Ken Sharpe

Last updated
Ken Sharpe
Ken-Sharpe-Headshot.jpg
Born
Kenneth Raydon Sharpe

(1973-01-27) January 27, 1973 (age 51)
Nationality Zimbabwean
Alma mater Harvard Business School
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1991 – present
Known forEntrepreneurship, Property development
Website www.kennethsharpe.com

Kenneth Raydon Sharpe (born January 27, 1973), is a Zimbabwean businessman, [1] philanthropist and real estate developer. [2] He is the chief executive officer of WestProp Holdings [3] He is also the first Zimbabwean to receive Forbes Africa Best of Africa Most Innovative CEO Award. [4] [5]

Contents

Background

Ken Sharpe was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and he grew up in Mazowe, Bulawayo and on Tafuna Mountain in Shamva. He was born to Kenneth Robert Sharpe and Elaine Loretta Sharpe in Harare. He attended junior and senior school in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. [6]

Career

Sharpe started his business career in 1991 when he established the West Group, a confectionary and food distribution company which had operations in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. With operations in South Africa, he also established InterAfrica Franchise Bottlers in South Africa. [7] [8]

In 2006, West Group in partnership with a Ukrainian businessman Oleksandr Sheremet, was renamed to West Property Company, which is a real estate development company with two notable projects, Kuwadzana 4 Extension a housing project of approximately 4,500 residential homes and Mainway Meadows of 2,300 homes. [1] His company WestProp won the awards in Best Residential Development 20+units Zimbabwe and top Developers Zimbabwe categories at the African and Arabian Laufen International Property Awards 2022, in Dubai. [9]

In 2005, Sharpe joined the World Economic Forum, Young Presidents Organisation (YPO) as the “Doing Business in Africa” and the “Family Philanthropy Network”, he was appointed chairman of the initiatives. [10] He has previously served as the Chapter Forum Chair, Education Chair and was the youngest Chapter Chairman in 2008, he resigned this post in 2015.

In 2017, Sharpe teamed up with JW Oliver and co-founded a Tech company called Global BP Solutions through which he has invested in Solar IPPs in Ukraine. He was accepted into the prestigious HBS OPM 3-year program in 2019 and graduated as an Alumni in 2022. [11] [12] He also graduated from Harvard Business School and when he did his final dissertation on strategy, he launched the 1 Billion bricks by 2050 agenda. [11]

In his business career of 20 years, the businesses Sharpe opened to form West Group include West Food Distribution, West Beverages, West Agencies, Intercrop, West Sanitary Pads Manufacturing, West Tech, West Oils, FellowGold Mining, West Star Cash n Carry and Augur Investments Ltd. These trading divisions has activities in the SADC region, including operations in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa. [13]

In 2022, Sharpe’s Augur Investments dismissed allegations of misappropriation of council land in response to the High Court challenging its mention in a land dispute. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission had cleared Augur Investments and Ken Sharpe of any wrongdoing. [14]

In 2023, Sharpe's company West Property Company listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange as WestProp Holdings becoming the first property development company to list on the new exchange.

Personal life

Sharpe is married to Joanna, they got married in 1993 and have two children: a daughter and a son, the latter who they fostered in 2008. [15] Sharpe was raised Anglican but converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) in 2007. [16]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harare</span> Capital and largest city of Zimbabwe

Harare, formerly Salisbury, is the capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 982.3 km2 (379.3 sq mi), a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metropolitan province. The city is situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region. Harare is a metropolitan province which also incorporates the municipalities of Chitungwiza and Epworth. The city sits on a plateau at an elevation of 1,483 metres above sea level, and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meikles Limited</span>

Meikles Limited is a conglomerate in Zimbabwe that owns, among other businesses, multiple luxury hotels, Barbours Department Store, Meikles department stores, Meikles Mega Market stores, Meikles supermarkets, Tanganda Tea. The company formerly owned the historic Hyatt Regency Harare The Meikles Hotel in central Harare.

Mount Hampden is the parliamentary seat of Zimbabwe in Mashonaland West Province. It is about 18 km from the main capital, Harare. It was the original destination of the Pioneer Column of the British South Africa Company; however, the Column eventually settled some 18 km to the south, in present day Harare. Mount Hampden was named after English politician John Hampden by the hunter and explorer Frederick Courteney Selous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Levy</span> Zimbabwean businessman and property developer

Samuel Rahamin Levy (1929–2012) was a Zimbabwean businessman and property developer best known for his construction of the Sam Levy's Village shopping mall in Borrowdale, a suburb of Harare, in 1990. A self-made billionaire, at the time of his death he was reputed to be one of the richest people in Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uebert Angel</span> Ministry founder, televangelist, businessman

Uebert Angel is a British-Zimbabwean Businessman and a preacher. He is an evangelical preacher and the founder of Spirit Embassy, a Pentecostal ministry in the United Kingdom.

Glen View is a high-density suburb that lies on the border of Harare Province and Mashonaland West. It split between the two provinces, with the larger part on Harare’s side and the remainder on Mashonaland West side under their governance of Zvimba Rural District. It is believed to have 160,000(6.4% of Harare’s population) people although the Zimstat says it has on 45,000 people. It shares boundaries with Budiriro on the North (4.341km), Glen Norah on the East(4.0km), South and West being Mashonaland West. It is divided into 8 parts namely Glen View 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 1 Extension and Riverside. It has around 15000 residential stands which ranges from 200sqm to 500sqm with most of them averaging 10 people per house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruvheneko</span>

Ruvheneko Elsie Parirenyatwa is a Zimbabwean radio and television talk show host, emcee, voice-over artist, brand ambassador and philanthropist. She is a talk show host for Ruvheneko, a current affairs talk show that airs on YouTube as well as on radio for Zimbabwe's Capitalk 100.4 FM and Star FM.

Rinos Mautsa is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur. He is well known for starting Zimbabwe's first call center, the Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ) and co-founder of the Chartered Institute of Customer Management. He is reported to have promoted and developed Zimbabwe's Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry through CCAZ and Tech24. He is also the founder of Picco Construction and Energy Plus International.

TelOne Zimbabwe is a parastatal telecommunications company owned by the Zimbabwe government headquartered in Harare's Central Business District. It is the largest telecom entity in Zimbabwe and has the second largest fixed-line network in Southern Africa after Telkom South Africa. The parastatal is Zimbabwe's sole fixed landline services provider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinashe Mutarisi</span> Zimbabwean businessman

Tinashe Mutarisi is a Zimbabwean businessman. He is the founder and Chairman of Nash Paints, one of the top paint manufacturing and distribution companies in Zimbabwe which is a subsidiary of NASH Holdings. He was listed on Ngoda Business Most Influential Entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe Under-40.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Gara</span> Zimbabwean politician

Oriah Anthony Gara was a Zimbabwean businessman and politician. He was a member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Mbare East from 1990 to 2000 and served as deputy minister of local government, rural and urban development from 1995 until 2000. Before entering Parliament, he was a member of the Harare City Council and served as mayor of Harare from 1985 to 1986.

Felistas Murata, popularly known as Mai Tt is a Zimbabwean comedian, socialite and recording artist as well as an activist for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Zodwa Mkandla is a prominent Zimbabwean businesswoman and philanthropist. In May 2017, she was recognised as International Business Woman of the Year at The Women4Africa Award and was included in the list of top 100 Women in the Tourism and Travel industry in Africa.

Gilmore Tee is a Zimbabwean Media Practitioner, Curator, Cultural Manager and Fashionista. In 2019 he was listed among Forbes Africa's 30 under 30. Gilmore writes for Conde Nast GQ South Africa and Glamour Magazine South Africa. He is also the Founder and Curator of The PiChani, a PAN African lifestyle and cross-networking platform which integrates young entrepreneurs, leaders and achievers, from finance, creative, agriculture, civic, tourism, medical, technology, diplomatic and sports industries. It's the biggest dress-up event in Zimbabwe, hosted in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Energy Mutodi is a Zimbabwean businessman, politician, lawyer, academic, author and musician. He is ZANU–PF Member of Parliament for Goromonzi West and former Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services.

Kudzai Violet Gwara popularly known as KVG is a Zimbabwean radio personality, television and events host as well as brand influencer. She presents 326 Express show on Star FM Zimbabwe.

WestProp Holdings is a real estate development company in Zimbabwe. It is the first real estate company to be listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.

Tinashe Manzungu is a Zimbabwean businessman. He is a former president of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, co-founder and CEO of Zimbuild Property Investments, and chairman of TM Group. Manzungu is also the current Africa Business Council board director.

Karen Mutasa is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur, philanthropist, and venture capitalist. She is the vice president of Restaurant Operators' Association of Zimbabwe and commissioner at the Zimbabwe Sports and Recreation Commission.

Tempter Paul Tungwarara is a Dubai based Zimbabwean entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Prevail International Group of Companies which is headquartered in Dubai, a Presidential Investment Advisor as well as founder of first Zimbabwean owned social media chat platform Talk and Pay (TAP).

References

  1. 1 2 Chiimba, Caroline (November 30, 2021). "'Less is more:' Ken Sharpe shares his entrepreneurial journey towards building WestProp Zimbabwe - The Entrepreneurial Magazine".
  2. ↑ Anyway (2022-07-16). "Fraudster Ken Sharpe gets another dubious multimillion dollar tender". The Harare Times. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  3. ↑ Herald, The. "West Properties achieves international recognition". The Herald. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  4. ↑ "Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Kenneth Sharpe wins Forbes award". Archived from the original on 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  5. ↑ "Kenneth Sharpe - WestProp Investor Relations" . Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  6. ↑ The love story that grew a business. herald.co.zw. Retrieved 18 November 2024
  7. ↑ "Ken Sharpe: School dropout turned millionaire | Business Times". businesstimes.co.zw. September 23, 2021.
  8. ↑ Herald, The. "Sharpe: Fashioning a dream out of $100 pocket money". The Herald.
  9. ↑ "West Proeperties wins African/Arabian award – Zimbabwe Situation".
  10. ↑ "Ken Sharpe". World Economic Forum.
  11. 1 2 "Zimbabwean tycoon Ken Sharpe graduates from Harvard Business School". June 16, 2022.
  12. ↑ Media, Gambakwe (2020-07-04). "Meet the Man Who Built the Harare Airport Road - Ken Sharpe". Gambakwe Media. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  13. ↑ Exclusive, Malawi (2022-11-24). "Ken's journey and activities in Southern Africa since 1991". Malawi Exclusive. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  14. ↑ "Augur Investments sets record straight". The Herald. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  15. ↑ "Sharpe: Fashioning a dream out of $100 pocket money". The Herald. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  16. ↑ "Ken's Faith and Philanthropy". Kenneth Sharpe. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  17. ↑ Standard, The. "Zim businessman wins top Africa award". The Standard.
  18. ↑ "Sharpe clinches Businessman of the Year award" – via PressReader.
  19. ↑ "Megafest TOP 20 Business Awards 2019... - Megafest Holdings". www.facebook.com.
  20. ↑ "Ken Sharpe bags another gong – DailyNews". dailynews.co.zw.
  21. ↑ Herald, The. "Businessman Sharpe scoops Megafest Award". The Herald.
  22. ↑ Reporter, Staff (2023-07-17). "WestProp CEO Ken Sharpe bags African 'award for innovation' in the UK". Nehanda Radio. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.