The jack of all trades who made it to the top

practices.
A registered public accountant who has a number of companies he formed from scratch and the insight to develop them, Mr Chikura has made a name for himself. He is now the successful co-founder and the chief executive officer of the Deposit Protection Board, a board that insures depositors’ funds in the banks.
“I am an enthusiastic professional who strives to achieve set objectives. For instance, when I was approached by the Government to set up the Deposit Protection Board and implement a Government public policy, I accepted the offer without hesitation and I had to start this board from scratch.

“I am very glad to say that since the board’s inception in August 2003 we have been successful in our endeavours. I managed to instill confidence in the banking public by protecting the depositors’ funds in banks,” he said.
His educational background basically reflects his vast knowledge in the banking, insurance and retail industries. Mr Chikura holds a Masters in Business Administration in finance and banking from Manchester University in the United Kingdom. He also did some professional courses such as CIS and IPMZ to further his business knowledge.

Now if there is one thing about great people is that they do not allow their background to blur their greatness.
Having been raised by peasant farmers, Mr Chikura’s formal schooling ended at primary level since his parents could not afford to pay school fees. He had to leave home at the tender age of 12 to look for a job in Rusape.

“At that time my colleagues were going to secondary school and I had to graduate from being a boy to a man and started looking after myself at the age of 12.
“In Rusape I became a jack of all trades doing any job that came my way. I worked as a bus conductor, mechanic assistant, lorry assistant, errand boy, carrier boy and eventually a general hand in any industry.

“I finally came to Harare in 1969 after four years and started working for Crittal Hope,” he said.
He decided to go back to school after his children started their primary school.
“Going back to school was not an easy task because I had to read on my own without formal classroom learning and at the same time work for my family. After completing my secondary education, I read for CIS, IPMZ until I did my masters degree,” said Mr Chikura.

To this extent, Mr Chikura was now seeing light at the end of tunnel. In 1978 he joined a retail organisation, Tedco management in marketing and sales for over a year. In 1979 he joined the HM Barbours department stores as an accounts clerk and cashier.
In 1980 he worked for Central Africa Building Society as a bank teller and later became an investments officer.

In 1982 he joined Lonrho Zimbabwe as a finance and administration manager in the mining division, a position he held for six years. After being offered a more challenging position, he left Lornho and joined Cluff Resources in 1988 which now trades as Ashanti Gold Mine as finance and administration manager.
He later joined Southern Africa Reinsurance Company which is now FBC as a general manager finance and company secretary in 1995 for eight years.

“As a finance and administration executive I was successfully involved in setting up this company from scratch and by the time I left, we had listed it on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange,” said Mr Chikura.

In 2003, he crossed the floor to work as the chief executive officer of the Deposit Protection Board, a position he holds to date. His board formulates and implements approved strategies and policies.
“I assess the risk profile of banks through an analysis of their performance data so as to establish the exposure of the banks to the Deposit Protection Board.
“In the event of bank failures, I arrange for orderly reimbursement of depositors and work with curators to recover the funds from the failed institutions. The company also arranges corporate publicity activities in order to instill confidence in the banking public as well as carrying out close liaison with the Reserve Bank and Treasury in order to strengthen the financial system,” he said.

Mr Chikura has extensive experience in corporate governance as well as comprehensive business experience and knowledge spanning the mining, banking, insurance and retail industries. He also sits on a number of boards locally and internationally.

Mr Chikura sits on the Afre Corporation board as a non-executive director. He is also the chairman of Fmre Property and Casualty. He is also a non-executive director of the Rainbow Tourism Group and the Zimbabwe Leadership Forum. He is a fellow and former president of different institutions such as the IPMZ, CIS and the Institute of Directors.
He closely works with the World Bank as a resource person and is also a certified trainer of trainers having attended the Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance and the International Monetary Fund.

Mr Chikura is the current chairman of the Africa International Association of Deposit Insurance. He also has served as Commissioner of the Securities Commission of Zimbabwe, chairman of Zimre Pension Fund and was a councillor in the Estates Administration Council.

Mr Chikura has consulted, spoken, participated and ran workshops on corporate governance, risk management and strategy in various organisations in many countries around the world.
Born 55 years ago, and married to Gee, the couple has been blessed with five children – three boys and two girls. Mr Chikura strikes one as disarmingly humble, simple perhaps, despite his extensive accomplishments.

He says he enjoys fish dishes and is very active in sports.