James Makamba

Dr. James Makamba
Born	1952 (age 71–72) Zimbabwe
Nationality	Zimbabwe
Occupation(s)	Business Magnate,Telecoms Mogul and Philanthropist
Spouse	Mrs Irene Makamba
Children	Chiyedza, Kushinga, Tawanda and Zororo

Dr. James Makamba (Born 1 January 1952) is an African commercial broadcaster, businessman, politician and philanthropist. Makamba currently has interests in the retail, telecommunications, mining, agricultural, property and professional consultancy sectors, digital publishing and philanthropy.

He sits on the boards of IBBAMO Foundation, JHL Investments, Thurlow & Company, the Kestrel Corporation (Pty) Ltd, African Business Connect, Makamba & Associates, Telecel Zimbabwe and Anglo African Minerals.

James Makamba holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from California Coast University. In 2012, James Makamba was awarded an honorary doctorate in Business Leadership from St Linus University, Dominica

Background and family life

Early Life

Makamba was born in the Shamva District of Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia). Makamba was the youngest of ten children of Jinja Makamba a retired police officer and Veronica Mudungwe.

Education

Before his family moved to the Chesa district, to Mount Darwin, Makamba attended the Mupfurudzi Primary School, along with Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi, who became a globally renowned musician. After the move, Makamba attended the Kujuwara School near Mount Darwin and then one of his older brothers, Raphael, invited him to live with his family in Tomlinson Depot, Harare, where he finished his upper primary education. He then attended the Jesuit Mission School, in Bulawayo, for his secondary education where strict discipline, focus, and accountability were instilled. The Jesuit fathers suggested to Makamba that he study in Ireland to be a priest. Makamba considered the suggestion as young black Southern Rhodesians of the time had very few career options beyond teaching, nursing, and police work. A far bigger attraction, however, was the idea of international travel. Makamba, however, did not take up the opportunity to join the priesthood due to family obligations.

Business career

Broadcasting

When Makamba left high school, he went to work in Harare at the Catholic Centre. In a neighbouring building was a government organisation, Audio Visual Services, which was responsible for recording educational material for schools. After he had observed a friend make recordings on several occasions, Makamba was asked to stand in for a voice artist who had not arrived for a particular session. This began a career in broadcasting that lasted several decades.

After a year of school broadcasts, Makamba became a commercial radio broadcaster for the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), on Channel 2. Determined to be his own boss rather than an RBC employee, he set about sourcing businesspeople willing to sponsor programmes and then packaged their advertising with customer interviews and popular music. Because Mowtown was very much in vogue, Makamba sported the bellbottom trousers and enormous afro hairstyle of the time, aligning himself with the racial integration and equality that Motown represented by its crossover success. Very rapidly, he became British colony of Southern Rhodesia’s most popular DJ, running 28 radio shows a week and touring the country to run discos at events ranging from weddings to New Year parties. He established his own company, called Associate Holdings.

His years in commercial radio broadcasting enabled Makamba to build an extensive network of business contacts and identify business opportunities and assemble the partners and the finance to undertake bold commercial initiatives.

When most of the white broadcasters left British colony of Southern Rhodesia in the lead up to independence, Makamba set up and became managing director of a consortium of black entrepreneurs in order to buy out the largest of the country’s advertising production houses and rebrand it as Media Associates. In 1997, one of his companies leased Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s (ZBC’s) second colour television channel, turning it into the country’s first independent television station, known as Joy TV. The station’s licence was revoked in 2002 because, according to officials, Zimbabwe’s 2001 Broadcasting Act prohibits government-licensed broadcasters from leasing their frequencies to other broadcasters.

Zimbabwean national television broadcasting remains a government monopoly.

M&M Products

In addition to the business network he was able to develop through commercial broadcasting, Makamba’s years as an activist during the Chimurenga liberation struggle provided him with contacts who where influential in both government and commerce.

When the late General Solomon Mujuru, who had led the guerilla forces during the war, resigned from his post-independence position as commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, he went into business and farming.

He chose Makamba to be one of his partners in businesses in Bindura, a small town of 60 000 residents that had grown up around Anglo American mining activity. Both men were still politically active, and Makamba became, first, a ward councilor for Bindura and, then, mayor of the town. He was subsequently elected to parliament on a Zanu-PF ticket.

However, he maintained friendships across party political lines and was introduced by James Chikerema, a veteran nationalist, to Tiny Rowland, then Chief Executive of Lonrho, a London-based conglomerate with diverse interests across Africa. Over the years, Rowland acquired a reputation as a shrewd deal maker who made healthy profits for Lonrho, especially in Africa

At the same time, Makamba met Thurman McKenzie, one of the founders in Atlanta, Georgia of M&M Products. The products included the Soft 'n' Free line of beauty and cosmetic products designed specifically for black people. McKenzie was on one of the annual trips to Africa arranged for American businessmen by American activist and diplomat, Andrew Young, to encourage investment in Africa.

McKenzie awarded him the distribution rights for M&M Products for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Makamba approached Tiny Rowland to provide him with financial backing for setting up an M&M marketing and distribution company in Botswana.

Makamba has since sold the company to South Africans, but the M&M deal was his first international initiative and, through Lonrho, exposed him to big business across a range of sectors on the rest of Africa and, eventually, as a consultant to Lonhro, to business on a global level. It was also his introduction to business in South Africa.

Million Dollar Round Table

Makamba’s entrepreneurial abilities were acknowledged when, during the 1980s, one of South Africa’s oldest and largest financial services companies, Old Mutual, began an expansion drive that, by the end of the decade, would see it listed on five international stock exchanges and having acquired substantial companies in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

Although it had opened an office in southern British colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1927, Old Mutual was not particularly active in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

Makamba realised that the combination of Old Mutual’s new focus on expansion and its lack of penetration of the African market represented an enormous business opportunity. He became a consultant, selling insurance and investment products to individuals and organisations. Astutely, he built on the extensive network of contacts he already had but was also enormously successful at cold calling. So much so that, within a record eight months in 1980, he had generated one million American dollars’ worth of sales. According to research, most of the top insurance consultants globally reach the one million dollar target only in their second or third years in the business. As a consequence of his feat, Makamba qualified as a member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) alongside a fellow entrepreneur Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo.

Known as the premier association of financial professionals, the MDRT is an international, independent association of nearly 38,000 of the world's leading life insurance and financial services professionals from more than 450 companies in 79 countries. The MDRT requires its members to demonstrate exceptional professional knowledge, strict ethical conduct, and outstanding client service. MDRT membership is recognised internationally as the standard of sales excellence in the life insurance and financial services business.

Makamba was also consistently among Old Mutual’s top 25 consultants. His achievements in the insurance industry are all the more remarkable because he was one of the first Africans to become active in the sector. He had no African mentors but he has since become a mentor for others in the sector.

Lonrho

Partnering with Makamba in setting up the M&M distributorship in Botswana had given Tiny Rowland insight into Makamba’s negotiation and relationship-building talents as well as his inexhaustible energy. He engaged him as a government relations consultant for Lonrho plc initiatives across Africa, among them promotion of the Mercedes Benz franchise in sub-Saharan Africa, establishment of tea plantations, the building of railways, and the development of tourism and agriculture.

When Lonhro was appointed by Boeing to be their agent in Africa, Rowland appointed Makamba as Lonhro’s sales executive for Boeing with the objective of using the influential political and commercial pan-African network Makamba had by this time developed to expand Boeing’s share of the African market. As a consequence, Makamba pioneered jet air travel in many African countries. His talent for pre-empting future trends also enabled him to guide the procurement panel at Air Zimbabwe into a choice of the Boeing 767 rather than the more obvious Boeing 747, because it had much lower running costs and would bolster the airline’s profitability.

When Rowland tasked Makamba with the Boeing campaign, he asked that Makamba base himself in London and persuaded him to accept the deputy chairmanship of Lonhro Botswana.

Telecel

In 1993, with Nelson Mandela having been released from prison in 1992 and South Africa’s historic first democratic elections due in 1994, Makamba decided to set up an operational base in South Africa.

During the same period, the Zimbabwean government was in the process of awarding three cellular operator licences. Makamba formed a consortium of Zimbabweans, including war veterans and indigenous groupings, through which he could partner with Telecel International, the first cellular services provider on the African continent, to tender for one of the licences. When the licence was awarded in 1995, Makamba became chairman of Telecel Zimbabwe as well as chairman of the consortium. Telecel Zimbabwe is currently restructuring to comply with new Zimbabwean indigenisation laws that require a 51% shareholding by locals in companies operating in Zimbabwe.

Through Telecel Zimbabwe and his board membership of Telecel International, Makamba developed an enduring friendship with Telecel International’s founder, the late Miko Rwayitare. A Rwandan, Rwayitare brought cellular technology to Africa by obtaining the first ever concession in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) and building it into the continent’s largest cellular operation. Makamba believes that Rwayitare’s determination and vision have had a profound influence on his own approach to obstacles in business and in life.

Controversy

Makamba’s ability to build and maintain relationships across cultures and political affiliations and to quickly get to grips with multiple markets and business environments equipped him to fully exploit the wealth creation opportunities he encountered.

Largely seen as Tiny Rowland’s protégé, Makamba followed in the footsteps of his mentor by forging relationships with movers and shakers in both politics and commerce, creating resentment among those less well connected.

The same capabilities also exposed him to criticism from those whose vested interests his initiatives threatened. In addition, his own close relationships were often with controversial people and Tiny Rowland had strong associations with a wide range of African leaders, many of whose public personas were contentious. Nonetheless, Rowland’s ability to straddle cultural and political divides in order to create wealth in Africa for Africans earned him South Africa’s highest honour, the Order of Good Hope – awarded at a public ceremony by former president, Nelson Mandela.

Makamba’s associations and his high profile attracted close media scrutiny. It has been alleged, for instance, that he had an affair with Robert Mugabe’s second wife, Grace Mugabe, and had to flee Zimbabwe as a result.

His response to the allegation is that, along with other members of the ZANU PF Central Committee, he worked closely with Grace Mugabe on international fund-raising initiatives focused on improving the lives of Zimbabwean women and children. “We built schools, orphanages, and old age homes, set up bursaries, established development organisations, and installed electricity supplies, amongst other things. These are 24x7 projects. Rumours are bound to arise. But, in African culture, every woman you encounter is a mother or a sister, depending on her age. We all respected the social barriers such terms imply.”

Makamba was also charged, on three different occasions, with violating Zimbabwe’s Exchange Control Act. On all three occasions, he was arrested and spent lengthy periods in prison – before the trial. All the cases were thrown out.

Makamba was not the only Zimbabwean business person to be harassed in this way. Nicholas Vingirai, chief executive officer of Intermarket Holdings, Gilbert Muponda, CEO of ENG Capital, James Mushore, former deputy managing director of NMB Bank, NMBZ's Julius Makoni, Otto Chekeche, CEO of NMB Bank, Francis Zimuto, NMBZ director, Mthuli Ncube of Barbican Bank, John Moxon, of the Meikles group, and Mutumwa Mawere, who had an extended business empire that included Shabanie and Mashava mines (seized by the government), all fled the country as a result of the government’s 2004 crackdown on the business and financial sector.

In 2005, the government ‘specified’ the business people it had been prosecuting, Makamba among them. Makamba was out of the country at the time and was not able to return to Zimbabwe without being prosecuted.

In 2011, Zimbabwean newspapers accused Makamba of deliberately missing the funeral of his daughter, Chiyedza, who had been killed in a car accident. For Makamba, this has been the most disturbing of the controversies that have surrounded him.

Deprived of his home and his commercial base and having suffered severe financial losses during the six consecutive months in which he had been jailed for the court proceedings before being specified, Makamba had had to rebuild his life by reinforcing existing business interests outside of Zimbabwe as well as creating new revenue streams that would sustain his family during what, at the time, appeared to be an indefinite period of exile.

In 2008, Zimbabwe’s political landscape changed significantly with the signing of the Global Political Agreement ushering in power sharing among Zimbabwe’s three strongest political parties. Robert Mugabe of the Zanu-PF party, which had dominated politics and government since independence in 1980, remained president, but leaders of other parties would be prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively.

Financial reforms were also introduced, with the international community helping Zimbabwe to establish fiscal governance structures and restore Zimbabwe’s reputation as an investment destination. In 2009, the economy was dollarised.

In the same year, Makamba and other business people were despecified. Unlike many of his peers, during the period in which he was despecified, Makamba did not remove his assets from Zimbabwe – and his family continued to live there.

Theoretically, after his despecification, he was free to return to Zimbabwe without being prosecuted. However, while his country was slowly recovering on the economic and political fronts, the bona fides of certain players in the environment remained ambiguous. When Chiyedza Makamba died, it was still impossible for her father to re-enter Zimbabwe.

He requested close friends in Zimbabwe to assist his family with funeral arrangements and comfort them in their grief. Thousands of kilometres away in South Africa, he had to grieve alone.

Because Makamba has to date not returned to Zimbabwe, rumours that ‘James Makamba fears returning to Zimbabwe’ began to circulate, as the media suggested that President Mugabe might have a score to settle with Makamba after his alleged affair with Grace Mugabe.

Makamba says that, given the traumatic way in which he was denied access to his country and the emotional consequences to himself and his family of his not being able to attend his daughter’s funeral, he wants to return to Zimbabwe in a way that makes that return a positive experience for the family. “It needs to be a special occasion, free of controversy and media attention. This is a family and not a political matter. As a family, we will choose an appropriate time.” Makamba’s largest personal and business investments remain committed to Zimbabwe.

Charity work

Ibbamo

In 2009, inspired by the role education had played in Barack Obama’s rise to the world’s most powerful political position, Makamba founded the [http://www.ibbamo.org.za Ibbamo Foundation, registering it in South Africa and the United Kingdom. The name is an acronym for ‘inspired by Barak and Michelle Obama’. The organisation raises funds and establishes projects for improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged South African children.

The foundation’s programmes are focused on academic excellence, leadership, social responsibility, and entrepreneurship – and are a reflection of Makamba’s own philosophy: education is the oxygen of life.

Through the Ibbamo Foundation Makamba has raised funds for the Jacob Zuma Education Trust.

Bongi Ngema Zuma Foundation

James Makamba also serves as a trustee of the Bongi Ngema Zuma Foundation which promotes awareness of diabetes. Ngema Zuma is the wife of South African, president, Jacob Zuma.

Makamba’s interest in the Foundation is consistent with his profound belief that “education is the oxygen of life”.

The Foundation’s priority focus is on raising awareness of diabetes so that communities and individuals can take the necessary dietary and lifestyle steps to, firstly, lower the risk of triggering diabetes and, secondly, help those living with diabetes and associated diseases improve the quality of their lives.

Creating awareness of the causes, symptoms, and treatment of diabetes entails a broad campaign focused on rural development, education, and health programmes. The Foundation therefore emphasises knowledge sharing.

Makamba is committed to bolstering the Foundation’s inherent capacity to effect positive change in society.

At home, in Zimbabwe, James Makamba’s wife, Irene, manages a number of charity activities on behalf of the family and its business interests in the country. She is also a member of Soroptimist International, a worldwide service organisation for women that is committed to a world in which women and girls, together, achieve their individual and collective potential, realise aspirations, and have an equal voice in creating strong, peaceful communities worldwide.

Through membership and chairing such associations in Zimbabwe, Irene Makamba has helped host international visitors to Zimbabwe and distribute donations from them to a range of development projects, raised funds for cancer associations and for board and tuition fees for underprivileged children, arranged for hospital wards to be painted, bed covers to be sewn for hospital beds, mattresses bought for the parents of hospitalised children to sleep on, provided heaters for hospital rooms that house malnourished children, and provided farm produce, clothes, and books to children’s homes.

The Makamba family has also helped establish boreholes and water pumps for villages with no water supply.

Political career

Having seen life in both pre- and post-independence Zimbabwe, Makamba understood the difficulties ordinary Zimbabweans were having in taking full advantage of their new social and political freedom.

When Makamba moved to Bindura, during his business partnership with General Solomon Mujuru, then commander of the Zimbabwean National Army, he involved himself in addressing the civic needs of the 60 000 residents of that town. He became the mayor of Bindura on a Zanu PF ticket. He was elected publicity secretary for the Mashonaland Central Province and, within five years, became chairman. He was a member of the Zanu PF central committee and served on its national fundraising committee. He was subsequently elected to parliament in 1995, where he served on the Public Accounts committee.

He was also one of the businessmen who travelled internationally with President Robert Mugabe to promote investment in Zimbabwe. He resigned from public life to pursue his career as a government relations consultant for Lonrho plc Lonrho. He says that he is not a politician at heart and would not seek elected office again.

James Makamba and ANC

The struggle for democracy in South Africa and Chimurenga liberation struggle overlapped both in time and objectives. Because of his close involvement in the structures of Zanu-PF, Makamba had come into contact with leaders of the ANC, some of whom were in exile in Zimbabwe and surrounding countries, and some of whom were pro-actively collaborating at a regional level with Zimbabwean nationalists such as James Chikerema.

When he established a working base in South Africa in 2003, he reconnected with old acquaintances, including South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma. “Wherever I’ve lived and worked, I’ve tried to blend in with that society in order to play a positive role in it and contribute to its progress and development. Hence the Ibbamo Foundation’s focus on helping disadvantaged South African youngsters develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills.”

Family

Makamba believes in family values and views the fact that he gave Chiyedza, Kushinga, Tawanda and Zororo Makamba the best possible education as his greatest achievement.

External links

• James Makamba Former Chairman, TeleceL Zimbabwe Pvt. Ltd.
• Journalist Paints Bleak Picture for Media in Zimbabwe
• Robert Mugabe 'ready for war' over wife affair allegations