Gwanyanya the philanthropist
THIRTY-EIGHT-year-old, Persistence Elison Gwanyanya is an economist, chartered banker, trade finance specialist, and budding entrepreneur.
Most recently, he was appointed a member of the monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
His journey in the corporate world started in 2006, when he joined MBCA Bank Limited (now Nedbank Zimbabwe Limited) [the ‘Bank’] as a graduate Management Trainee. Owing to his quick study, the programme was fast tracked and within a period of one year, Gwanyanya assumed managerial responsibility within the Corporate and Institutional Banking Division .
In 2017, Gwanyanya left formal employment to found associated companies labelled “Bullion Group”, encompassing Bullion Commodities International (Private) Limited, Bullion Healthcare (Private) Limited, Bullion Leaf Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Bullion Construction, Bullion Technologies and Percycon Advisory Services (Private) Limited (the "Bullion Companies").
e Bullion Companies are involved in diverse business, economic, and social activities within and out of Zimbabwe, including the Republics of South Africa and Zambia. e companies are spread across the various sectors of the economy including agriculture (mainly tobacco contracting and marketing), commodities trading, healthcare, construction, technology, energy solutions, financial intermediation and corporate advisory.
Gwanyanya is a philanthropist at heart, with a firm philosophy of expressing his purpose in life through others especially the underprivileged and those in the marginalised communities.
As the adage goes: “charity begins at home”, Gwanyanya started his philanthropic work at St Anthony's primary, and secondary, schools where he influenced the launch of a scholarship fund by certain of the Bullion companies in 2019.
e scholarship benefits at least 100 primary school children and 10 secondary school children annually.
Bullion Associated Companies also sponsor the Zaka Academy football club, which is the only soccer club from Zaka District of Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe to qualify into the Zimbabwe Football Association Division one league.
A sponsorship package of US$40 000 has been committed to the Zaka Academy Football Club since the 2019/2020 football season.
In the year 2020 the Bullion Companies launched the Zaka Schools Soccer Tournament, an annual tournament, which draws participants from all schools in the Zaka District of Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe. e key motivation behind the tournament is to influence behavioural change in young persons and contribution to the efforts in the fight against drug abuse.
Furthermore, in pursuit of building “social capital” for the Bullion Companies, Gwanyanya has extended, and is extending, his generosity to the Tariro Trust, a voluntary organisation based in Harare, Zimbabwe. at generosity includes paying school fees on behalf of orphaned children under the care of Tariro Trust.
In the year 2019/2020, and through Bullion Healthcare (Private) Limited, Gwanyanya has contributed to the government of Zimbabwe measures of preventing the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. at initiative is code named: “ZimCovid-19 Project“. ZimCovid-19 is an information dissemination and awareness program spearheaded by a consortium consisting Bullion Healthcare (Private) Limited, University of Zimbabwe and the College of Pathology.
e project was nominated Covid-19 project of the year by Chartered Institute of Project Management. Bullion Healthcare (Private) Limited contributed value of US$25 000 to the ZimCovid-19 Health Booths Project; over a ten month period, from May 2020 to March 2021. rough this sterling effort, the Ministry of Health and Child Care's Covid-19 Response Pillar on Covid-19 Risk Communication and Community Engagement is receiving support from Zimbabwe's corporate sector and developmental partners domiciled within and without Zimbabwe.
Given his analytical prowess, his track record in business and community involvement, his recent appointment to the Monetary Policy Committee was unsurprising. His reputation in the field of economics and finance has seen key international media houses and bodies seeking his expert opinions on economic and finance issues relating to Zimbabwe and the Africa continent.
Gwanyanya earned a Master of Business Administration degree (with specialty in Financial Markets) from the University of Zimbabwe and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Degree in Economics from the Midlands State University. He also holds diplomas and certificates in Banking (Zimbabwe) and Credit Management (Scotland).”