Chester Makwanya: Entrepreneur

Chester Makwanya is an astute entrepreneur who has been an all-rounder in business, establishing several start-ups. He is the owner of a travel and tours firm, Makchester Tours and Travel, based in UAE. Makwanya additionally sits as the Board Chairman and Director of Generational Legacy Investments, a consortium he co-founded that is also based in the Middle East. Recently he added farming onto his ever-growing business portfolio as he continues his quest to build transgenerational wealth.

An experienced and calculated risk-taker passionate about entrepreneurship, investments, and personal development; Makwanya has built a reputation for developing winning business strategies, incubating new business models, and building out-channel programs geared towards business growth. This persistent drive for entrepreneurship makes him one of the top-ranked influential people amongst the Zimbabwean community in the UAE.

In addition to the many hats he wears, Makwanya is in addition a passionate philanthropist at heart. In 2019 he was part of a UAE based group of entrepreneurs that provided financial and logistical support to Cyclone Idai victims in the eastern region of Zimbabwe. Through his companies and influence, he furthermore provides basic commodities and tuition fees to several underprivileged families in Zimbabwe and the UAE. Makwanya also sits as the vice-chairperson of the African Christian Business Fellowship, Abu Dhabi; a Christian board that assists new expatriates to settle in the UAE.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, his entrepreneurship journey began at the tender age of nine when he started participating in fundraising activities for Jairos Jiri Children Home. Upon completing high school, he went on to work for the City of Harare before relocating to South Africa in 2008. During his tenure at City-of-Harare; he sold hardware materials to various companies as a side hustle. In South Africa, he continued his entrepreneurship journey, supplying electrical gadgets locally and importing to Zimbabwe while also holding down a fulltime job. Today, after almost a decade in the UAE, he is a strong advocate for entrepreneurship initiatives amongst the expatriate community and provides mentoring and financial support to many young entrepreneurs.

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