Director

Nigel Chanakira

Nigel Muranganwa Kudzayi Chanakira is an economist by training, an investment banker by profession, a businessman by choice and a success facilitator and coach by passion.

Nigel was born in Harare on 11 July 1966 and  he holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) – Class of 1987, upper second class pass- as well as a Master’s of Science (Honours) in Economics – Class 1990 – from the University of Zimbabwe. He holds a diploma as a prize student in banking from the Institute of Bankers of Zimbabwe in 1989 and completed a diploma in Bible Studies at Celebration College in 2017. Nigel has attended numerous Zimbabwean and international banking, management and leadership development programs with institutions that include Oxford University in the United Kingdom and, Harvard University, the Pacific Institute and the Haggai Institute of Leadership in the United States of America. He is also an alumni of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow and Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and, he is the active Founding Curator of all three Global Shapers hubs of WEF in Zimbabwe since 2012.

Nigel’s career as a professional economist, investment banker and businessman spans 35 years, commencing at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as an assistant economist, then becoming  an investment analyst and fund manager at Bard Investments Services (Pvt) Ltd where he was appointed a director at the remarkable age of 24 years. Nigel subsequently founded, Kingdom Securities Ltd with his partners in 1994 becoming the youngest ever founding CEO and owner of a banking institution in Zimbabwe at the age of 28. He proceeded to lead teams in his various businesses to start, acquire, merge and sell stakes in banks, financial services firms and conglomerates locally, in the Sub-Sahara African countries of Malawi, Botswana, Zambia, and South Africa, and then in the United Kingdom where he was GCEO of Kingdom Meikles Africa Ltd (KMAL) that was listed on the London Stock Exchange until 2010 and participated in the acquisition of Lonrho’s assets in Zimbabwe. In 2011 he merged Kingdom Financial Holdings Ltd with AfrAsia Bank Ltd in Mauritius before selling is entire shareholding to them in September 2013 to focus his attention on leadership coaching and mentoring through his wholly owned Success Motivation Institute (AfriCan) in association with Leadership Management International, Inc. (USA). During the period that he has been chairman of SMI (AfriCan), Nigel and his team have facilitated world award winning companies that have used SMI, LMI & FMI leadership development programs such as Delta Corporation, Mimosa Mines, Econet Wireless Ltd, and PPC (Zimbabwe).

In 2013 he formed a family owned firm, Kingdom Private Equity and Power Tank, (a specialist advisory services firm) and he has since then, offered his services when called upon as a thought leader for organizations that include UNIDO, IFC, PUM and the Government of Zimbabwe in the investment reform agenda.

Throughout his business career and primarily as chief executive officer of the Kingdom group, Nigel has won more than 30 local and international personal, business and community awards that include the prestigious Director of the Year by Institute of Directors of Zimbabwe, twice being recognized for running the Top Company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and leading the best turn-around company on the ZSE. In February 2021, Nigel received the Zimbabwe Community News Lifetime Achievement Award in Business Mentorship. In 2023, Nigel was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame in Zimbabwe.

Nigel is an experienced board member outside his own companies and he has served on boards of two listed companies as a non-executive director in Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and First Mutual Life. He is the past non-executive chairman of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority, the Solidarity Trust Zimbabwe (that spearheaded the private sector response to COVID-19 in Zimbabwe) and Network 58. Nigel currently serves on the board of Celebration Ministries International, Riskflow in Botswana & Ireland, and he is on the leadership council of Success Motivation International (SMI), Leadership Management International (LMI) and Family Motivation International (FMI) in Waco, Texas, USA having facilitated over 1 250 individuals and in 2023 he was recognized and joined the Master Degree level of the SMI, LMI & FMI leadership council. Notably, Nigel was a former President of the Zimbabwe Economics Society where he served the organization with distinction and he was asked to assume the leadership to resuscitate that organization with effect from October 2020. Nigel is chairman of Junior Achievement Zimbabwe that in 2022 trained +150 000 school kids per annum in entrepreneurship, financial literacy and job readiness. Finally, Nigel is chairman of a new energy group, L’ Africa Energy (Pvt) Ltd that aims to produce +1000 MGW of power in Zimbabwe.

Nigel was an award-winning sportsman in soccer (Churchill High School Soccer captain, wings awards, and captain of Mashonaland Central Schools), tennis (Under 11 Harare Bata Tennis Tournament  winner) and basketball (received Zimbabwe National Colours for basketball at the Africa Games in 1983). Nigel is a fitness enthusiast who summitted Mt Kilimanjaro in 2013, and he is an avid Liverpool FC, Dynamos FC, Barcelona and Orlando Pirates soccer fan.