Meet Dr. Victoria Kisyombe who is the founder and CEO of SELFINA, a company in Tanzania that provides micro-leasing to mostly widows and young girls. Victoria is a leader who has used innovation, initiative, and determination to empower women in Tanzania to become economically self-sufficient.
Read more100 LIONESSES: Dr Victoria Kisyombe, Tanzania's trailblazing champion of women's financial empowerment
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe is the founder of SELFINA, a company in Tanzania that provides micro-leasing to mostly widows and young girls. Victoria is a leader who has used innovation, initiative, and determination to empower women in Tanzania to become economically self-sufficient. Her pioneering micro-leasing model as an alternative way to financing women has generated praise beyond Tanzania, and efforts are under way to expand the model to other countries in the region. SELFINA has gone on to economically empower more than 25,000 women with a total credit worth 25 billion Tanzanian Shillings (approximately $17 million US dollars). Over 250,000 lives have been impacted through the benefits accrued and more than 125,000 jobs have been created.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Victoria Kisyombe
Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA
“If I can change the life of one person it makes a whole difference because behind that person there is a whole family. It’s a family, it’s a society, it’s Tanzania.”
- Victoria Kisyombe founded SELFINA in 2002 and pioneered micro-credit in Tanzania through micro-leasing with a focus on widows and young girls. Victoria helped women overcome many of the traditional stumbling blocks that made it difficult for them to own land and assets. SELFINA has gone on to economically empower more than 25,000 women with a total credit worth 25 billion Tanzanian Shillings (approximately $16 million US dollars). Over 200,000 lives have been impacted through the benefits accrued.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Victoria Kisyombe
Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA, Tanzania
"This is the era for Africa to move forward, and if Africa is moving forward, the women can move forward with it."
- Victoria Kisyombe founded SELFINA in 2002 and pioneered micro-credit in Tanzania through micro-leasing with a focus on widows and young girls. Victoria helped women overcome many of the traditional stumbling blocks that made it difficult for them to own land and assets. SELFINA has gone on to economically empower more than 25,000 women with a total credit worth 25 billion Tanzanian Shillings (approximately $16 million US dollars). Over 200,000 lives have been impacted through the benefits accrued.
Read moreQuote of the Day from Dr. Victoria Kisyombe
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA (Tanzania)
"I have seen the enormous impact a small investment can make in the life of a woman. And it doesn’t stop there — from one modest lease, a woman can create dozens of jobs, touching the lives of dozens more."
- Victoria Kisyombe founded SELFINA in 2002 and pioneered micro-credit in Tanzania through micro-leasing with a focus on widows and young girls. Victoria helped women overcome many of the traditional stumbling blocks that made it difficult for them to own land and assets. SELFINA has gone on to economically empower more than 25,000 women with a total credit worth 25 billion Tanzanian Shillings (approximately $16 million US dollars). Over 200,000 lives have been impacted through the benefits accrued.
Read moreVIDEO: Dr. Victoria Kisyombe - Advancing Women’s Economic Empowerment in Tanzania
Source: Bank of America | Published on 10 July 2015
Bank of America Retail Products and Underwriting Executive Titi Cole and Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, Managing Director of Selfina share reflections on the importance of mentoring and women’s economic empowerment.
Read moreVideo: Dr. Victoria Kisyombe founder of SELFINA in Tanzania shares her message of hope at TEDx Berkeley
Source: TEDx | published on Mar 26, 2015
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe has founded micro-financing for women in Tanzania, and is now working to empower women worldwide. Victoria is a leader who has used innovation, initiative, and determination to empower women in Tanzania to become economically self-sufficient. Watch her address at TEDx Berkeley.
Read moreVideo: Victoria Kisyombe speaks on Leadership: How to turn loss into strength
Video source: The Washington Post PostTV | August 15, 2014
Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA, a pioneering micro-credit organization for women in Tanzania, talks to the Post's Lillian Cunningham about what motivated her work and how she turned personal loss into strength.
Read moreQuote of the Day
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA (Tanzania)
"It was that 'a-ha moment.' If a woman could have a cow like I had, she could have an asset that could generate income, then we could go around the problem of not being able to access financing."
- Victoria Kisyombe founded SELFINA in 2002 and pioneered micro-credit in Tanzania through micro-leasing with a focus on widows and young girls. Victoria helped women overcome many of the traditional stumbling blocks that made it difficult for them to own land and assets. SELFINA has gone on to economically empower more than 25,000 women with a total credit worth 25 billion Tanzanian Shillings (approximately $16 million US dollars). Over 200,000 lives have been impacted through the benefits accrued.
Read moreCreating life-changing business opportunities for women in Tanzania
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, founder & CEO of SELFINA, Tanzania
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe was motivated to launch a business to provide women entrepreneurs, specifically micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas of Tanzania, with the financial support they needed to create and sustain their own business. Her personal experience opened her eyes to a new horizon — that of widows left without land or significant assets.
Read moreVictoria Kisyombe - Start up story of the woman who pioneered micro-leasing in Tanzania empowering a generation of women
Victoria Kisyombe, founder of Sero Lease and Finance (SELFINA), Tanzania
Victoria’s incredible journey into entrepreneurship emerged as a result of personal tragedy and the unexpected death of her husband back in 1991. For her and their three young children, life was to change inexorably as she was left to deal with the resulting social and economic challenges facing them. An entrepreneurial approach to life thereafter provided the solution.
Read moreDr Victoria Kisyombe: Perspectives on Women's Entrepreneurship Day
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA (Tanzania)
Source: Vital Voices | by Dr. Victoria Kisyombe | 19 November 2014
Since I founded my company SELFINA 20 years ago, I have seen the enormous impact a small investment can make in the life of a woman. And it doesn’t stop there — from one modest lease, a woman can create dozens of jobs, touching the lives of dozens more.
Read moreMoney cow: The economy-boosting bovine
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA (Tanzania)
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (CNN) -- Starting a business is never easy, but in Tanzania, the obstacles for women can be particularly fierce. Few women hold land titles, and as a result, many don't have the necessary collateral to secure funding from a bank. Dr. Victoria Kisyombe has set out to change that. She runs SELFINA, a micro-credit institution focused on female entrepreneurs. In addition to lending, SELFINA loans women equipment to start up their businesses
Read moreMeet Dr. Victoria Kisyombe: Dedicated to creating business opportunities for Tanzania's rural widows
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA (Tanzania)
SELFINA was developed out of a need to overcome the barriers that social norms and customary law often impose on women entrepreneurs in the East African country.Dr. Victoria's personal experiences along with her academic interests have inspired her to serve widows without land or significant assets. She was motivated to launch a business to provide women entrepreneurs, specifically micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas of Tanzania, with the financial support they needed to create and sustain their own business.
Read moreVideo: The inspiring story of Tanzanian micro-finance pioneer Dr Victoria Kisyombe
Video: Fetzer Institute | Published on August 16, 2013
Inspiring viewing: Since 2002, SELFINA, Sero Lease and Finance Ltd., has invested in 25,000 Tanzanian women entrepreneurs and created 125,000 jobs through an innovative micro-leasing program. "The secret behind it is the love we have for the people," says Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, Selfina's founder.
Read moreSELFINA: A story of love, compassion and micro-leasing in Tanzania
Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, founder of SELFINA (Tanzania)
What happens when you combine innovative micro-financing practices for women entrepreneurs in Tanzania with the universal values of love and compassion? Jobs are created, businesses are built, and lives are transformed.
Read more