The inheritors: how Zimbabwe's family businesses are handing over to the next generation

Walk into many of Zimbabwe's established private companies and you will find a founder's portrait in reception. Printing works, transport firms, wholesalers and manufacturers were often built by one determined person over decades.

Many of those founders are now handing over. How they do it will shape employment, investment and competition for a generation.

A second generation with different ideas

Kudakwashe Marufu took over Tsoro Manufacturing from his father. He describes his first year as a lesson in listening.

“My father built this business on relationships. I thought my job was to modernise everything. It turned out my job was to modernise the machines and protect the relationships.”

— Kudakwashe Marufu, Executive Chairman, Tsoro Manufacturing

Under his leadership, Tsoro has installed new printing lines, moved into food-grade and flexible packaging, and appointed a managing director from outside the family.

Governance as a succession tool

Advisers who work with family firms say the most successful transitions share some features: a clear shareholders' agreement, independent directors on the board, and a separation between family ownership and professional management.

Those structures can feel formal for a business that has always been run around a kitchen table. But they often make it easier to raise capital, attract talent and resolve family disagreements before they reach the business.

What comes next

For the wider economy, successful family transitions mean companies that keep investing rather than stalling. For young professionals, they mean new leadership roles in businesses that were once closed to outsiders.

The Leader Lens

Where this leads

Executive analysis for decision-makers and capital allocators.

Opportunity

Advisory, governance and professional management roles in family firms preparing for succession.

Risk

Unplanned succession can split ownership and stall investment.

What to watch

Family firms appointing independent directors and professional managers.