Bayport Financial Services has announced the appointment of Mwenzi Mibenge Mulenga as the new Chief Executive Officer. Ms Mulenga becomes the first female CEO in the history of the multi-billion kwacha Micro Finance, and joins a strong group of female CEOs in the Zambian Finance Industry. She replaces Justin Chola, the founder of Bayport Zambia, who has been leading the company since its inception in 2004.
Ms Mulenga has previously served as the Deputy to the CEO as she was mentored by Justin Chola. She had previously served as the General Manager of Corporate Services at MTN Zambia and had also served on the board of Stanbic Zambia from 2016 until September 2019. Before that she had held senior and management roles at Corpus Legal Practitioners, African Banking Corporation and Ernst & Young. She is a lawyer by training having obtained an LLB from the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science from the University of London. She is also an advocate of the High Court of Zambia.
Dedications
There has been an outpour of congratulations for her appointment with the first coming from Justin Chola the outgoing CEO:
“After seventeen great years as CEO of this great company that we built from scratch into one of the country’s leading financial institutions, I am delighted to be handing over the top job to Mwenzi Mibenge Mulenga. Mwezi has been my apprentice over the last eighteen months. I believe that she is now ready to step in my shoes. I will continue to cheer Mwenzi on from the touch line and give her all the support she needs to succeed.”
Mizinga Melu, CEO of ABSA Group Zambia, congratulated Ms Mulenga on her appointment via and linkedin post:
“Congratulations to Ms MWENZI MIBENGE on your appointment as CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER for Bayport Financial Services. Ms Mwezi Mibenge is the first Female CEO to lead Bayport Financial Services. We are so proud of you and indeed, ‘When Females Lead!’”
History and Bayport Group
Ms Mulenga is a strong advocate for female participation in the workforce having promoted contributions to women led project development while at MTN. At the time she led the company in investing K250,000 in a waste management system to mitigate the impact of indiscriminate waste disposal in Zambian communities. Whilst in her role as Head of MTN Legal and Regulatory she was a pioneer in promoting the companies use of local languages when promoting products and communicating with its customers. Through her initiatives the company hired multilingual call centre staff in order to properly cater for Zambians. This signifies she a strong leader who promotes her core values when given the platform and she is an efficient performer.
According to Bayport the company assets are currently valued at K2.9 billion with a gross loan book worth an estimated K2.2 billion. The company produces credit facilities for over 90,000 salaried individuals in Zambia with a branch network of nearly 36 spread across the country. Based on the last available financials (unaudited) the company has an average earnings per share of K0.14 per share based on an average profit exceeding K40 million annually (based on 2019 numbers). In 2018 the company revenue was accounted at K770 million, sufficient for a spot in the top 5 ranking banks in the country (though it is a non-bank). The Bayport Group is an international microfinance company which has subsidiaries in developing countries globally including: Ghana, South Africa and Mexico. The company has three equity investors which includes some of the most prominent investment firms in Africa, such as: the South African Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Helios Investment Partners (acquired 23% of the company in 2013) and Kinnevik. The Zambian company is an affiliate member of the Bayport group.
In the official announcement from the papers the board expressed its dearest wishes to the legendary Justin Chola stating its: “profound gratitude to Bayports outgoing CEO, Mr Justin Chola, on a stellar performance throughout the 17 years that he ran the company. Under his stewardship, the company transformed from a small start-up operation in 2004 to the large and successful corporation it is today.” The Chairperson of the board Ms Marth Akapelwa stated “ I am particularly proud of the fact she is the first female CEO of the company, a major milestone in our history”.
Conclusion
Ms Mulenga is clearly an extremely well educated woman who has proven to be a force to reckon with in the competitive Zambian Financial Sector. Bayport is one of the most profitable Zambian businesses in history and in appointing the competent Mwenzi Mulenga to guide the company through its next decade of operations we can surely expect a more inclusive and tech driven approach from the microfinance.