Tsitsi Mutendi, the co-founder of African Family Firms, is driven by her passion to help families create solid structures for their businesses to thrive and benefit future generations.
Established in 2019, African Family Firms is an organisation made up of family business owners across the continent.
Its objective is to create a safe and non-solicitous environment where family business owners can open up to each other about the challenges they experience as well as explore solutions to their problems.
By putting the needs of its members first, African Family Firms ensures that family businesses are provided with the support, tools, knowledge and environment not only to help them to survive but to also thrive and create a success out of their businesses.
The African Family Firms website acknowledges the important role played by family businesses in shaping the continental economy.
“We offer membership to family businesses and hold the space for families, managers, experts and relevant organisations to come together as a community. Our purpose is to facilitate the continuity of African family businesses across generations.
“We seek to identify and address issues that are specific to the African continent and contribute to the intellectual progress on topics related to family business management, particularly on succession, family governance, next-generation development, and family communication. We also endeavour to promote and facilitate the positive role of family businesses in the economy and society.”
Unsurprisingly, she rose to lead an organisation that has many members from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana and many other African countries. She has been defying the odds throughout much of her life.
She went to primary school in the United Kingdom before her family relocated back to Zimbabwe. She adjusted well to the change in the environment and education system – demonstrating her resilience even at that early age.
After completing her studies at Victoria High School, Tsitsi corresponded with the University of South Africa, trekked across the Limpopo to look for a job while studying before eventually transferring to the Zimbabwe Open University to complete her marketing degree in 2009.
Her capabilities as a leader and ability to juggle numerous responsibilities at once became evident in 2013 when she edited Jewel Magazine at her home in the Avondale area of Harare while also fulfilling her duties as a housewife and mother.
Her destiny to own a huge organisation of her own was written in the stars and using her international exposure and the many contacts she had acquired from her travels, Tsitsi co-founded African Family Firms.
Posting on her official Facebook account, Tsitsi demonstrates how highly she is regarded in Africa because of the business growth platform she has established.
“Was invited to the The African Family Business Summit in Accra in 2023. It was a phenomenal event which spoke to African family businesses creating generational wealth and legacies. Dr. Dennis Oteng and his team put on a world class event and delivered on every promise. Colleagues like Martin Roll, Andrea Benkenstein, Kruger Esiri Agbeyi, and Hansatu Adegbite shared invaluable insights, interviews and trainings. The future is indeed promising and we are only getting started,” she posted.
Tsitsi’s book – “Raising the Boabab” – was published in January this year. It offers advice on family governance and wealth preservation and further demonstrates Tsitsi’s expertise in the area of family businesses.
A pioneer, publisher and successful businesswoman, Tsitsi Mutendi’s story is an inspiration to many Zimbabwean and African women striving – against many odds – to make it in life and leave an indelible mark for many generations to come.
