George Manyere

Founder/CEO

Mr George Manyere (Zimbabwean) is the Founder and CEO of MHMK Group. He also founded Brainworks in 2008 and was its Group CEO from formation until 1 February 2017. During his leadership, Brainworks grew to be recognised as a leading investment and corporate advisory company, with a strong presence in the following sectors in Zimbabwe: i) financial services; (ii) life insurance; (iii) hotel operations; (iv) real estate; (v) transport logistics; and (vi) advisory services. From its formation and up to the time when Mr Manyere stepped down as Group CEO, Brainworks grew exponentially in all key metrics, and notably the following: (i) 1,200 total staff employees; (ii) revenues of US$48.2 million; (iii) total shareholders’ funds of US$65.4 million; and (iv) total assets of US$162.8 million; (v) acquired and controlled 2 listed companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (African Sun Limited and Dawn Properties Limited); (vi) listed a start-up on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, namely GetBucks Financial Services Limited, which grew to be the leading consumer lender in Zimbabwe; and (vii) successfully closed on approximately US$500 million in corporate advisory deals comprising of both debt and equity.

Mr Manyere was previously an investment professional with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), headquartered in Washington DC. While at IFC, he was responsible for investing in excess of US$600 million in sub-Saharan Africa, managing a portfolio of investments in excess of US$400 million, and he also represented IFC on several investee company boards. Mr Manyere trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in Zimbabwe, and holds a Bachelor and Honours degree in Accounting Science from the University of South Africa, as well as a Certificate in Theory of Accounting from the Institute of Chartered Accountants Zimbabwe.

Mr Manyere is a director of several companies, including some which are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

Yeukai Gavaza

Head – Investments

Mr Yeukai Gavaza (Zimbabwean) is Head of Investments of MHMK Group. He has over 11 years of investment experience, focusing primarily on sub-Saharan African markets. This is spread across a range of sectors, including the financial services, mining, telecommunications, industrial and FCMG sectors. His working career has encompassed asset management, private equity and sell-side research. 

Prior to joining MHMK Group, Mr Gavaza was a top-rated analyst at Investec Bank South Africa, covering the SSA financial services sector. He held a similar role at African Alliance, where he was top-rated in the 2014 Euromoney Africa Analyst survey and 2015 Financial Mail (FM) Analyst survey. He has extensively covered  top banking firms in all key African markets such as Nigeria and Kenya.

Previously, Mr Gavaza had also worked at a pan-African focused hedge fund based in Johannesburg South Africa. There he co-managed a hybrid investment portfolio, investing in both quoted and private equity opportunities in all key African markets.

Mr Gavaza started his working career as an Investment Analyst with a Zimbabwean-based asset management firm, conducting research on all listed equity investments on the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange. He holds a B Com Hons in Actuarial Science and is a certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM). 

Simbarashe Mambanda

Head - Finance & Administration

Simbarashe Mambanda is a Chartered Accountant and trained with Ernst and Young from 2006 to 2014. He rose through the ranks to the position of Audit manager where he led audits in the financial services, manufacturing and retail, agriculture and petroleum sectors. In August 2014, he joined ART Holdings as Group Finance Manager and he successfully assisted in the restructuring and turnaround of ART Holdings to return to Profitability. In April 2018, he joined Getbucks East Africa as Regional Chief finance Officer. He successfully actioned a financial strategy that saw the East Africa Group turning profitable for the first time since 2014. He joined MHMK as Chief Finance Officer and is also responsible for admin and operations. Simbarashe is also pursing a MBA with Africa Leadership University.

Ranga Mtungwazi

Head – Business Development & Government Relations

Mr Ranga Mtungwazi is Head of Business Development and Government Relations at MHMK Group. With a passion for investment and strong interpersonal skills, Mr Mtungwazi's 13 years working experience within the financial services industry spans both the broking, and the asset management sectors. Prior to his current engagement, Mr Mtungwazi was seconded to the Zimbabwean unit of Atria Africa as a Business Development Manager. Atria is a respected emerging market financial advisor and fund manager specializing in Africa. Its focus is predominantly on fund management, corporate and investment advisory, as well as private equity and investment holdings. Within this operational environment, he was primarily responsible for crafting business strategy, particularly related to client engagement, acquisition and retention. During a previous working stint as a Senior Dealer responsible for Sales and Execution at ABC Stockbrokers, Mr Mtungwazi made history when he managed to handle two of the single largest equity trades in the history of the Zimbabwe Stock Market. These were the $20 million Seedco (2014) and $40 million ABC/Atlas Mara (2015) block trades. This was in addition to his ongoing handling of significant equity trades.

Mr Mtungwazi launched his professional career in 2005 when he joined EFE securities in 2005 as a intern, and rose to become the Chief Dealer and Head of Sales and Execution in 2010. As head of Sales and Execution, he executed numerous significant trades on the ZSE. Mr Mtungwazi subsequently qualified and was licensed as a Stockbroker and Member of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in 2012. He is the holder of a Diploma in Financial Management (ACCA), B Sc. Political Science (University of Zimbabwe), Certificate in Investment and Portfolio Management (University of Zimbabwe), and is a member of the South African Institute of Financial Markets (SAIFM).

Julian Thatcher

General Counsel – Business Development