Conducted by: Joyce Chiamaka Nwezeh
For: Africa for Africa Women – PAWES Awards 2025
Nomination Category: Women in Finance
“For me, financial empowerment is about restoring dignity, security, and generational progress.”
Gladys Shumbambiri
Introduction
This interview session forms part of the Pan-African Women Empowerment Summit (PAWES) Awards 2025 finalist spotlight series.
Joyce Nwezeh, representing Africa for Africa Women and the Youth Empowerment Network, sat down with Ms. Gladys Shumbambiri, a distinguished economist and finance expert, to explore her impact, her journey, and her vision for financial empowerment across Africa.
Gladys Shumbambiri
My name is Gladys Shumbambiri, an economic analyst, and I am a former senior economist with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
I do a lot of work empowering women, empowering youth, empowering children in financial education and about who I am. And I work with NGOs, development institutions, advancing financial literacy and entrepreneurship development.
What inspired your career in finance?
Gladys Shumbambiri
My inspiration comes from recognizing women and youth. I have identified that there is a lot of potential in the youth and in the women of Africa. So this potential to financial knowledge and also opportunities. So I discovered that there is a lot of limited access to financial uncertainty because of the retrenchment that I experienced at 32 years of age.
Men, women, youth, and children need confidence and tools to take charge of their financial lives and be able to build sustainable livelihoods. For me, financial empowerment is about restoring dignity, security, and generational progress.
The pivotal moment in her journey
My defining moment came at the age of 32 years when I was retrenched from the Central Bank, and I was still very, very young. So I applied for over 5,000 jobs and none opened a door for me to go back into formal employment.
It was a very difficult and humbling period for me, but it became my greatest redirection to what I am now doing today. So during that period, a mentor who is my husband encouraged me to research about microfinance.
And through that work of microfinance, I saw how many women shared the struggles that I was going through. These women, these youths, were brilliant people—young people, hard-working individuals—who were denied access and opportunity. That’s when I realized that I was not a victim of retrenchment, but I was actually a product of resilience. So my setback became my stepping stone to help others rise. So that experience ignited my commitment to financial inclusion and financial freedom for all.
Impact and future plans
I’ve been blessed to empower over 1,150,000 women and youth through financial literacy, entrepreneurship development, and business management. I have also collaborated with organizations such as FAO of the United Nations, Old Mutual on the Money Program, Stanbic Bank Business Incubation Clinics, New Faces New Voices Zimbabwe, Inspired Women Lead, and ZADT, among others.
I serve as Chair of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Thematic Group on Financial Literacy and Consumer Protection, influencing national financial education initiatives.
My media engagements on Star FM, Capitalk, ZTN Prime, ZTV, 3K TV, and others have expanded the reach that I do to thousands more across the region. In 2024, I received international recognition from Female Wave of Change in Geneva, a financial literacy award for my work locally, regionally, and internationally.
The real reward, however, is seeing those we empower become job creators and economic contributors in their own communities.
Should I win the PAWES Award, I would expand financial literacy programs—because winning this award would actually amplify a mission that is already in motion. So I would expand financial literacy programs, especially to rural and underserved women. I would strengthen partnerships driving access to finance for women-owned businesses. I would advocate for supportive policies that accelerate economic inclusion. When women are financially empowered, households stabilize and nations prosper. I want this platform to multiply that transformation across Africa.
