Business Reporter
THE Sharpe Business Academy (SBA) has entered into a strategic partnership with the National Venture Capital Company (NVCC), a move set to bolster the growth and sustainability of entrepreneurs across Zimbabwe.
SBA, launched in 2024 by prominent Zimbabwean real estate mogul and WestProp Holdings CEO Ken Sharpe, is recognized as Africa’s premier entrepreneurship academy.
The institution provides HEXCO-accredited certificates and diplomas alongside business education modeled on Ivy League standards. As a non-profit, SBA is dedicated to equipping the next generation of leaders with hands-on execution skills, mentorship, and pathways to seed capital.
The partnership, officially announced on Friday, will see NVCC—a specialized provider of venture capital, private equity financing, and business advisory services—support SBA graduates with long-term financial backing designed to help scale startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and high-potential ventures.
Speaking at the launch event, Ken Sharpe underscored the significance of the collaboration.
“I’m glad that you partnered with this academy because I believe that we are building a long-term future for our youth. We are empowering them with the greatest asset they have, which is really an asset not only of academic excellence… If you have theoretical academics but you’ve never applied them in practice, then it doesn’t help you progress in life,” he said.
Sharpe continued, “Unless you’re, of course, a lecturer or you’re using those academics to teach others. But if you want to apply them into your business, I believe practical skills are much more important. So, when we talk of business skills at this academy, definitely we want to teach from best practices.”
Drawing from his own entrepreneurial journey, Sharpe described SBA’s mission as a way of giving back.
“It’s a nugget, and I call it the golden nugget that we can give to others to be able to benefit from our knowledge. That we’ve gone before them and experienced. But also, outside of my own experience, there are much greater business people,” he noted.
The property tycoon added that the academy’s curriculum exposes students to global business case studies, including those from prestigious institutions such as Harvard Business School, his alma mater.
“It gets them to see the international market in a different way. We’re not just a suburban economy. We’re not just a Zimbabwean business. But we’re now a global society. We’re a global economy. So, why should Zimbabwe not benefit from that global best practises?”
NVCC CEO Tino Kambasha echoed Sharpe’s sentiments, emphasizing the alignment between the two organizations’ missions.
“We really look forward to develop young talent and it is our mandate to promote innovation, especially amongst the young people. We thought that the synergies between the SBA and ourselves would make a lot of sense,” he said.
“Obviously, learning from Mr. Sharpe himself, a seasoned businessman himself. So, we thought, look, let’s tap into it. As Zimbabweans, I think it’s great for us to work together and to promote the youth because the youth is the future,” Kambasha added.
