The ladies’ frocks duly dazzled, the gentlemen’s dinner suits were immaculate, the wine suitably flamboyant and certain to guarantee an ostentatious sozzle.
This was Saturday evening at The Leonardo City Hotel in central London; and the event was the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards (ZAA) England edition.
Now in their 12th edition and having spread beyond the UK to other countries such as Australia, Canada, South African and the United States, the ZAAs are aimed at recognising and celebrating the successes and achievements of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.
And on Saturday many success stories were recognised and honoured across all areas of human endeavour, from the arts to entrepreneurship and sport.
However, two stories were particularly inspiring and emblematic of the tenacity and focus which goes into achieving success.
Jeff Madzingo was one of the keynote speakers and he went on stage holding a blue jacket emblazoned ‘The Watch Security’.
Madzingo worked as a banker in Zimbabwe before moving to the United Kingdom for a post-graduate programme on a British Council scholarship.
Relating his experience, Madzingo said, after completing the post-graduate programme, he was not able to get a banking job in the UK and found himself working as a security guard.
The jacket he brought on stage was his uniform then, more than a decade ago.
However, he did not despair and used his time working as security guard to study and secure professional qualifications in mortgages and insurance.
He then started a business which helped thousands of diasporans buy their first homes while others were able to establish property portfolios of their own.
After the mortgage business, Madzingo founded an innovative insurance product which, 13 years later, has grown into a multi-million dollar business.
Diaspora Insurance, a headline sponsor for Saturday’s awards gala, now has operations not just in the UK and the Zimbabwe diaspora but also more than ten other African countries.
WATCH BELOW
Unlike the traditional funeral policies which give one a coffin and a bus for transport to place of burial, Diaspora Insurance is designed to respond to the changing needs of transnational diasporan communities.
Instead of a coffin and a bus for transport, policy holders get cash payments – US$10,000 or US$20,000 depending on one’s chosen scheme – with payments made anywhere across the world and in the more stable hard currencies.
Simillar, Dr Felicia Munjadi, who is responsible for tourism at the embassy in London, faced challenging experiences trying to bring visitors to Zimbabwe at the height of the political stand-off between Harare and the West.
Dr Munjaidi said there were moments when she would be spat at, but she never hit the panic button under her desk to report the abuse to the police.
She did not despair or give up and continued to promote Zimbabwe as a remarkable tourism destination with unique attractions as well as a warm and welcoming people.
Today, that perseverance is reaping rich rewards, and the UK has again become a key tourism source market for Zimbabwe.
Saturday’s awards gala dinner was also attended by a business delegation that had travelled from Harare for the two-day Zimbabwe Capital Markets and Investment Indaba also held in London on Thursday and Friday.