Mudavanhu appointed new CBZ Holdings CEO

Published: 28 May 2018

CBZ Holdings Limited has appointed ormer Bancabc acting chief, Doctor Blessing Mudavanhu, as its new group chief executive officer.

Dr Mudavanhu's appointment is with effect from June 1, 2018.

He takes over from Never Nyemudzo who retired in October 2017 amid controversy around sanctions.

Since October bank managing director Peter Zimunya had been acting.

Blessing Mudavanhu has obtained a doctorate, worked on Wall Street, headed a bank and started his own financial advisory firm - all before reaching the age of 46.

The self-confessed mathematics nerd founded Dura Capital in New York in 2006, initially to make African investments. Early in 2017 he stepped down as CEO of BancABC, which was taken over by Bob Diamond's bank acquirer, Atlas Mara, to focus on his investment company.

Before joining the bank, Mudavanhu had an eight-year career covering risk on Wall Street, including stints at insurer American International Group and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

It all began with a reluctance to read when he was growing up in Zimbabwe, where he was born in 1971.

He obtained his BSc honours in mathematics from the University of Zimbabwe, followed by a PhD from the University of Washington after receiving a Fulbright scholarship. He also possesses a master's degree in financial engineering.

Mudavanhu says modern financial economics and mathematics were a natural fit for him.

He is an adjunct professor - he teaches risk management in City University of New York's financial mathematics programme. He is also a visiting senior lecturer at Wits University's School of Computer Science & Applied Mathematics, as well as a lecturer at its business school.
- BusinessDaily