James Makamba
| Dr. James Makamba | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
1 January 1952 (age 65) Zimbabwe
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| Residence |
 South Africa
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| Nationality |
Zimbabwe
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| Occupation | Businessman and Philanthropist |
| Home town | Mashonaland Central Province Zimbabwe |
| Website | www.drjamesmakamba.com |
Dr. James Makamba (Born 1 January 1952) is an African commercial broadcaster, businessman, politician and philanthropist. Makamba currently has interests in the retail, telecommunications, mining, agricultural, property and professional consultancy sectors, digital publishing and philanthropy.
He sits on the boards of IBBAMO Foundation, JHL Investments, Thurlow & Company, the Kestrel Corporation (Pty) Ltd, African Business Connect, Makamba & Associates, Telecel Zimbabwe and Anglo African Minerals.
James Makamba holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from California Coast University. In 2012, James Makamba was awarded an honorary doctorate in Business Leadership from St Linus University, Dominica
Makamba was born in the Shamva District of Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia). Makamba was the youngest of ten children of Jinja Makamba a retired police officer and Veronica Mudungwe.
Before his family moved to the Chesa district, to Mount Darwin, Makamba attended the Mupfurudzi Primary School, along with Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi, who became a globally renowned musician. After the move, Makamba attended the Kujuwara School near Mount Darwin and then one of his older brothers, Raphael, invited him to live with his family in Tomlinson Depot, Harare, where he finished his upper primary education. He then attended the Jesuit Mission School, in Bulawayo, for his secondary education where strict discipline, focus, and accountability were instilled. The Jesuit fathers suggested to Makamba that he study in Ireland to be a priest. Makamba considered the suggestion as young black Southern Rhodesians of the time had very few career options beyond teaching, nursing, and police work. A far bigger attraction, however, was the idea of international travel. Makamba, however, did not take up the opportunity to join the priesthood due to family obligations.
When Makamba left secondary school, he went to work in Harare at the Catholic Centre. In a neighboring building was a government organisation, Audio Visual Services, which was responsible for recording educational material for broadcast in schools. After he had observed a friend make recordings on several occasions, Makamba was asked to stand in for a voice-over artist who had not arrived for a particular session. This began a career in broadcasting that lasted several decades.
After a year of school broadcasts, Makamba became a commercial radio broadcaster for the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), on Channel 2. Determined to be his own boss rather than an RBC employee, he set about sourcing businesses willing to sponsor programmes and then packaged their advertising with customer interviews and popular music. Because Motown was very much in vogue, Makamba sported the bellbottom trousers and enormous afro hairstyle of the time, aligning himself with the racial integration and equality that Motown represented by its crossover success. Very rapidly, he became Southern Rhodesia’s most popular DJ, running 28 radio shows a week and touring the country to run discotheques at events ranging from weddings to New Year’s parties. He established his own company, Incentive Private Ltd.
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Wikipedia