{"id":59304,"date":"2025-07-12T10:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T10:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/59304\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T10:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T10:11:14","slug":"apex-travel-zimbabwe-a-decade-of-grit-growth-and-guts-in-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/59304\/","title":{"rendered":"APEX Travel Zimbabwe: A\u00a0decade of grit, growth, and guts in entrepreneurship"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Anna Chibamu<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born in 1991 as the youngest and only son in a family of three, Tanaka \u201cTank\u201d Mupfurutsa has remained steadfast in his pursuit of business success, undeterred by the unpredictable highs and lows of entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

While his siblings have sought opportunities abroad, Mupfurutsa chose to stay in Zimbabwe, founding Apex Travel Zimbabwe, a premier travel and tours operator among other business ventures.<\/p>\n

He continues to navigate the country\u2019s challenging economic terrain with courage and determination, all while supporting his family and building a name for himself in the local business landscape.<\/p>\n

At just 19 years old, he launched \u2018Black Bean Investments\u2019, a candle and maputi (puffed maize snack) manufacturing company \u2013 laying the foundation for a bigger vision.<\/p>\n

In an interview with NewZimbabwe.com<\/a>, Mupfurutsa shares his successes and sorrows, highlighting the guiding principle behind his resilience: \u201cKeep changing. Nothing will work without God in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not easy,\u201d he said, recalling his encounters with the police after overloading his car with maputi but this did not deter him from achieving his goals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Instead, they became anecdotes of persistence and hustle.<\/p>\n

Mupfurutsa invested in his own maputi machines. Scaling up, he was processing tonnes of maize and supplying major retailers.<\/p>\n

A milestone came when he landed a contract with Afro Foods, distributing 10,000 packets three times a week to over 15 retail outlets around Harare City. The business later suffered due to the collapse of Afro Foods but he remained undeterred.<\/p>\n

While pursuing a Business Studies and Computing Science degree at the University of Zimbabwe (graduated 2013), Mupfurutsa co-founded \u201cCampus Culture\u201d, where he served as finance director.<\/p>\n

The student-led enterprise published magazines, hosted events, and even represented the university in a national ICT innovation competition.<\/p>\n

Despite multiple job offers, including from Delta Beverages and Document Support Centre, he chose entrepreneurship \u2013 the less-travelled path, and that was the birth of Apex Travel.<\/p>\n

Apex Travel was formally registered in 2014 as an educational tours company.\u00a0With unwavering zeal, Mupfurutsa and his team visited over ten schools daily, earning the trust of clients one handshake at a time.<\/p>\n

Apex Travel grew into a leading brand, known for luxurious and unforgettable school trips. The company revolutionised the industry by offering high-end experiences to students\u2014luxury coach rides, five-star hotel stays, and fully guided educational experiences.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of Apex Travel\u2019s historic achievements was chartering a full Boeing aircraft through Fly Africa, taking 140 students from Haig Park Primary School to Victoria Falls.<\/p>\n

Another proud moment came when Apex Travel booked out the entire Caribbea Bay Hotel for a school tour. Apex became a household name in schools across Zimbabwe and was known for setting industry trends.<\/p>\n

The business expanded rapidly: Apex now included car rental, vehicle tracking, and eventually roadside assistance.<\/p>\n

Their custom vehicle tracking system became a unique product in Zimbabwe. Developed in collaboration with Chinese manufacturers, Apex Trackers now provide features such as live tracking, remote vehicle immobilisation, driver behaviour analytics, geo-fencing, playback history, and microphone surveillance.<\/p>\n

Apex Travel\u00a0enforces strict client verification, including fingerprinting and ID capture, which has helped maintain a clean fleet and high customer integrity.<\/p>\n

The car rental fleet grew to include sedans, mid-range SUVs, double cabs, fuel savers, luxury SUVs like the 300 series, and Mercedes-Benz S-Class models.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, COVID-19 became a defining period for Apex Travel. Though the travel business paused, car rental surged as companies sought vehicles for restricted local movement.<\/p>\n

Mupfurutsa reallocated funds from his home construction to fleet expansion, turning a crisis into an opportunity. It was during this time that Apex Travel solidified car rental as its flagship division.<\/p>\n

In addition to that, Mupfurutsa acquired haulage trucks from a distressed seller, further diversifying his assets. With no initial plan, he instinctively knew it was a strategic purchase and it proved fruitful.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

His late father was always the first to test-drive any new vehicle and validate each major acquisition. His passing in February 2023 from cancer was a deep personal loss, but his legacy remains central to Mupfurutsa\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

Mupfurutsa\u2019s personal resilience was again tested when their nearly completed family home caught fire due to negligence by a caretaker.<\/p>\n

Despite the destruction, his father encouraged him to finish the project, calling it the \u201ctest of time.\u201d With support from loyal contractors, some whom refused payment, he rebuilt the house.<\/p>\n

Today, Tanaka Mupfurutsa stands tall as a visionary entrepreneur, husband, father, and innovator who continues to grow Apex Travel into one of Zimbabwe\u2019s most dynamic service providers across travel, logistics, and tech-enabled fleet services.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Anna Chibamu Born in 1991 as the youngest and only son in a family of three, Tanaka…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,607,50,12642,43143,43144,62,18575,67,132,68,2238],"class_list":{"0":"post-59304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newspaper","12":"tag-newzimbabwe","13":"tag-showbiz","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-trust","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-zimbabwe"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114839728042523031","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}