Youthful entrepreneur and director of Continental Plazas, a chain of retail shops in Gweru, Sitholokuhle Dube has been recognised as one of the 50 Pan-Africa Changemakers of 2023 under the Youth and Community Impact Championship Development award by the Pan-African Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (Paledec).
Dube was also awarded an entrepreneurial award together with 19 other youthful entrepreneurs drawn from across the African continent.
She received the award at the 8th Pan-African Humanitarian and Investment Summit which was held in Dakar, Senegal last week.
The summit ran under the theme Driving Positive Change and Fostering Prosperity in Africa.
The organisers of the event said the idea was to motivate youths in business to grow.
"At the Pan-African Humanitarian and Investment Summit, we believe that progress begins with every step forward, no matter how small,” said the organisers in a statement.
“Whether you are an investor seeking promising opportunities or an advocate for African development, your presence and participation matter.
“Africa is rising, and each step we take leads us closer to realising its full potential.”
Dube, who also runs a successful grocery and cosmetics shop in Gweru and is a director at River Valley Group, a company owned by her multiple international award-winning mother and philanthropist, Smely Dube, said she was very happy to be honoured at a regional stage.
She said she was born into a family of entrepreneurs and was following up in the footsteps of her parents, Mncedisi and Smelly Dube who have been dominating the land development business in Gweru.
They are now also into gold mining.
"Being born into a family of businesspeople, I decided to follow the same path and I have learnt a lot from my parents in terms of how to become an entrepreneur,” she said.
“I am grateful for their support and encouragement and l am inspired and motivated to do more and contribute to the growth of our economy and also towards growing the regional economy in the process."
Smelly Dube has countless awards to her name.
In May, she was honoured as the VIP guest speaker and awardee at this year’s edition of the prestigious 2023 Leaders Without Borders Annual Business Summit and International Honours held in London.
The renowned philanthropist and peace ambassador was inducted into the African Leaders Hall of Fame at the African Business Summit in Accra, Ghana the following month.
She has received several awards locally, regionally, and internationally in recognition of her business acumen and outstanding work in philanthropy where she looks after over hundreds of orphans and the elderly in the Midlands province.
