Year of birth

1964

Business

Nyaradzo Group

Website

www.nyaradzo.co.zwBiography

Phillip Mataranyika is the co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nyaradzo Group. From humble beginnings, Mataranyika went to school in Nyazura in Manicaland. In terms of employment, he worked for Old Mutual for fifteen years. He joined the company as a Benefits Administrator, rising through the ranks until he was appointed Financial Advisor, a position which he held until he left to form Nyaradzo. It must be noted that Phillip’s exploits at Old Mutual saw him scoop the Chairman’s Prize for Top Financial Advisor for five consecutive years, 1996 – 2001. Working for Old Mutual probably moulded him into the funeral assurance guru that he is now.

Nyaradzo as a business has grown remarkably over the 18 years that it has been in existence. From a funeral services company at its inception, Nyaradzo is now a combined group encompassing Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance, Calundike Exports, Eureka Insurance Brokers as well as Sahwira Events. The synergies between these individual companies have proved to be Nyaradzo’s competitive edge. Calundike manufactures coffins that are used by the funeral assurance business and Eureka Insurance specialises in insurance. Talk is that the group wants to venture into tourism with boats rumoured to already be in place in Kariba. The company is also venturing into foreign markets with offices already open in South Africa. The United Kingdom is in the pipeline.

Although he is often listed among the richest Zimbabweans, Mataranyika has managed to maintain his humbleness. More recently, he took it upon himself to drive the hearse which carried the body of the late music icon Oliver Mtukudzi. Nyaradzo continues to do well as a market leader in the funeral assurance sector. That the company survived through the 2008 hyperinflationary period during which many companies fell by the wayside is commendable.

Mr Mataranyika is a graduate of the Institute of Marketing Management of South Africa. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Strategic Management from the Chinhoyi University of Technology. He has won many awards which include the Business Luminary Award (2013), Leadership Award of the Year (2013), Chief Executive Officer of the Year (2010) and the National Businessman of the Year (2010) among others.