Dr Divine Ndhlukula is a Zimbabwean businesswoman, founder and Managing Director of DDNS Security Operations (Pvt) Ltd which is the holding company for SECURICO Security Services. Dr Ndhlukula is the past president of Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) and Chairperson for Women’s Desk.

Early life and education

She was born on 5 February 1960 in rural Gutu to Mary and Piniel Simbi. She grew up in Gutu, having attended a number of schools, namely, Zvinavashe School, Machingambi School, Bondolfi Mission, St. Domincs Secondary School, Makumbe Mission. She was married to Stanely Ndhlukula (late) and has one son - David Simbi and two grandchildren. She studied for an Executive Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at

Midlands State University Midlands State University is a government owned university in Zimbabwe. The university has 9 faculties (Agriculture, Arts, Commerce, Education, Engineering, Law, Science, Social Sciences and Medicine) offering a wide variety of courses and many ...

and she holds another an MBA from Women’s University in Africa and a PhD in Business Leadership from the Women’s University which was conferred in recognition of her business leadership and gender equality initiatives.

General career

She worked for

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is the state-owned broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It was established as the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), taking its current name in 1980. Like the RBC before it, the ZBC has been accused of bein ...

and

Old Mutual Old Mutual (officially Old Mutual Limited) is a South African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group, operating across Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchan ...

for six years as an Accounting Officer and then joined Intermarket Life Assurance as a Marketing Executive where she worked for 16 years and left to found SECURICO.

Business career

She founded a security company Securico from humble beginnings in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

in 1998. In an interview she said that the idea to form Securico was conceived out of the need to earn a livelihood but critically to revolutionize the male dominated security industry. Speaking to a Zimbabwean newspaper she said: Securico is the first Zimbabwean staffed security company to be certified to the internationally acclaimed ISO9001:2008 Quality Management System.Being a woman has nothing to do with it
, ''Daily News'', published: November 22, 2012, retrieved: October 26, 2016 Dr Divine Ndhlukula was named one of the most successful women in Africa by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

.Africa's Most Successful Women: Divine Ndhlukula
''Forbes'', published: January 20, 2012, retrieved: February 27, 2018 She also founded Zvikomborero Farms, an agricultural company involved in a variety of farming activities and presently employs 17 permanent employees and over 12 on a temporary basis. In August 2018, Dr Ndhlukula was also named in the top 10 CEOs in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Positions held

*Security Association Zimbabwe – Past Chairman *Chamber of Mines – Past Chairperson of the Joint Suppliers and Producers Committee * Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) - Past President *Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) – Chairperson of Women’s DeskNdhukula appointed new ZNCC president
, published: June 29, 2017 retrieved: February 2201 *Professional Executives & Businesswomen Forum (PROWEB) – Trustee *African Women Entrepreneurs Prog (AWEP) – Founding Trustee *Harare Sunshine Holdings *Member of the National Competitiveness Commission Board *First Lady Development Advisory Board *Inducted in the prestigious JA International Global Business Hall of Fame 2021 *Forbes Africa Businesswoman for 2019 *Recognised as one of the Top 100 Women CEOs in Africa in 2019 *PROWEB (Professional Women, Women Executives and Business Women’s Forum) President: current (Year 2021)

Philanthropic Work

She is the founder of the Mentorship in Practice programme, Woman Owned Brand initiative, an offshoot of the Women in Enterprise Conference and Awards platform which she started in 2013 to help women scale up their businesses. Became the first SADC member at Women Presidents Organization. In November 2022, she launched Mbuya Mary Simbi library in her home area of Gutu that benefits 8 catchment schools where she is also paying fees for disadvantaged kids.

Honours and awards

*Empretec Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 and Empretec Entrepreneur of Decade (Services Sector) 2002; *Manager of the year 2005 for Zim Institute of Management *Celebrate a Sister Business award 2006 *Institute of Directors Zimbabwe Director of the Year (SMEs) 2008 *Institute of Directors Overral Director of Year(Run Up) 2009 *Zimbabwe Women Filmmakers/UNifem Business Award 2010. *National Quality Awards Company of the Year 2011 *Zimbabwe’s 7th Best Employers 2010 and 7th Best Employer again for 2011 *Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship 2011 Grand Prize run by Legatum and Omidyar. *National Annual Quality Awards – Individual Winner 2012 *Woman Investor of the Year by Zimbabwe Investment Authority 2013 *Overall Winner (Services) Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government 2013 by CEO of South Africa *African Woman of the Year 2013 African Achievers Awards *EY World Entrepreneur Award Southern Africa – Exceptional category 2014 Winner. *International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge Awardee 2014 *UNCTAD/Empretec Top Ten Global Women in Business 2014 *Women Heritage Society Hall of Fame 2014 *Zimbabwe National Leadership Excellent Award Private Sector Award Winner 2016Divine Ndhlukula
''LinbkedIn'', published: No Date given, retrieved: February 27, 2018 *Zimbabwe Northern Region Leadership Excellence Awards Private Sector Winner 2016 *One of the Top 10 Most Influential Businesspeople Post independence Zimbabwe. –Empretec *

Zimbabwe Institute of Management The Zimbabwe Institute of Management (ZIM) is a Zimbabwean professional Institution dedicated to promoting excellence in management practices and leadership development within Zimbabwe and the broader region. Established to meet the growing deman ...

2017 Leadership Excellence- Private Sector Leader of the Year awardDivine Ndhlukula wins Zimbabwe's private sector leader of the year award
''Lionesses of Africa'', published: September 17, 2017, retrieved: February 27, 2018 Her business has also won several awards which include; *Forbes Africa Businesswoman for 2019 *Recognised as one of the Top 100 Women CEOs in Africa in 2019 *Conferred with the esteemed Commendation Hero Medal in recognition of the valuable contribution to the economy of the Republic of Zimbabwe in 2021 *Inducted in the prestigious JA International Global Business Hall of Fame 2021 *Awarded the African Leadership Legend Award by Legacy Building Leaders in 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndhlukula, Divine 1960 births Living people Zimbabwean businesspeople People from Masvingo Province