Entrepreneur of the Week
OUR Entrepreneur of the Week is Dr Ethel Mupambwa, founder of MoneyMart Finance, where she serves as the chief executive officer. Dr Mupambwa is a certified digital finance practitioner (Digital Frontiers Institute).
She holds a degree in Finance from the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe and numerous certifications in leadership, strategy and microfinance. In 2021, Dr Mupambwa received prestigious recognition. The International Institute of Philanthropy, through its Zimbabwe office and on the recommendation of the board, incorporating the African Institute of Philanthropy and the Women’s Institute of Philanthropy, awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters (DHL).
Additionally, the International Women’s University conferred upon her an Honorary Doctor of Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship.
Her passion lies in financial inclusion.
Growing up in a financially excluded area in rural Nembudziya, Gokwe, the situation inspired her drive.
She has nine years of experience of linking finance to business operations, with focus on microfinance, for the past five years. Her work centres on innovative ways of accommodating financially excluded women and youths.
The most recent Findex report shows that of the world’s 2 billion unbanked adults, 1,1 billion are women, both in rural and urban areas.
These unique obstacles to accessing financial services are what Dr Mupambwa, herself a woman, seeks to change.
Her passion lies in working with women who lack access to funding and financial solutions, particularly low-income micro-entrepreneurs like vegetable vendors who are typically excluded from mainstream financial services. Dr Mupambwa’s achievements are well-deserved. She was recently named among the African Business Heroes of 2020 in a Jack Ma Foundation initiative, and recognised as the Businesswoman of the Year, 2021, at the Zimbabwe National Business and Leadership Awards.