Prominent businesswoman and founder of Securico Security Services Divine Ndhlukula has won the Forbes Africa Businesswoman of the Year award. She was presented with the award at the Leading Women Summit held on 8th March 2019 in Durban, South Africa.

“It’s such an honour for me to receive the award on a special day like today (International Women’s Day). We are coming from very far as women in Africa. This award was totally unexpected. We don’t do what we do so that we are recognised, but there is indeed a reward for giving of ourselves and in doing what we do,” Ndhlukula said in her acceptance speech. In scooping the award, Ndhukula shrugged off stiff competition from other top businesswomen from across the continent. The function itself was a star-studded affair, with internationally acclaimed model Naomi Campbell as one of the keynote speakers.

The journey

Divine Ndhukula has a long entrepreneurship history, commendable indeed. She ventured into farming in the early 90s. She had had stints with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and Old Mutual before. However, it is her work at Securico Security Services that has gained her the respect of a seasoned business person. She founded the company in 1998, working from home with just four employees. Previously, this was a male dominated sector but she soldiered on growing the business into a force to be reckoned with.  In 2005, she established Canine Dog Services and in 2008 she acquired Multi-Link which offers electronic security solutions. Currently, Securico employs 3 400 people. 900 of these are women. Securico is the first company in the country to achieve the International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO) certification. Ndhlukula has empowered a lot of women through her goat breeding programme as far as farming is concerned. She also provides seed capital to budding entrepreneurs.

Other achievements

Securico Security Services was recently nominated on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) “list of companies to inspire Africa in 2019.” This is a collection by the LSE Group comprising companies picked by its partners, venture capitalists, private equity firms, impact investors, development finance institutions and Asoko Insight, its research partner. Apart from that, Divine Ndhlukula has received many accolades along the way. These include the Zimbabwe Investment Authority Women Investor of the Year and the Super Brand of the Year in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 among many others. One of the most significant success stories of Securico Security Services was when it won $100 000 in the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship in Nairobi, Kenya. They beat 3 300 other companies to clinch this award. Divine sits on several boards including the Chamber of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) Business Linkages Committee, The Zimbabwe National chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) and others.

Certainly, the Securico journey continues. Divine Ndhlukula is making a huge difference not only as a woman entrepreneur, but also as a Zimbabwean.