Zimpact Awards to Honour Zimbabwe’s Quiet Innovators

By Southerton Business Times Reporter, Harare

Zimbabweans making a difference through innovation, mentorship and community development will be recognised at the second edition of the Zimbabwe Impact Awards (Zimpact), scheduled to take place in Harare in the coming two weeks.

Held under the theme “Celebrating Excellence. Inspiring Impact”, the awards seek to shine a light on individuals whose work is improving lives, often without public recognition. Speaking to Zimpapers yesterday, Zimpact executive director Evermore Kangani said the initiative was focused on creating lasting change beyond the awards ceremony. “Empowerment is not simply putting a young innovator on a stage and handing them a certificate. Empowerment is what happens after the applause,” she said.

“Recognition is the entry point, not the destination.” Kangani’s remarks highlight the awards’ emphasis on sustained support for innovators and community builders whose contributions could have a wider impact if given greater visibility and opportunities. Among those associated with the initiative is Universal Woman Zimbabwe 2025 and Style Bar manager Shelly Bent, who believes empowerment should extend beyond outward appearance to personal growth and the ability to uplift others.

“I believe beauty must go beyond what we see on the outside; it must shape who we become as a whole,” she said. “True beauty is creating a generation that doesn’t just look empowered, but is empowered enough to empower others.” Michael Moyo, founder of The Mentorship and Coaching Circle, said lasting transformation required investment in personal development, coaching and mentorship. “Ultimately, sustainable transformation begins from within,” he said.

“Investing in their inner development, coaching and mentorship is an investment in the sustainability of Zimbabwe, Africa and beyond.” In agriculture, engineer Panashe Kahonde is working to develop affordable tools for farmers, drawing on his own experience growing up on a subsistence farm. Kahonde said innovation would only transform agriculture if farmers could access and afford the technologies being developed. “Technology does not transform agriculture; accessible technology does,” he said.

“Africa should not just consume innovation, Africa should define it.” The perspectives of Bent, Moyo and Kahonde reflect the range of contributions the awards seek to celebrate, from personal empowerment and mentorship to practical solutions for challenges facing communities and productive sectors. For many innovators, limited visibility can mean fewer opportunities to secure support, develop their ideas or extend their reach. Recognition can help bring their work to wider attention, although sustained progress also depends on access to resources, skills and networks.

As the second edition approaches, Zimpact is positioning the awards as a platform for recognising people whose work may not always attract headlines but whose ideas and efforts have the potential to create meaningful change. The ceremony is expected to bring attention to the people behind these initiatives and reinforce the importance of supporting innovation, mentorship and locally driven solutions in Zimbabwe.

Zimpact Awards Zimbabwe