BUSINESSMAN Tinashe Mutarisi wants to be a BILLIONAIRE.
And, he has no apologies about it.
The Nash Paints boss, who built his business from scratch and has won a number of awards, took to his social media handles to reveal his dreams.
“I am going to be a billionaire, period!” he posted. It’s a huge call given that on the Forbes billionaire list, Zimbabwe has only one man, tycoon Strive Masiyiwa.
At the time Forbes released their African billionaire list, in February this year, only 18 Africans qualified to be termed billionaires. “Africa’s billionaires are richer than they have been in years,” Forbes said.
“As a group, the continent’s 18 billionaires are worth an estimated $84,9 billion – a 15 percent increase from 12 months ago and the largest tally since at least 2015. Soaring stock prices from Nigeria to Zimbabwe lifted the fortunes of these tycoons, as demand for products and services from telecom to luxury goods ticked up.
“The biggest gainer in percentage terms – up 125 percent – is Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth US$2.7 billion (up from US$1,2 billion last year).
“Shares of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750 percent in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.
“Only two of the 18 billionaires have net worths that are lower than last year.”
But, Mutarisi is not deterred.
“You’ve probably noticed that I’m always on the road these days,” he told his army of followers.
“Left Harare on Tuesday (we are looking for a shop to rent or buy) ended up in Gweru for a meeting with Dr Manzungu. Following day, was back in Zvishavane meeting with Dube Jnr for the new Nash Furnishers shop we got to open before Black Friday.
“Gwanda is doing very well, thanks to a dedicated team. Beitbridge, we are opening a Nash Paints Group store (at the) end of September.
“Thursday, I was in Masvingo, visited a client and secured another one who is building a mall in the town.”
He added: “Secured another store for one of my other businesses, which I won’t bother you with.
“Thursday was in Gweru again, met a lot of young entrepreneurs and carried over the meetings into Friday morning. We didn’t talk about business, just social issues, but here and there I was showing them where the danger is. Friday afternoon, I was about to go to Harare (when) I received a call from my team that a customer, who is promising to buy loads of paint in Masvingo wanted to see me.
“The team usually ‘pimp me out’ when they want to score a sale and ininiwo, if a customer insists on me coming to see them, I’m there fast like Wifi.
“I’m about to leave Harare now.”
He preached the gospel of hard work.
“I do not have political connections, I do not have rich relatives, ma links angu ma ghetto buddies arikutozamawo seni.
“But, one thing is for sure and I’m not going to be humble or apologetic about it. I am going to be a billionaire, period!”
He believes he should be an inspiration for the ghetto youths.
“I believe I’m here to offer a glimmer of hope to those who need it. We are coming for everything we said we will achieve. We might look timid, humble and soft but mukati we are fearless, we are giants, we are Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro rolled into one.
“We are larger than life, we are King Kong, we are a big deal, we are Godzilla!”
— HMetro
