GWERU-based business magnate Smelly Dube has been awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the just-ended 13th African Achievers’ Awards held at the House of Lords, London, the United Kingdom as the philanthropist star continues to shine on the international arena.
The African Achievers’ Awards has over the years grown into a prestigious platform highlighting the achievements and impacts of Africans who have gone the extra mile to transform their communities and beyond.
It was founded in 2011 and has been hosted in different countries to reach Africans in the diaspora. Every year the choice of venue is aimed at setting an international stage to showcase the Top African Achievers in Africa.
The 2023 event at the House of Lords provided an opportunity to showcase excellence, innovation, and resilience from the African continent, challenge stereotypes, and foster a positive image of the continent.
Dube, who is the chief executive officer of River Valley Group of Companies, has bagged several domestic, regional and international awards in her distinguished career spanning multiple sectors in recognition of her charity work and remarkable leadership and strategic acumen.
According to the London Journal, Rivervalley has achieved phenomenal growth and diversification under Dube, contributing immensely to the economy of the country.
Dube said she was honoured to be handed the prestigious award, saying she commit it to the widows, elderly and disadvantaged families in the Midlands whom she has supported.
“I know they always pray for me,” Dube said.
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“And their prayers have been answered. I commit the award to them. My drive to work hard is driven by the resolve to see those families have food on the table.”
Throughout her life, Dube has been a very diligent businesswoman, defying all odds in a male-dominated property development industry, but unselfishly enjoying the fruits of her sweat with the underprivileged.
Dube has curved her own history in mining, another male-dominated industry where she runs Tabekwe Mine, a golf mining venture employing 160 workers, apart from property development.
Dube’s expertise and dedication to business as well as philanthropic work have made her a respected leader in the country’s business community who is described by communities in the Midlands Province as Zimbabwe’s own Oprah Winfrey. Her humanitarian work has seen her being recognised even at international stages.
She has been in the field of philanthropy for more than a decade looking after hundreds of orphans in schools and providing monthly food hampers to over 30 elderly-headed households.
A fortnight ago, Dube donated groceries worth thousands of dollars and US$1 000 in cash. She handed over the donation when she was handing over a prison barrack she had renovated for female inmates at the prison. The prison barrack was renovated by Tabekwe Mine.
Dube also donated 10 × 20 litres of paint after realising that the prison building needs a new coat of paint and pledged to drill a borehole within the correctional facility to ensure a constant supply of clean water thereby mitigating water-borne diseases.
This borehole will not only address their basic needs but also provide the inmates with the opportunity to engage in productive farming activities thereby enhancing their nutrition and overall well-being.
During the ceremony, Dube also handed over high-quality winter jackets to Shurugwi traditional leaders, Chiefs Nhema, Mapanzure, Banga and Chief Ndanga.
Dube has been sustaining disadvantaged families in the province by paying school fees to children and provision of monthly groceries to widows and the elderly for the past 10 years.
