Nicholas Ndebele: ‘farm boy’ determined to steer ZITF company amid turbulence Dr Nicholas Ndebele

THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company recently appointed Dr Nicholas Ndebele as the substantive chief executive officer to steer the exhibitions-focused entity into the future. He will be supported in his new role by Ms Stella Nkomo who has been appointed deputy chief executive officer.

Having joined the ZITF organisation in 2017 as the sales executive tasked with increasing gains in profit performance, revenue growth and market share across all the firm’s strategic business units, Dr Ndebele (46) has been acting general manager following the departure of Mrs Nomathemba Ndlovu in 2019. However, not much is known in public about this man and his personality. Chronicle Business Editor Prosper Ndlovu (PN) had an engagement with Dr Ndebele (DN) to try and appreciate his profile, inspiration and vision for the organisation.

PN: Congratulations on your new appointment sir. Who is Nicholas Ndebele really? Share with us your brief personal background?

DN: I am farm boy, born in Bulawayo in a family of 6. I grew up in a farm in Shurugwi where I did my primary education at a farm school. I then proceeded to Mpopoma High School in Bulawayo for my secondary education. I am happily married to Thandi and we are blessed with three children — two daughters and a son. I am a Christian, a gym enthusiast and budding golfer.

I hold a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD), majoring in Business Leadership from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) of the University of Pretoria. I also hold an Executive Development Programme (GIBS), an MSc Marketing (graduating with Distinction) from the National University of Science and Technology (Nust), MBA from Midlands State University, Post Graduate Diploma in PR (Nust) and a BBS Honours Degree from the University of Zimbabwe.

PN: Indeed, a rich academic profile. What motivated you to pursue a career in the marketing field?

DN: As a young boy, I was inspired by my uncle Khumbulani Ndebele who started his career in sales at Old Mutual before proceeding to BAT Zimbabwe. Sales reps then were guaranteed of a car, so he often changed cars and seemed to be having fun.

As I matured, I discovered that I had a voracious appetite to learn new things, which prompted my continuing professional education. The academic qualifications then just became icing on the cake. I credit studying the marketing discipline, combined with the width and breadth of experience acquired across diverse economic sectors, as having made me commercially astute.

PN: Which fields have you worked in prior to coming to ZITF?

DN: I honed my business development skillset through a long career in sales, marketing, key account management, and distribution while working at Delta Beverages (then Natbrew), Old Mutual, Population Services International, Telecel Zimbabwe, and more recently, the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company.

Looking back, I cannot help but realise that working for these big corporate brands in diverse industries has allowed me to build an inner fortress that is vital for these turbulent times — these Covid-19 pandemic times.

PN: Having worked in these different companies, what important aspects have you learnt from this experience?

DN: My marketing career has taught me the power of consensus building and leading from the middle, which has served me well. I have learnt the essence of pragmatism and a willingness to take calculated risks. I have learnt not to allow perfect to stand in the way of good enough. So, I learn as I do and the road to success, to perfection, is continually under construction. Equally, I have acquired common sense, humility, compassion and integrity to motivate teams and curtail dysfunctional workplace disharmony.

In short, my educational background in marketing and diversity of work experience has inculcated in me a broad and rich repertoire of business culture knowledge that stands me in good stead to take ZITF Company into the future.

PN: You have been elevated to a high ZITF post at a time when Covid-19 has gripped the world, inducing a strain on the traditional business and operational model of the company. How do you see the future of exhibitions going forward and your views on mitigating the impact?

DN: Actually, I joined ZITF Company in 2017 as a sales executive, pre-Covid-19. As the acting general manager in 2019, I superintended over the largest show, which the company had hosted in the last decade.

From 2020, I have navigated the most tumultuous and simultaneously exciting period of ZITF Company history by ensuring business survival and sustainable continuity to date, despite unrelenting headwinds stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic and the attendant knock-on effects.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound and unprecedented impact on the business events industry at large and, the Meeting Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) sub-sectors, as it has on commerce and society at large. Despite the challenges imposed by the pandemic, I am privileged to lead a team of experienced and passionate executives supported by oversight from an experienced team of board members with a diverse skillset.

Collectively, we are not daunted by the current phase of the business, rather we are excited by the challenge to steer the company at such a time as this. Quite frankly, the board’s support has been phenomenal.

PN: What exactly does your team bring to the table as pro-active response measures to mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on the exhibition business model?

DN: As the industry leader, the current crisis and continued uncertainty, has taught us to partially reinvent ourselves and embrace emerging digital business models. The charge we have been given by the company board is clear. We need to transform and reposition the business to secure its survival and sustainable continuity notwithstanding the devastation brought by the pandemic.

We recognise that technologies such as the likes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven match-making engines, big data, and the internet-of-things have emerged and are here to stay and support face-to-face events. Our digitisation journey as the ZITF Company began in 2020 when Mine Entra and WASHen Conferences were held virtually to allow for pertinent conversations in those sectors to proceed despite impediments imposed by the pandemic.

Similarly, ZITF 2021 pencilled for 23-27 August, will pilot a hybrid format, where the virtual element complements the physical for both the exhibition and concurrent conferences. This hybrid platform will augment the value of our events by accommodating exhibitors, visitors and stakeholders who are unable to participate physically either because they cannot travel to the actual show or are hesitant to do so.

This is extremely important because, while our customers are apprehensive because of the pandemic, they still crave interpersonal communication, the energy, and more importantly the opportunities which live events bring. Look, human beings like meeting other people, they like knowing that there is an industry meeting place on the calendar, they like seeing what other people are doing, they like travelling away for four or five days, they like to touch and feel. These are human truths!

PN: Zimbabwe is keen to drive an export-led economic growth and widening the job market. How do you see the ZITF contribution to this drive?

DN: The private sector is expected to tap into the opportunities being availed under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Zimbabwe has already ratified the AfCFTA Agreement whose operationalisation commenced in January 2021 and is in the process of fine-tuning the tariff offer framework. The private sector is expected to invest more in infrastructure, enhance production capacities and efficiencies, add value to goods and services and increase intra-Africa trade.

Based on the outlook, the stability enjoyed for the first quarter of the year will probably prevail and there is optimism of economic rebound driven by a good agricultural season and a better performance in the mining sector. Likewise, the expected economic growth and exponential decline in inflation and benefits accruing from the AfCFTA Agreement should expand business opportunities for the Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industries. As ZITF, our role will be to continue providing multi-dimensional platforms.

Additionally, now more than ever, it is imperative to drive SME development as this market segment was disproportionately hit by the disruption occasioned by the pandemic. Our platforms and events will seek to help SMEs to rebuild, strengthen their businesses and drive geographic expansion, ultimately growing local economies.

PN: What is your grand strategy for the organisation and how are you going to engage or work with other stakeholders to consolidate and transform the business in the short to long term?

DN: The universality of the current crisis demands wide collaboration among different sectors. We need to build strong stakeholder relations. For instance, it’s incumbent that members of the MICE pyramid (e.g. Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), airlines and Hotel Association of Zimbabwe) complement each other in attracting business events to Bulawayo. It is a simple existential issue!

As a member of the recently created Bulawayo Bidding Committee, which is convened by the ZTA’s Zimbabwe National Convention Bureau, we will collaborate to promote Destination Bulawayo. There is a need to remodel ZITF Company exhibitions. For example, intentionally identify and focus on certain core industries each year, say the health sector or leather sector. This would entail deliberate targeting of new entrants in that market, attracting and hosting potential local and international buyers for those sectors. This would allow for tracking of exhibition contribution to individual sector growth outcomes.

PN: As one of the top managers in Bulawayo, what is your impression about performance and your suggestions to local business towards growing their businesses?

DN: Bulawayo has great potential for an economic performance upswing. I am particularly excited about the opportunities that the National Zambezi Water Project will bring for Bulawayo and the nation. As business leadership, we need to position ourselves to exploit those opportunities and contribute significantly to Vision 2030. If we just buckle down and get our key business drivers right then the returns will naturally follow. Of course, any company which is committed to seeing meaningful levels of growth and reach needs to leverage platforms such as the ZITF to showcase their offerings.

PN: As we conclude this dialogue, please tell us a bit about your values and beliefs.

DN: I am a believer in hard work. I believe leadership is a privilege that is transient. I like leading from the middle. I am a consensus builder. I believe in people who do not take themselves too seriously because other people will not be keen to show you your blind spots. I also strongly believe in courage. Nelson Mandela said that “Courage is not the absence of fear — its inspiring others to move beyond it”.

PN. And your final concluding remarks?

DN: I know how difficult it is to achieve the bold vision that the new company board has because of the pandemic and other constraints. However, there couldn’t have been a prouder moment to be part of this exciting journey for ZITF Company.

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