Met our MCM, Simanga Madhlabuta, one entrepreneur staking his claim as an innovative gamechanger revolutionising the property development and real estate industry in Zimbabwe.
Born and bred in Glen View, Harare, Simanga has established himself as one of the young leaders spearheading Zimbabwe’s property development industry.
Through his company Turnbury, he has been behind the construction of several projects in the past seven years with a philosophy of delivering the future of the built environment.
With several multi-million dollar projects under its portfolio Turnbury is one of Zimbabwe’s fastest growing companies facilitating development and creating employment opportunities.
Simanga also boasts being an MBA graduate from the Wits Business School. To date he is a speaker at numerous business summits providing consultancy in various spheres.
With his extensive experience, having previously worked in the FMCG and Telecoms industries, he is an inspiration to young aspiring entrepreneurs on the continent.
When he is not working, Simanga is an avid cricket fan and biker and enjoys travelling and learning about tech.
Simanga grew up with limited resources, his mother worked hard to ensure his family had all the basics necessary for a decent upbringing. To supplement his allowance, Simanga would sell freezits on busy corners and this ensured he had some money to travel to different venues to play cricket on weekends.
Unbeknown to him, this was training which helped him in his sales mindset today and basic understanding of business. He learnt early on that one could work, and enjoy the financial rewards thereoff.
Simanga never thought he would work in Property development until he was approached to join a property developer, initially on a short term basis but it then turned permanent. This is where he learnt property development and was exposed to all aspects of it.
He then registered Turnbury after frustrations of failing to get his ideas taken seriously by a previous employer and also from a hunger for more perspective and from that moment he knew he had to control my own destiny.
As for the future of property development industry in Africa, Simanga states that Africa is grossly underdeveloped yet it has the fastest growing population. This presents a challenge in as far as providing world class infrastructure is concerned. However, that is exactly the opportunity and future of property development. The gap is huge and the opportunities are insanely huge.
Simanga also provides his advice on real estate investment, “The safest investment known to men since time immemorial is real estate. It doesn’t rot, doesn’t go out of fashion and demand keeps growing as the global population keeps increasing.
Property is still a buy. One just needs to consult wide and choose the right property sectors and locations to target. The possibilities are unlimited”
For the future, his company, Turnbury and TDW recently expanded into other real estate classes including hotels, medical and commercial real estate. The future is bright.
