Victoria Kisyombe is a Tanzanian

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and founder of Sero Lease and Finance Limited (Selfina) in 2002, a

Tanzanian 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 ...

company that micro-leasing to mostly widows and young girls. She received an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award from the World Economic Forum and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs in 2010.

Background and education

Victoria Kisyombe is originally from

Mbeya Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa. Mbeya's urban population is 620,000 according to the 2022 census. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region (population, with Mbeya, totals approx. 2 million). Mbeya is sit ...

in South-Wester part of

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 ...

. She studied her primary and school education from

before moving to

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

to further her studies and She later returned to

and attended

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1 ...

, where she completed a bachelor's degree in

Veterinary Science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

in 1983. In 1986 she was awarded a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

by the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

to complete a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Career

After finishing her studies at the

she returned to

and started to practice as a vet in 1983. She is currently a permanent Member of Schwab Foundation/World Economic Forum, Emeritus Council Member of World Economic Forum New Growth Models, Women Global Banking Alliance which is based in USA, Emeritus Council Member of United Evangelical Mission (UEM, Germany).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kisyombe, Victoria Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Tanzanian women in business People from Mbeya Region University of Dar es Salaam alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Weruweru Secondary School alumni 21st-century Tanzanian businesspeople