Award winning entrepreneur Andrew Chikomba says that whilst it is not everyday that his heart skips a beat, on the day he received the news of his acceptance into the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF), his heart certainly did.
As founder and managing consultant of Gemwitts Enterprises (www.gemwitts.com), Andrew sees the fellowship as “a brilliant program for uplifting young leaders, building their confidence, providing them with invaluable exposure, connecting young leaders and by so doing promoting and encouraging synergies.”
This is because the fellowship “boosts an ideology of pulling resources and ideas from these great leaders in order to find and implement solutions to better their communities and our continent”. It is in expectation of this that Andrew says he will arrive there with “an open mind ready to disabuse preconceived notions and embrace new ideas”.
For the past decade Andrew, has managed to establish himself in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) arena and he says some of his highlights include his “appointment as part of the preopening team for Royal Chundu Hotel in Zambia in 2009, coordinating the implementation of ICT infrastructure and ICT support for the GNU Conference 2009 in Victoria Falls, being appointed as ICT project coordinator at Elephant Hills Hotel for the COMESA Summit held in the Victoria Falls in the same year and being part of the team that put Turnal on the map as the first Zimbabwean company to get the Integrated Operational Health and Safety 18001.
ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 safety standards Accreditation”
During his six-week fellowship Andrew will be stationed at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
Upon his return Andrew will continue to lead his company into breaking new ground and improving its chances of survival while aspiring to serve communities by providing honest, clear-cut & practical solutions to problems using appropriate technology wherever possible.
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Recently his company has ventured into providing Solar Lighting and Solar powered water solutions, LED lighting and Back-up power solutions through retail stores in Zimbabwe.
This has seen him partner with organizations such as SNV Netherlands Development Organization, where they have engaged young people from various districts, empowering them in the entrepreneurial skills and assisting them to start their small businesses distributing renewable energy products like solar lanterns and small home solar systems.
He will also seek to continue his volunteer activities as a Rotarian (www.rotary.org) and a board member for Harvest Family Village, (www.harvestfamilyvillage.com) which is a None Profit Organization that provides “Family Forever Homes” for Orphans and Abandoned children where he volunteers his time in fundraising and organizing functions.
