Banker and business executive Doug Munatsi who died on Monday was a larger than life character despite his humility.
Business Times speaks to colleagues and business partners about the late executive.
Francis Dzanya
Doug was my brother, friend and business partner. I have known him for 30 years, 25 years as business
partner.
In Zimbabwe’s economic circles Doug will have his place in history as National Economic hero.
Doug studied at UZ and American University, USA. He excelled at school.
And he was able to utilise his academic qualifications to make a difference in business world.
He was a visionary entrepreneur par excellence. Doug was a self driven leader, motivator and aboveall a big dreamer.
He set ambitious goals and always crafted clear strategy maps to achieve the goals.
His very strong inter personal skills supported by strong networking capacity enabled himto open doors that others found difficult to open.
He liked surrounding himself with the best brains. He believed in hiring people that were, on paper,as good as him or better.
All his senior management at BancABC group had upper second class or first class degrees.
His motto was that we should always get the right people on the bus to get the results that we want.
So a balance of great skills, capacity to raise funding, clear strategy and strong networking skills created a platform for success.
He also anchored his management style on cast iron integrity, professionalism and innovation. But then balanced it with working smart and having fun.
We are all proud of what we achieved at BancABC under Doug’s leadership. We started a bank in 1995 with roughly US$2.5m equivalent in capital and 19 years later sold it for nearly US$ $300m.
Seven years after leaving BancABC, Doug with his two partners have created a business which at today’s value is worth nearly US$$150m.
His vision was to have a US$300m business by 2024. In memory of his legacy this vision will be a realised.
Doug was a business guru, one of a kind and a clever and clear business thinker.
A huge loss to the Zimbabwe, region and International business community. He will be missed.
Hashmon Matemera
Doug was a brother, friend, mentor and life coach. A visionary banker and businessman and excellent at identifying and mentoring talent. A good motivator who made you feel you could achieve above the visible career ceiling.
He was always approachable and ready to listen.
We walked together the BancABC journey and dream from 1998 when it finally happened that I joined the journey after many tries.
Before then, we engaged in robust discussions during the Zimbabwean banking sector indigenisation and innovation era as Heritage Investment Bank introduced new products onto the financial market.
We spoke only last week to arrange to meet and discuss housing.
Little did I know that Monday morning you would have started a journey into a new realm.
You led and mentored a Sub Saharan Team which will always remember you and in our grief we remain proud that we worked with you and had the privilege to know you. We learnt to play the ball and not the man.
We learnt to taste and buy wine. We read business books. We became principled. I will miss our maize yield and calving ratio comparisons.
You were indeed a fine gentleman.
Doug was a pioneer African banker. He was a genius. He brought together huge banking concerns and built an everlasting footprint in the region and beyond.
BancABC became one of the most successful regional banks with footprints in almost all SADC countries and EAC. His exploits as a banker are legendary and he held high the Zimbabwean flag. Go well banker, Go well Nzou.
Agrippa Mugwagwa Xarani (Pvt) Limited MD
Doug lectured us on a part time basis in international finance during his time with the IFC 30 years ago at the UZ. His clarity of thought and expression in matters banking and finance was compelling, inspiring some of us to commit to the industry career-wise.
The destiny of his endeavours was never in doubt to me, and he made his mark by setting up one of the successful local banking entities while uplifting local business on the way. This is a sad and huge loss to the economy.
Donovan Chimhandamba
He was a gentleman and a brilliant mind. Doug and DBF Capital took a bet on me and our company when we were starting out.
He has consistently provided guidance as a big brother and mentor whose shoes will never be filled.
This is a big loss to his family and can’t imagine how they are feeling.
Zimbabwe as a country has lost a man who had decided to help build his country. His loss is incomprehensible and devastating to say the least as we were together at the recent IATF2021.
Busisa Moyo ZIDA board chairman
He was a leader, entrepreneur, talented banker and deal maker with an illustrious record in financial services and his latest assignment as ZIDA CEO as the lead marketing officer in investment promotion to grow local and foreign direct investment for the country.
