Background Information
Tawanda Nyambirai is a distinguished lawyer with outstanding skills.
In a book, How to Build a multi- billion Dollar Business in Africa
From Scratch, Strive Masiyiwa wrote: Over the years, I have had the
privilege to work with great lawyers from all around the world; but I
say this with humility, Tawanda Nyambirai has one of the finest legal
minds, I have ever met.”
Tawanda holds a Bachelor of Laws Honours Degree from the University of
Zimbabwe and a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from Uppsala
University, Sweden. Early in his career, Tawanda represented himself
against compulsory contributions to the National Social Security
Agency (NSSA). The Nyambirai vs NSSA case gave the Supreme Court the
opportunity to set the test to be applied in determining the scope of
derogations from fundamental rights that can be considered to be
reasonably justifiable in a democratic society. This case has been
referred to beyond the borders of Zimbabwe.
In 1997, Tawanda successfully handled the case of Econet vs the
Minister of Telecommunications that resulted in Econet being duly
licensed to operate a mobile telecommunications network within, into
and from Zimbabwe. The success in this case changed the
telecommunications landscape in the country and put paid to the
monopoly of the PTC which, although declared unconstitutional years
earlier, remained in existence.
What was particularly impressive about this case were the means of
gathering evidence which Tawanda and his team employed, which involved
obtaining an Anton Pillar order to search and seize records of
deliberations of the Technical Committee, an event which proved
decisive in the matter as it unearthed damning evidence of bias and
manipulation of the outcome of the tender process that had resulted in
the licensing of Telecel.
The importance of the victory in this case is evident in the role that
Econet has contributed to the development of the economy of Zimbabwe
through employment creation, revenue paid to Government, and the
revolution in electronic payment systems through the use of Ecocash.
Tawanda also successfully handled the 1998 Case of Econet vs Telecel
in which he advanced the novel argument that an appeal did not have
the effect of suspending the rights recognized by a declaratory order
because a declaratory order does not create the rights it declares,
but merely recognizes their existence.Later in his career, Tawanda
would play a critical role in the listing of Econet on the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange. The listing still stands out as one of the rare cases
where a company without a trading history was successfully listed on
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
Tawanda has also successfully led the negotiations for the renewal of
the Econet License with the Ministers of Finance, and
Telecommunications and their respective Permanent Secretaries, and the
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority with the result
that the license fees that had been demanded at $250 million were
reduced to $137.5 million and the license tenor was extended by a
further period of 5 years to 20 years. Tawanda’s strategic negotiation
skills were critical to this success.
Tawanda also has immense advisory skills in structuring transactions,
and he was an advisor in the mobilization of facilities exceeding $300
million by Econet Wireless, arguably the largest fund raising by a
listed company in Zimbabwe. He was responsible for all the Zimbabwe
issues relating to the fund raising, including procuring Exchange
Control approvals, and the drafting of circulars to shareholders to
obtain the requisite shareholder approvals.
Lately, Tawanda advised Econet on the raising of US$120 million
outside Zimbabwe by way of a rights offer. This rights offer
transaction ranks amongst the top five largest rights offers on a
stock exchange in Southern Africa. In closing this transaction,
Tawanda had to overcome significant hurdles, including resistance from
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and the Securities Exchange Commission.
The involvement by Tawanda in the demerger of Kingdom Financial
Holdings Limited from Meikles Africa was one of the most interesting
transactions Tawanda has handled. Having been involved in advising on,
and structuring the merger in the first place, Tawanda was there when
the parties to the merger fell out. After realizing that it was in the
best interests of the shareholders, especially the minority
shareholders for the combined entity to demerge, and that the board
was at that stage incapable of making the right decision to call a
shareholder meeting, Tawanda advised one of the minority shareholders
to requisition a meeting. He drafted the requisition, and mapped the
proposed demerger processes. This is perhaps the only known successful
case of shareholder activism that achieved its objectives through the
rarely used process of requisitioning a shareholder meeting.
The ownership structure behind the construction of the Joina City was
also designed by Tawanda to take into account the different tax
statuses of the initial investors involved in the financing of the
project. The structure utilized the concept of co- ownership of
property in undivided shares, linked to debenture units.
As a businessman, Tawanda has established a business whose flagship is
TN Financial Services P/L, one of the leading Financial Advisory firms
in Zimbabwe. TN Financial Services P/L has handled some of the
record-breaking transactions in Zimbabwe. Tawanda also founded one of
the few indigenous banks that remain standing, TN Bank Limited, which
changed its name to Steward Bank Limited after Tawanda swapped his TN
Bank Limited shares for Econet shares. Under TN Bank Limited, Tawanda
lead the licensing of Ecocash, which has now become synonymous with
mobile money in Zimbabwe. Tawanda is also an investor in TN Harlequin
Luxaire Limited, a leading manufacturer of furniture in the region.
On a human rights front, Tawanda successfully prevented the ejectment
of Freddy Goronga and hundreds of Porta Farm residents in a case heard
during the night before the former late JP Sandura (as he then was)
and the retired Justice Adam. Tawanda successfully argued that the
constitutional right to life includes the right to livelihood, and
that as such, the Government and the City of Harare could not eject
the squatters without providing an alternative settlement for them. No
judgment was then written as the Respondents conceded the force of the
submissions and an order was issued suspending the evictions that were
due to be executed at 4 am the next day. The success of this case saw
the majority of the former squatters being accommodated in
Dzivarasekwa extension.
Education
-
Law School:
University of Zimbabwe -
Undergraduate:
Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Zimbabwe
Memberships
- Law Society of Zimbabwe