Alpha Media Holdings chairman, Trevor Ncube, has described the just ended Ideas Festival as a testament to the growing demand for meaningful conversations and collective action.
The three-day conference was hosted by In Conversation with Trevor under the theme Transformative Ideas to Power Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Nyanga.
The event brought together some of the country’s visionaries to connect, collaborate, network and inspire each other for the betterment of Zimbabwe’s economy.
“Let me say this, my heart is full, completely full. My heart overflows and I am so grateful to you all," Ncube said.
"I am grateful to the speakers, grateful to all the delegates, and grateful for the quality of the conversations that have taken place over the past two- and-a-half days.
"And I stand in front of you this evening to say thank you so much to you all.
“This would not have happened without you. I also want to say thank you to all our sponsors, who are our partners, rather, who partnered with us, West Properties, Titan Law, Old Mutual Eight2Five, Zenith Car Rental, Legacy Car Rental, and Kumusha Wines.
“I also wanted to remind you why we are doing what we are doing.”
Ncube said the festival is a long-term project for nation-building incorporating influential economic players, sector leaders, corporate leaders, and the youth, affecting national conversation.
“This is part of a long-term project of nation-building. And nation building is a heavy-lifting task that cannot be done by one individual.
“ The Ideas Festival comes off the In Conversation with Trevor platform,” he said.
“The In Conversation with Trevor platform has been around now for five years.
“And when it was started, it was essentially to address the need for us to tell our stories, to have our own narratives, our narratives that then change our stories of who we are.
“We are effecting the national conversations and there is a sense that the nation is embracing what we are doing.
“So, like I said, it starts with an individual, who goes to the society that we are living in, the families that we are living in, and then goes into the business where we are operating in to make an impact.
“We have reached a point where it is going to be difficult for us to change who we are just through politics alone, and that what we are doing here is essentially a long-term process of making an impact through meaningful conversations.”
He emphasised that the Ideas Festival continues to bring up the much needed conversations and make a lasting impact on Zimbabwe, calling on every individual to play their part in creating the impact.
“This is the third Ideas Festival, an idea which was birthed in Nyanga.
“I am going to do a pitch right now, and that pitch is, if there is anybody, any corporation that sits today and says, this is beautiful, we want to get involved, we are looking for those people who see the beauty in what we are doing.
“We are inviting partners who want to partner with us in these beautiful spaces and these beautiful conversations,” Ncube said.
“Some conversations changed people here and touched people.
“We have heard testimonies of what In Conversation with Trevor has done to the guests who appear on the show, and to the people who listen to the conversation every week.
“And we want to continue that impact going forward. So, for next year’s Ideas Festival, we are going to have it from the 28th of October to the 30th of October next year. It is Tuesday up to a Friday here in Nyanga.”
Ncube is the owner of Alpha Media Holdings, a private media company that publishes two weeklies, Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, and the daily, NewsDay.
AMH also owns the online broadcasting company, Heart & Soul.