Margaret Mhango Mwanakatwe is a

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

n politician who was the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 14 February 2018 to 14 July 2019. She worked previously as a businesswoman, accountant, and bank executive. She was the director for

business development Business development entails tasks and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities within and between organizations. It is a subset of the fields of business, commerce and organizational theory. Business development is the creation of ...

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

Africa at the

United Bank for Africa United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is a Multinational pan-African financial services group headquartered in Lagos and known as Africa’s Global Bank. It has subsidiaries in 20 African countries and offices in London, Paris and New York. In Dece ...

at the bank's headquarters in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. In this role, she supervised business development in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, and Zambia. Before that, she served as the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

United Bank for Africa Uganda Limited United Bank for Africa Uganda Limited, also UBA Uganda, is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator. UBA Uganda is a subsidiary of the United Bank for Africa, headquartere ...

from March 2009 until May 2011.

Overview

Mwanakatwe is a

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations g ...

and banker, with a professional career spanning over twenty years. She has been a banking chief executive in her native Zambia, Ghana, and Uganda and a senior executive at the

(UBA) in

Background and education

She was born in Northern Rhodesia on 1 November 1961. She holds a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree. She is also a

Chartered Certified Accountant Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwid ...

, recognized by the

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwid ...

of London.

Career

Following education both in Zambia and abroad, she took up employment at Barclays Bank of Zambia (now

Absa Bank Zambia Plc Absa Bank Zambia Plc, formerly Barclays Bank of Zambia, is a commercial bank in Zambia. It is licensed by the Bank of Zambia, the central bank and national banking regulator. Location The headquarters and main branch of Absa Bank of Zambia are lo ...

). She rose to the position of managing director. She was the first Zambian and first female chief executive at Barclays Bank of Zambia. She was also the first woman CEO in all of Barclays Bank's African subsidiaries at the time. In 2004, she was appointed managing director and CEO at Barclays Bank of Ghana, serving in that capacity until 2009. In 2009, she left Barclays Bank and joined the UBA as managing director and chief executive at UBA Bank Uganda. During the same timeframe, she served as the regional business director for southern Africa for UBA. In 2011, she left UBA Uganda and transferred to the headquarters of UBA in

, Nigeria as the director for business development in Anglophone Africa.

Politics

On 2 February 2015, Mwanakatwe was

nominated Member of Parliament A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president. They are not affiliated to any political party and do not represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in the Parl ...

and appointed Minister of Commerce by Zambia President

Edgar Lungu Edgar Chagwa Lungu (born 11 November 1956) is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 25 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Fo ...

. She was elected as Member of Parliament for Lusaka Central Constituency, which was previously held by

Guy Scott Guy Lindsay Scott (born 1 June 1944) is a Zambian politician, who served as acting President of Zambia from 2014 to 2015, and was the Vice President from 2011 to 2014. Scott became acting President upon Michael Sata's death in office on 28 ...

. On 4 February 2018, in a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

, she was appointed

. With the Zambian economy struggling a number of key projects have stalled, Mwanakatwe's extensive experience in banking provides her with relatively reasonable experience to add value to the Ministry of Finance, restore investor confidence and to create new economic partners. In her role as Minister of Finance, Mwanakatwe tasked her department to work effectively in order to ensure that the ministry satisfies the expectations of the electorate. In a meeting held on 20 February 2018, the minister requested that her team formulate a plan to offset domestic arrears in a systemic manner. Additionally, in this meeting she directed officials to formulate a sustainable plan to pay salaries to public service workers on time and commended the team for its commitment to improving domestic resource mobilisation. She was relieved of her duties as Finance Minister by President Lungu on 14 July 2019.

Family

Margaret Mwanakatwe is married to Mupanga Mwanakatwe, who serves as the managing director of Zamtel, the state-owned telecommunications company.

References

External links

Overview of Margaret Mwanakatwe's Work In Ghana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwanakatwe, Margaret 1961 births Living people Zambian businesspeople Zambian bankers Zambian accountants Zambian women accountants Ministers of finance of Zambia Women government ministers of Zambia 21st-century Zambian women politicians 21st-century Zambian politicians Zambian women in business Female finance ministers University of Zambia alumni Commerce, Trade and Industry ministers of Zambia Zambian women chief executives Zambian business executives Members of the National Assembly of Zambia Zambian chief executives 20th-century Zambian businesspeople 21st-century Zambian businesspeople 20th-century Zambian businesswomen 21st-century Zambian businesswomen