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women in this country.
Excuse my gender and therefore, obvious inclination.
Last week I attended a Sisters in Stilleto Seminar organised by my sister and colleague in the journalism fraternity Maggie Mzumara with support from Old Mutual.
She is one woman going places.

It was so refreshing and reassuring to see women leaders networking and sharing information in the manner we did on the day.

Kingdom Afrasia group chief executive Lynn Mukonoweshuro’s presentation was life-changing.
She made phenomenal statements that have changed me and every woman who heard her speak.
Women leaders did not have to become men themselves but they could use their femininity and God-given attributes to bring new styles of leadership to impact individuals and organisations alike, she said.

“Leadership is all about you . . . Use your strength to influence change. Use the feminine angle to be a better leader . . . Align the heart and the head in your leadership,” she said.
I could not agree with her more. Generally, many women have really been trying to be men in their quest to be recognised as leaders.

This is, of course, no fault of theirs.
We have just been schooled that men are superior so to survive in this world you have to be like them and yet it need not so.

In fact, women are so richly endowed with attributes that can make things happen.
Under Mrs Mukonoweshuro’s guidance, Kingdom has emerged from near collapse into being one of the most viable and customer-friendly financial institutions.

Her feminine touch has brought a fresh dimension to how companies are run.
She is a banker par excellence and her testimony on her kind of leadership and how it has produced results really inspired us.

The award-winning Mrs Mukonoweshuro is really showing the way for other women leaders to emulate.
Rudo Boka, chief executive of Boka Tobacco Floors, came in with a powerful dimension that showed that any determined woman can overcome obstacles in any shape, form, or manner to achieve that which they set themselves to.

She shared a powerful testimony of how she had to fight one hindrance after another to rise to where she is on the corporate ladder.

Right from the day her father — prominent empowerment guru Roger Boka — died, she has had to fight battles to turn her company into what it is today.

At a mere 21 years of age then, Ms Boka had to take charge of a company that was in the red and has managed to transform it into an empire of repute.

She said it was no longer time for women to mourn but that opportunities were now available for women to excel in their respective fields.

“There no longer exist any restrictions for women except our mindsets.
“In fact, there are now more opportunities for women that for men because we are women.
“As women we need to take advantage of our natural abilities . . . My passion is to preserve my father’s heritage,” she stressed.

Narrating her battle to rescue her company, Ms Boka stressed that the corporate battles she was involved in had nothing to do with gender, further cementing the notion that barriers to women’s economic emancipation are fast fizzling out although there are still a few pockets of resistance.

Ms Boka advised women to believe in themselves and practise proper leadership ethics.These two women made the day for all of us and one could not help thinking the sky was not even the limit.
Zimbabwe needs women who can show the way and there are many examples of such way in all spheres of life.

Securico chief executive Devine Ndhlukula is one woman who has really scaled the heights in business.

A fortnight ago I had the pleasure of attending the security firm’s open day where we were briefed about the progress made by the security firm.

This woman runs a business which employs 3 600 people with branches dotted countrywide.
This sector was previously a preserve of a few but she has managed to show the way.
Plans are afoot for Securico to expand into the region and Ms Ndhlukula is confident the expansion programme will succeed.

At her company she employees at least 900 women in a deliberate attempt to empower the lot.
She has won several local and international awards space is actually running out in her trophy cabinet.

The past fortnight has really been enlighting as regards what Zimbabwe women have achieved and much more they can achieve.

The success stories of such women as Empretec executive director Busi Dube, banker Charity Jinya, commercial lawyer and businesswoman Florence Ziumbe, Women’s University Vice Chancellor and co-founder Professor Hope Sadza; Zimbabwe Open University Vice Chancellor Dr Primrose Kurasha and many others that have made it should inspire more women to aim high.

Certainly this economy needs such women to achieve the anticipated double-digit growth in the next few years.

The US$100 billion economy requires that women play a strategic role in the whole matrix.
Certainly all things are possible to those that believe as the Word of God says.
In God I Trust!

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