Busisa Moyo: Voice of reason on industrial matters in Zimbabwe

HE is the chief executive officer (CEO) of one of Bulawayo's most successful companies, United Refineries Limited (URL).

Mr Busisa Moyo is the board chairman of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Company, chairs the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) board and is involved in mobilising resources for Bulawayo hospitals in the fight against Covid-19. He is also a member of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) and an ex-president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) among other roles. He was born in Plumtree but lived most of his life in Bulawayo.

Mr Moyo has become a voice of reason on industrial matters in the country.

He is also involved in social corporate responsibilities through URL, which sponsors the Bulawayo Arts Awards through its brand Roil Cooking Oil.

A passionate Christian, he once served as a pastor at Word of Life International Ministries, which he describes as the most difficult job he has done compared to being a business leader.

To any ordinary person, Mr Moyo might seem to be very busy due to several positions that he holds, but in a short interaction with the industrialist, he says he has ample time on matters affecting Zimbabwe. He said his only motivation is to transform Zimbabwe through the skills that he acquired locally and globally.

"I am Zimbabwean, I'm very passionate about Zimbabwe, I want to see Zimbabwe better. I want to leave it better than I found it. That is what drives me and I love its people and Zimbabweans need a chance to shine in the world. And whatever I do to help; whether it's to defend their health, to promote their art, to assist in exhibitions, to garner investment, all those things that move the country forward. We really want to move forward into a better and brighter future. That is my motivation and others in the country that have had the opportunity to express publicly that passion," said Mr Moyo.

"I think there are many of us who want to see the country prosper and I stand for Zimbabweans who don't have the opportunities that I have had. To stand out and be passionate and participate, to be involved. I have values about being engaged, I have values about contribution. We need to contribute where the Government, city council is lacking as citizens we must contribute and we must coordinate our contributions for progress."

Mr Moyo said while he might seem very busy and involved in various projects and organisations, the projects he is involved in do not really take much of his time.

"My value is really strategic. Providing direction in most of these places. My value is to think. I'm not as busy as what people may want to imagine. I'm not running around because I would spend time and think and I give to the secretariat, there is an executive team at Zida, a full executive team. We meet quarterly so our value is to think about things, demonstrate and culture setting. It's not as busy as one would think," said Mr Moyo. He said the most difficult period in his life was when he served as pastor.

"I am a passionate Christian, passionate believer. I pastored in a bi-vocational manner. I can tell you that sitting on boards and pastoring and being in businesses, it's much better to be on boards because pastoring I was really busy," he said. Born to parents who were both teachers, Mr Moyo said what is critical for the country to move forward is to empower youths. He described the youths as the biggest asset that the country has.

"The youth is one biggest potential, it's our biggest opportunity more than the diamonds, more than the oil and gas that we are looking for underground. So, I would like to see the youths having opportunities and at Zida we are looking for those opportunities to say how do we harness the potential that is in our youths in agriculture, you know these sectors that we have," he said.

"How do we promote enough space for the youths to enter and create new spaces such as ICTs, things like that which can absorb large numbers of young people to be able to participate in bettering themselves, to keep them occupied and constructive and economy enhancing activities. Those are some of the things that occupy my mind when it comes to plan strategising."

Mr Moyo said while the youth are the country's best foot forward, the country should not forget the sacrifices made by those who brought the country's liberation. He said there is a lot that the youth can learn from the country's liberators. "People went to the liberation struggle; they shared that liberation with us. So in our success whether we are CEOs we must share our time not only for financial reward but because this country was built on people sharing their lives.

So we need to maintain the culture of sharing who we are, sharing our abilities, whether it's Zimbabweans in the diaspora, what can we do and that culture of sharing has provided a platform to shine," he said.

Mr Moyo said he has interacted with several eminent figures whom he draws inspiration from their leadership to inspire young people.

"I worked for TA Holdings under the wing of men like Shingai Mutasa who is a doyen when it comes to managing large corporations. I have worked with consultancy from overseas and I had people like Dr (Goodwill) Shana who had been instrumental in shaping my value system," said Mr Moyo.