ZIMBABWEANS fared strongly at the recent Africa Leadership Awards in Mauritius winning six awards, with three of them going to Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi.

The minister received the Personal Brand Award, the Mark of Excellence Award and the Africa Leadership and Initiative Awards.

Zimbabwe as a nation was awarded the Leading Future Destination Award, a psychological booster for a country emerging from isolation by foreign visitors and a decade of deep economic decline.

Other winners were heads of two academic institutions, Dr. Quinton Kanhukamwe of the Harare Institute of Technology and the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU)’s Dr. Primrose Kurasha.

The two were awarded for leading institutions that have contributed immensely in national development.

In his address, Mzembi urged African countries to follow democratic principles and weed out corruption, saying this was the only pathway to the achievement of the continent’s economic development.

He lamented current developments in Egypt, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) saying the unrest in these countries negated economic growth and development.

Mzembi, who has also won several national and international awards previously, took the opportunity to position and market the next UNWTO General Assembly set for August 2013 in Victoria Falls.

Co-sponsored by the World Corporate Social Responsibility and the Stars of Industry Group, the awards are intended amongst other objectives, to encourage good leadership.

The Stars of Industry Awards was created more than 40 years ago by the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and it gives hoteliers the opportunity to recognize employees, managers and legislators who best represent the service and spirit of the lodging industry.