The most powerful women in Tanzanian banking sector

Margareth Mattaba Chacha, Managing Director, Tanzania Women’s Bank

Having stood her ground from bullying and insults of boys during her childhood, Margareth Mattaba Chacha is now a household name in the banking sector.

Boasting a near three-decade career in the financial sector, Ms Chacha started as a management trainee at the then National Provident Fund (NPF), a precursor of the Parastastal Pensions Fund (PPF).

Having tapped in a great deal of experience, she crossed over to the Cooperative Rural Development Bank, now referred to as CRDB Bank where within a short span, she rose to a managerial post becoming the first manager of a new CRDB Branch back in 1993, the famous Holland House Branch, located at the junction of Ohio Street and Samora Avenue.

“I was tasked to head a new branch in town. I remember it did so well that it got marked as a model branch in the city by then,” recalls Ms Chacha.

There was no stop for her to climb the success ladder, whereby in 1997, Ms Chacha assumed the post of a Director of Banking at CRDB and she was among the brains behind E-Banking, one of the products offered by the bank.

Thereafter she took a break from working in a financial institution and joined the United Nations where she was the operations manager of the UNDP.

“We went to Sudan and worked for the peace keeping mission in the country.”

Her background in banking must have been quite impressive as she got approached by some individuals to start a bank for women in July 2009, which came to be known as Tanzania Women’s Bank (TWB).

“It was a pretty small bank with one branch…I had to serve two portfolios of a Bank Director and a Branch Manager,” she says.

Six years on, after assuming the role of a Managing Director at TWB, Ms Chacha says that capital still remains a challenge in the day-to-day operations of TWB.

“We receive and give loans but we are yet to be allowed to issue cheques to our customers.”

But one thing that leaves a smile on her face is the fact that thanks to the presence of TWB, more than 75 per cent of her customers are women.

Ms Chacha also finds pride in TWB for being the only financial institution that came up with the idea of spreading its network using the branchless module.

“By using this method we have been able to reach customers as far as Makambako, and we are still counting,” she explains.

Working in a male dominated profession has never been quite an issue for her.

She draws her courage from the days when she was a school prefect at Kazima Secondary School in Tabora.

While off duty, the mother of four devotes much of her time with the family.

“I do go out with my husband as well, I don’t wait for Valentines Day,” she chuckles.

Angela Moshi, General Manager, Uchumi Commercial Bank

Established in 2005 with an initial capital of Sh472million, Uchumi Commercial Bank’s core capital now stands at Sh4.1billion.

The bank also started with zero deposit but currently customer deposit is Sh 15.9bn.

Such success is credited to Ms Angela Moshi.

All the figures are at her fingertips: The current loan portfolio stood at Sh12.6billion, the bank also made a profit of Sh594mn after tax during the financial year 2014.

“Our bank has also paid dividends more than four times to its shareholders since its inception in 2005. For instance, during the financial year we paid a dividend of 10 per cent to our shareholders,” she adds.

Having graduated from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in March 1978, Ms Moshi is happy to see her bank excel in such parameters.

The most challenging things in her day-to-day operations are litigation issues and defaulters.

During her free time, the mother of four spends her time singing in the choir at Karanga Parish in Kilimanjaro; she also teaches her kids mathematics.

“Working for a bank calls for a lot of sacrifice, as a young mother I used to work until late hours by then, but I’m happy my husband gave me all the support I needed,” she says.

Sabetha Mwambenja, Managing Director, Covenant Bank for Women Tanzania

Ms Mwambenja always envied the late Dr Amon Nsekela’s work rate while he was the managing director of the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) in the 70s.

In fact, she even fell in love with the way bankers dressed.

More than 40 years on, she now heads a reputable bank in town.

I’m a customer focused person, I’m happy to witness my bank transforming people’s lives, particularly the women,” she says.

She is never happy when she falls short of achieving desired targets.

But she does have a planned social life, which she takes seriously.

“I don’t entertain guests on Sundays. I’d rather spend that rare opportunity with my family…but I don’t say no to dinners.”

Ms Mwambenja describes her background as a village upbringing.

Nonetheless, she refers to herself as a fighter, one who is not scared of any challenge.

Ineke Bussemaker, Managing Director, National Microfinance Bank (NMB)

Hardly a month in the country, Ms Ineke is enjoying life in Tanzania and particularly at NMB Bank.

Ms Bussemaker got interested to work in the banking sector right after completing university and worked at an IT department of a small branch of an American Bank in Amsterdam.

“I graduated with a degree in Mathematics and an MBA in Computer Sciences, my dream was to work somewhere where IT is an enabler,” she says.

The rest, as they say is history as Ms Bussemaker has since stayed in the banking sector for 30 years.

Coping to work with men has never been a problem for her, and in fact, it should never be a challenge.

As she puts it, she has what it takes to survive in a male dominated trade.

“This is a man’s world, you need to stand out a little bit but act professionally but with a female touch… women tend to do things slightly different from men, but at the end of it all, I’m still a great believer of diversity,” says Ms Bussemaker who also admits to have met and got inspired by Christine Lagarde, the current managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Winning large transactions for big corporate customers is a highlight of her career; nonetheless she too, has some low moments.

“There are always low moments, especially when I have ideas that fall short of my bosses’ expectations,” she says.

For Ms Bussemaker, her husband and her two children are the most important people in her life.

She makes the most of her family whenever she is next to them.

The NMB’s boss is still nostalgic of her childhood memories.

“Childhoods are very important to shape one’s future. I had three good sisters who shared with me good laughs, good times and explored new things and we are ever grateful to our parents for having taught us new values.”

Liz Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Tanzania

Ms Lloyd has gotten used to working with men.

In fact, pretty much of all her jobs have been that way.

“I used to work on policy areas in agriculture and home affairs. In those days all the chief constables (Regional heads of police in the UK) were men as were the leaders of those representing farmers. It’s getting better now and it’s rare to find you are the only woman in the room,” she says.

She chose banking because it was the very heart of all commerce, providing financing to a wider range of sectors and industries.

According to her, without a well functioning banking and financial sector we won’t have strong economies to provide good, sustainable employment opportunities.

“Getting banking right is a hugely important social and economic good as well as an interesting career.

It can be complex at times and is intellectually challenging”.

Her inspiration is drawn from the days when she worked in the public sector in the government and being closely associated with many NGOs where she saw another perspective.

While working for a bank of a high reputation like Standard Chartered, Ms Lloyd has seen a few challenges.

The most fundamental being the role of banks in the society and the economy.

“As we saw after the global financial crisis, the role of banks is more closely questioned than ever before.

This spans the amount of capital and liquidity we need to hold to the role of banks and financial services in preventing crimes such as money laundering, human and drug trafficking. Living up to today’s expectations is challenging,” she says.

While off duty, Ms Llyod enjoys reading novels.

She also makes the most of the opportunities to travel to some of the historic sites in Tanzania.

“My advice to any young women or men in Tanzania who are thinking about a career and feel they won’t fit in is not to worry about it too much and focus on doing what you do well and enjoy,” she says.

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