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 Own Correspondent

Late Dr Myles Munroe; a man of wisdom was quoted as saying: “I was born poor, sleeping on the floor with cockroaches and rats. Today, I own my own jet. Everything I have is paid for. I am debt free, I open new businesses every year and mentor many people”.

The founder and chief executive officer of Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd, Kudakwashe Taruberekera’s life history is wholly reflected by Dr Myles Munroe’s statement of being born poor and sleeping on the floor as he was born in Chivi (Masvingo) and grew up there sleeping on the floor and herding cattle after school bare footed.

As they say epic things with small humble steps Mr Taruberekera founded Craft Properties in 2008 as a very small entity and only specialised in real estate business. The company grew over the years and diversified to other areas of business like land development and construction.

The leadership of Mr Tarubekereka saw the company going regional and international and now has companies in the United States of America called Craft Properties USA, Craft Properties Zambia Limited and CPH Holdings Botswana. His story is a true reflection of small beginnings being the launching pad to great endings.

As the year 2020 comes to a close, Craft Properties Holdings take time to reflect on what could have been a difficult year for everyone in Zimbabwe.

The year 2020 started on a quite promising foot although the advent of the novel Covid-19 pandemic deemed all the prospects of a productive year.

However, as we reflect on the year 2020, the wise words from Dr Munroe gives management and staff at Craft Properties Holdings, the satisfaction that although the business was not spared by the effects of the corona virus pandemic, the firm strived to stay on top.

“We are grateful to the Almighty God that the effects of the corona virus pandemic were not as devastating as what happened to other countries, where many lives were lost. In Zimbabwe our Government, through the leadership of His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa, was quick to react and imposed measures that mitigated the spread of the virus and it is the swift move made by our Government that minimised the causalities of the pandemic”, he said.

Moving forward, Dr Munroe’s wise words and wisdom would continue to guide and inspire the firm to push towards achieving set goals and targets.

Speaking on unemployment, Dr Munroe strongly discouraged the reliance on Government for jobs, describing it as ‘lazy thinking.’ “There is no such thing as unemployment in the world. What you call unemployment is what I call lazy thinking,” he said.

“The work of Government is not to create jobs, but to create an environment for people to develop their own work.”

Said Mr Tarubeekera: “At Craft Properties, we believe that the Government of Zimbabwe has empowered us as its citizens in various ways including giving a highly respected education system that has produced workers who are probably running the economies of economic giants such as the USA and UK globally, and South Africa, regionally.”

The Government of Zimbabwe has created an environment for people to develop themselves and Craft Properties is taking advantage of this environment and has successfully built a company from scratch.

Dr Munroe, speaking on gifts and talents, discouraged employed professionals against relying solely on their jobs for income, urging them to create wealth using their unique talents.

He challenged aspiring entrepreneurs to develop and refine their expertise in a talent, idea, service or body of knowledge.

Mr Taruberekera has used unique talents to create an empire that is now recognised beyond the confines of the borders of the City of Kadoma. On entrepreneurship, Dr Munroe said setting principles is the first step towards achieving success for any budding entrepreneur.

“I will never be poor again because I have learnt the principles of business,” he asserts.

“I can say without a doubt that what I have accomplished is based on principles passed on to me by my parents. You should never build your life on facts or techniques because these often become obsolete.”

He adds: “For you to survive today, you must accept the reality of partnerships. If someone emerges as my competition today, I am not supposed to kill them, but marry them.”

Dr Munroe adds: “Do not curse a crisis; use it. Every business is a solution to a crisis. Develop the capacity to solve a problem and you will become a successful entrepreneur.”

Zimbabwe currently needs at least 400 000 low cost houses and in line with President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 to create a Middle-Income Economy by 2030, Craft Properties Holdings envisages playing a crucial role in this vision for the country.

Dr Munroe’s 10 points of wisdom to Africa.

Understand crisis and use it to solve a problem.

Initiate something; do not wait for things to be done.

Identify and refine your talent, skill, idea, service or knowledge to create wealth.

Whatever makes you angry, you must solve it.

Poverty is not the lack of money, but the lack of ideas.

God does not give cash, but ideas on how to create wealth.

Be in control of your mind, thoughts, perception and mentality to respond to change.

Be keen and take advantage of changes brought about by technology and globalisation.

Leave your legacy, but in the people you train, not in products or buildings.

Every human being was born with a treasure. Your greatest secret to success lies in discovering your treasure.

As a result of hard work and perseverance Craft Properties was awarded an International Business Licence in Oxford United Kingdom by Europe Business Assembly in accordance with United Kingdom Trade Marks Act 1994 and Europe Business Assembly awards regulations.

This licence permits Craft Properties to operate internationally. At the same event the founder and chief executive officer Taruberekera was also given an EBA global gold card.

The card holder is entitled to use the whole range of services and privileges provided by the EBA Global programme.

Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd was privileged with being an elite member of the World Confederation of Businesses.

This essentially means that Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd is able to attend important business meetings, conferences, seminars, summits etc. across the world.

Craft Properties Zimbabwe is fully registered with the United Nations head office in New York, United States of America as a supplier and service provider in their field of operation under registration number UNGM 586638.

It is registered to provide services to the United Nations worldwide and Craft Properties USA shall act as the hub in providing these services to the United Nations. The organisation hopes year 2021 will bring better fortunes to the people of Zimbabwe in both their social and business lives.