Nancy: Why self-belief is paramount

Nancy Riwa, the Country Head of Logistics with Tanzania Breweries Plc (TBL), has a simple and straightforward vision – to become a prominent leader in a prominent organisation, where she can drive growth and influence positive change in society.

To achieve this, she knows that she must work hard and continuously improve her skills to stand out and remain competitive.

This is something she started at an early age during her schooling years where Nancy was among the top ten female candidates in the 2003 national Form Four examination. She was also the ACCA top student in the Performance Management Examination (June 2021) and was ranked first in Tanzania and fourth globally.

Today, she is at the helm of the TBL Logistics Department, which has a 300-strong workforce and which is charged with delivering the firm’s business strategy from a planning and logistics perspective. Nancy is also a board member at Redefine Africa.

Her leadership spirit was inspired by her late mother, Agustina Mosha, who worked with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and had a passion for improving people’s lives.

“Growing up, I saw what she was doing in society by implementing various projects in organisations she worked with and transforming people’s lives through those projects,” says Nancy.

The types of roles she opted for guided her to her vision, leading her to where she is today. After completing college, she sent applications to four reputable accounting firms and was taken aboard by Deloitte. She says it was a good starting point in terms of learning.

Nancy started off at Deloitte as a Management Consultant in Strategy and Operations, serving in the position for three-and-a-half years. She worked with clients in both the private and public sector across East Africa and this gave her valuable exposure and experience.

She later joined TBL and was stationed in Mwanza, where she served as Finance Manager from 2015 to early 2017. While in Mwanza, her work principles – learning, sharing knowledge with others and continuous improvement – helped her gain further experience in finance and she was recognised by being presented with the “You Make a Difference” award in 2016.

Commenting on the award, Nancy says she has always strived to do her best and give it her shot as a reflection of who she is.

“When you strive for the very best, you will eventually attain the desired results. Any award that I win is an encouragement as it shows that what I am doing is being appreciated and valued,” says Nancy.

She believes that for one to be successful at work and as a leader, they must continuously learn and have a pro-growth mindset.

“At every stage of my career, I have felt the urge to grow further and have a positive impact. This is what has propelled me to grow in the various roles I have played so far,” she says

In April 2017, she was promoted to TBL Planning and Performance Manager (PPM) in Supply and Logistics in Tanzania, and in December 2018, she became the Supply PPM for East Africa, a position she served in until March 2022.

Nancy speaks highly of mentorship and how it helps people grow, saying it allows one to tap into someone else’s experience and gain the necessary guidance on the right path to follow to reach their goals.

She mentions Indra Nooyi, former Pepsi Chief Executive, and who was once consistently ranked among the world’s most powerful women, as her role model. Despite the heavy burden on her shoulders, Indra was still able to be there for her family and create the best possible work-life integration that worked wonders for her.

“If you don’t have a mentor, everything you go through seems troubling and frustrating, but having a mentor helps you avoid unnecessary mistakes as mentors can advise you on the best ways of surmounting difficulties. For women, it is important to have a female mentor in addition to male mentors, as they can provide a female perspective to some work experiences that are specific to women, for example, pay equity, family-life balance and barriers to advancement,” says Nancy.

Her leadership style is a combination of developing others and placing a premium on equality and workplace democracy. Nancy enjoys coaching and developing others and she began doing this when she was in secondary school and in college, where she also taught mathematics. At some point, her fellow students thought she would end up being a prominent academic.

“Teaching has always been part of my journey and I get satisfaction when I’m able to share knowledge and help others improve. By being democratic, I take into consideration other people’s views and feedback when making certain decisions since my opinion can be limited to my beliefs and experiences.

“At company level, TBL advocates equity and inclusion and we have clear targets on gender diversity. Some of the initiatives TBL has in place include an increased focus on female candidates for technical training, sponsoring women to attend the Female Future Programme and aiming for the 50/50 ratio for all recruitments and promotions. We have policies and targets to ensure we remain focused on striving for gender equity,” says Nancy.

She adds that she usually goes through shortlists of candidates and checks whether women are well represented and that the process is fair. She also encourages women to apply for certain roles as women sometimes avoid applying for positions just because they think they lack one of two of the required attributes.

Nancy advises women to have long-term goals and a clear plan of achieving them, while ensuring that whatever they are doing on a daily basis complements those objectives. Women need to dream big and stop thinking of the obstacles that are likely to slow them down.

She urges women to believe in themselves since this is key to helping them achieve their career goals. They must also prioritise things that make them grow and put themselves first.

Some of Nancy’s pastimes are exercising, reading (she is a member of Umoja Book Club) and playing tennis. She says these hobbies nourish her soul and make her more energetic.

Finally, she says women should stop stooping too low when it comes to seeking opportunities.

“If you are good at something, if you want a bigger role, a more challenging role, you should let the right people know and take the necessary steps to get that role.

“Two of the roles that I got at TBL were the result of my making the first move by showing interest in taking up new challenges. I remember when I was in Mwanza I called our then Finance Director and said I was ready for a new challenge and wanted to be considered for new roles that were to be offered,” says Nancy.