CBZ, ABC Holdings scoop top corporate governance awards

CBZ Holdings has won the 2014 trophy for the Best Governed Company on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, while ABC Holdings was awarded the trophy for the Best Governed Banking Institution.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa presented the trophies to the two institutions at the annual Excellence in Corporate Governance Awards ceremony at Cresta Lodge in Harare on Thursday evening last week. He also presented plaques to winners of other corporate governance awards.  

Dairiboard Holdings and Turnall Holdings won second and third place respectively in the Best Governed Company category, while in the Best Governed Banking Institution category NMBZ came second and CBZ Bank third.
 
In the ZSE listed companies' awards categories, CBZ Holdings also won the Best Board Practices Award. British American Tobacco Zimbabwe came second in this category, while First Mutual Life came third.

Dairibord Holdings won the Best Stakeholder Practices and Sustainability Reporting Award, with Turnall Holdings coming second in this category and RioZim third.

Pretoria Portland Cement won the Best Shareholder Treatment award. Amalgamated Regional Trading came second and Nicoz Diamond third in this category.

In the Banking Institutions award categories, ABC Holdings won the top prize in three of the four award categories. In addition to winning the Best Governed Banking Institution Trophy, it took first place in the Best Banking Governance Practices category and the Best Banking Risk Management Practices category.

Second place in the Best Banking Governance Practices category went to CBZ Bank. NMBZ came third in this category.

NMBZ came second in the Best Banking Risk Management Practices category. CBZ Bank came third.

The Best Banking Internal Audit Disclosures Award went to NMBZ, while CBZ Bank came second in this category and MBCA Bank came third.

The Excellence in Corporate Governance Awards were initiated last year by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe (ICSAZ) as a means of promoting good corporate governance.

Last year's awards were limited to companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. This year for the first time there were corporate governance awards for banking institutions as well.

In his welcoming address, ICSAZ president Richard Summers said the institute hoped to expand the Excellence in Corporate Governance Awards to include other sectors of the economy, such as state owned enterprises and parastatals, the insurance sector and non-governmental organisations.

Addressing guests at the awards function, Minister Chinamasa said good corporate governance is a desirable market standard that cannot be legislated or regulated.

"It is a culture of good ethics that must be learned, practised, and internalised by corporate leaders," he said.

When talking about failures in corporate governance in Zimbabwe, he said, what came to mind were parastatals, which at one point used to contribute up to 50 percent of gross domestic product but could no longer do so, and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and Premier Service Medical Aid Society salary scandals.

He said, while government had come up with regulations to deal with the salary scandals, it was aware that regulations were not the best means of dealing with corporate governance issues.

"This is because sound and effective corporate governance cannot rely solely on the legislative framework but rather requires self-discipline and the proper execution of duties by directors, checks and balances and the promotion of a clean corporate culture," he said.

Commending ICSAZ for introducing the Excellence in Corporate Governance Awards, he said good corporate governance was not only  beneficial for individual companies but essential for enhancing the credibility, stability and competitiveness of the economy.

"As we aspire to resuscitate our economy, good corporate governance is not an optional extra but an essential element, as it will serve to attract and retain investment," he said.

He said that for effective corporate governance monitoring to be possible, shareholders must be well informed about their rights so that they can question actions of executives and ask them to account for them.

"Sadly Zimbabwean shareholders seem to be docile. The lack of shareholder activisim in this country is worrisome," he said.

Good corporate governance was one of the key benchmarks on which investors relied and a standard to which listed companies should aspire.

To promote our capital markets, on the part of government and regulators, we are committed to continuously enhancing the regulatory regime and upgrading our market quality. 

"In so doing, we are always mindful of the need to strike a proper balance between the necessary level of regulation and facilitation of business," he added. 

He said the Zimbabwe business environment had been dynamic but suggested business managers had failed to respond to the changes that took place.

"It's important to take a wide perspective when considering corporate governance, because good management will deliver good corporate governance. We therefore need excellence in the area of management and leadership skills," he said.