In the summer of 1987, a young black man walked into the offices of Munich Re in Harare, Zimbabwe to apply for a job. The name of the 30-year old applicant: John “Junior” Ngulube.
In a society that very much mirrored the apartheid policies of South Africa at the time, very few companies enjoyed a “mixed” work force. Ngulube recalls: “I started looking at job prospects from the perspective of: where could I get a meaningful job in a great firm in a country that was divided along racial lines?” And Munich Re was that company, the exception. “The fact that Munich Re was visionary – being the only major financial services with a racially-diverse management and staff at the time – made it that much more attractive to me”, explains Ngulube, who was hired on the spot.
From agronomist to ceo of Munich Re of Africa
When Junior joined the company, he wasn’t really sure where it would take him. Munich Re had been looking for an agronomist in their Harare branch. The position gave him a chance to test the Agriculture degree that he received at the University of Zimbabwe. So Ngulube joined to develop crop insurance portfolios within the company – while still harboring ideas of entering farming. Success after success changed his mind. As he explains: “The nature of our business is sudden and unforeseen, and that’s how I ended up in the industry.”
