we do not comment on financial matters involving the company.”



Lordstown Motors, an EV pickup truck startup that raised $675 million in August as part of a merger with a Spac called DiamondPeak Holdings, took a $1 million PPP loan. It will keep the cash. It recently told shareholders it&nbsp;“intends to use the entire PPP Loan amount for qualifying expenses and to apply for forgiveness of the loan in accordance with the terms of the CARES Act.”



Forbes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/2020/04/20/crony-capitalism-why-the-best-connected-businesses-got-much-of-the-sba-coronavirus-cash/?sh=2f5e1d175a3b">was also first</a>&nbsp;to report Nikola Motor Co., the once high-flying electric startup, took $4.1 million in PPP loans as it consummated a merger with a Spac called VectorIQ. After billionaire founder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2020/04/24/the-billionaire-founder-of-nikola-motors-explains-why-his-33b-company-needs-small-business-rescue-cash/?sh=2b9d8fa9362a">Trevor Milton said Nikola would keep its PPP funds</a>, the company eventually returned its bailout cash. Nikola’s soaring stock made Milton into a billionaire many times, but then he was quickly ousted from the company amid regulatory investigations into the company’s disclosures. A direct investment from General Motors was recently withdrawn, slamming Nikola’s stock. Milton’s net worth has plummeted alongside the pricking of Nikola’s pie-in-the-sky valuation.



If anything, Milton’s wax-winged rise to multi-billionaire status is a grim reminder of the hype and speculation behind today’s EV fortunes. No doubt they are being fueled by&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/08/19/the-inside-story-of-robinhoods-billionaire-founders-option-kid-cowboys-and-the-wall-street-sharks-that-feed-on-them/?sh=790f4e2d268d">get-rich-quick Robinhood options traders</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2020/11/19/the-looming-spac-meltdown/?sh=d02d47770d7e">well-compensated Spac promoters</a>&nbsp;spitting out new fortunes by the month. But, before today’s crop of EV startups struck it rich, they needed government rescue cash.



Disclosure: Forbes Media LLC confirmed on July 6, 2020 that it received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of $5 million to $10 million on April 15.



&#8211;By Antoine Gara, Forbes Staff &amp; Eliza Haverstock, Forbes Staff

The 18th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition

Electric Vehicle Bailout: Car Startups Took $50 Million In Taxpayer Cash, Then Soared By $75 Billion

You say your prayers when your kingdom comes crashing down but do you survive to tell the tale?
This is the story of 46-year-old Nigel Chanakira, one of the first black Africans to own and run a bank in Zimbabwe. He was only in his 20s in 1994 when he opened Kingdom Bank and Kingdom Financial Holdings. He beat the odds of an uncertain political and financial environment to make it happen. But the company has been as much his success story as it has been his worst nightmare.
Chanakira says:  “I had worked in white organizations. I worked in an Anglo [American] subsidiary and I was the second black investment analyst in Zimbabwe. That is where I cut my teeth and learnt about financial markets.”
Chanakira was also among the first group of black children to go to former whites-only schools in the early 1980s.
“That was an experience of its own. I was very vocal about racism. I showed them that you can co-exist as black and white,” he says.
Working for finance house Bard after school, he learnt to trade government bonds. He also came up against racist drivel like the notion that blacks could not be investment analysts.
“It was still a time when professionally things were quite racial. I proved them wrong because I became one of the finest investment analysts in the industry,” says Chanakira with a mock British accent.
But what drove him into setting up his bank was his passion for economics. He jokes that TV programs about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, showed that the biggest bling belonged to lawyers and bankers. This also sparked his interest.
Having already made a mark in the heart of the financial district in Zimbabwe, the 26-year-old knew he could take the next leap. He started by making the bold offer to buy and lead Bard. That was rejected. He then sought a licence to start a bank. And just like that Kingdom Bank was born.
“The idea of Kingdom as the name for the bank was born out of Matthew 6 verse 33: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you,” quotes Chanakira, who is cut from Pentecostal cloth and peppers his speak with biblical quotes.
Kingdom became the second bank to be listed on the local bourse. USAid sponsored him on a visit to the States. The aim of the visit was to expose him to how global financial markets work and to give him insights into how the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) operates. The ultimate dream for Chanakira was to have Kingdom listed in the Big Apple one day.
By 2007, Kingdom Financial Holdings merged with Meikles Hotel, led by John Moxon, to form the powerful conglomerate, Kingdom Meikles Africa (KMAL). Meikles had been toying around with the idea of getting into a banking deal and looked to Kingdom Bank. The merger was the culmination of lengthy negotiations. It happened because Meikles wanted an empowerment partner and a bank to be part of his diversified company that included Tanganda Tea Company, Cotton Printer, TM supermarkets and stores as well as KFHL subsidiaries. Chanakira sold 25% of his shares worth, a record of, $260 million.
Chanakira’s merge deal was big news. It got the bourse all shook up and raised the prospects of a listing on the NYSE. The deal was a triumph for Chanakira in a turbulent Zimbabwe market that had seen several local banks collapse under the burden of debts, insider trading, bad loans and corporate malfeasance. At the time, analysts called the KMAL deal ‘a marriage made in heaven.
“The share price went ballistic, it hit the roof,” says Chanakira.
But the happy days would be short-lived. In one year, relations between investors soured after a furor over money invested into the Cape Grace hotel in South Africa. Chanakira was questioned about how the money had been transferred out of Zimbabwe without his knowledge and investors demanded that the money be returned.
Soon the marriage became acrimonious and the fallout, public and nasty. The demerger between Kingdom Financial Holdings and Meikles Africa followed. Shareholders agreed to demerge KFHL from Meikles on the condition that Chanakira pay Meikles around $23 million by 2010, to regain control of KFHL.
The fallout had all the ingredients of a soap opera. Chanakira admits that the manner in which his worst day played out was full of drama that only Hollywood could have improved.
Chanakira remembers it well. It was September 2010 and he had just landed at O.R. Tambo airport in Johannesburg en route to China for the World Economic Forum meeting. His reputation intact, he had been invited to be part of a global team of young, African entrepreneurs who would debate current world business trends.
As he was checking in and clearing customs, it didn’t occur to him that his KMAL partner, Moxon, wanted him out. Chanakira says it was exactly like a typical African coup d’état. The takeover was swift and stealthy, as they executed the plan while the leader was away on official business.
“I went to the airport with a ticket to China, but I ended up flying back to Harare. Just imagine, you are about to fly out to the World Economic Forum, as a young global leader, then you receive a report of a circular, informing you you’ve been fired. John Moxon, chairman of Meikles Africa, issued a letter firing me and instructing me to leave the company. I was fired via circular sent to the market,” says Chanakira.
It was the ultimate humiliation. He was hurt, irritated and drained of energy.
In that instant, it mattered little to Chanakira that he had won numerous management awards in Zimbabwe and had been named among the greatest entrepreneurs on the continent. All the hurdles he had to overcome to form Kingdom bank and to cement the deal with Meikles, seemed in vain.
“I had sold my house to start that bank and went back to stay at my father’s house,” he says.
He adds: “We built Kingdom and expanded to Malawi, South Africa and Botswana.”
But there was no time for self-pity. Once he touched down at the airport, he began to initiate a plan to reclaim his business. His plan was to rope in political empowerment groups that would fight in his corner. When ZANU-PF party officials, loyal to President Robert Mugabe, got wind of the KMAL debacle they were hopping mad. They were not about to let one of their ‘success’ stories, which was part of the government’s indigenous empowerment strategy, be gobbled up and spat out by white business.
Even though Chanakira instituted legal proceedings, it was politics that prevailed as Chanakira called in political favors. Zimbabwean media has continued to take a dim view of Chanakira’s use of politics to handle his business affairs. Moxon eventually fled to South Africa after been specified by government for allegedly “externalizing” foreign currency.
“The demerger was a very complex transaction; it had undertones and overtones of complicated business dealings, political interference, race, even greed. The political overtones were dominant,” says Dumisani Muleya, editor of The Zimbabwe Independent.
“Chanakira had his connections behind him, pro-black economic empowerment business people, your Philip Chiyangwa, Themba Mliswa, the affirmative action proponents. Moxon marshaled some political support. He also had very strong political connections. You have to see who he was working with. He was working with Farai Rwodzi, who is well connected politically. Rwodzi had the backing of the late Retired General Solomon Mujuru. That’s the nature of business in Zimbabwe,” says Muleya.
For Chanakira, it’s been about clawing back from financial disaster to rebuild his reputation.
“I have developed friendships out of the crisis. It was very difficult. When I was still at Meikles, I had hair then—it went gray in those two years,” he says, with a chuckle.
Doing business in Zimbabwe remains an unpredictable environment where policy inconsistencies agitate both domestic and foreign investors.
He says of Zimbabwe’s indigenization program: “I think indigenization, as an empowerment tool, is a great concept. Empowerment is needed, let nobody lie to us. I can’t start a bank in the US. You can’t start a TV station [or] media. There are certain industries that are guarded in the US.”
But he adds: “The policy is too strong for the season and if you bludgeon people, if you bulldoze them, it doesn’t work.”
The program driven by indigenization minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, is a real threat. Plans are for foreign banks to give up half their stake to Zimbabweans under the controversial Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act. Already Standard Chartered, Barclays and Stanbic are in the firing line and stand to have their licences revoked.
Zimbabwe’s central bank has warned of turmoil in the financial sector, should some of these proposed government drives take place. Central bank governor, Gideon Gono, says: “There is no law that provides for arbitrariness on the part of anyone and or expropriation of banking assets in Zimbabwe yesterday, today or tomorrow.”
However, the invitation stands for Zimbabweans to come forward to start banks. Chanakira would agree, even with the rollercoaster ride he’s had. You can’t keep him from business and you can’t keep him from giving thanks in the prayer room he has in his home.
“I grew up in a very strong business family. I had a rich business culture.”
He warns about due diligence and about choosing business partners carefully.
“Kingdom is a legacy, how do you sell it for a bowl of soup, I just can’t do [that],” he says.
Chanakira lives in a posh Harare suburb today. He points to the stairs in his mansion.
“I have a prayer room upstairs; I went there to pray every day. It was three difficult years. It took nearly three years for the fight and to survive after the demerger. That was God’s intervention.”
Chanakira is still passionate about listing Kingdom on the NYSE and says it’s still a possibility.
“Absolutely, it will happen! It’s a journey. I guess we probably need another five years to get there. Africa is too rich to be poor and I want to be one of the world changers,” he says.
Kingdom Bank now has new investor on board, namely Africa Asia Bank.
Only a few months ago, Kingdom Bank was dogged by reports that they had to send clients home without cash, allegedly because the bank simply didn’t have money. Chanakira said, at the time that it was just a small hiccup and they were not having cash flow problems.
Chanakira says there’s no stopping him and that he still has a lot of his story to tell.
“I am not only going to write a book, but I’m going to make a movie. Dallas will have nothing on my story,” he says.

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