Dr. Victoria Kisyombe was born in Mbeya, South East of Tanzania. She’s an entrepreneur and founder of Sero Lease and Finance Limited , SELFINA. in 2002.
Dr. Kisyombe is a Pioneer Member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum situated in Lyon, France and also an Associate member of Women Global Banking Alliance, USA.
She’s an Emeritus Council Member of United Evangelical Mission UEM in Germany, an Emeritus Chairperson of UEM’s Foundation Board (Germany) and Emeritus Chairperson of UEM’s Investment Trust.
She’s the Chairperson of Centre of Advancement of Women in Agriculture in Tanzania (CAWAT) powered by Land O Lakes (USA). Also, she’s a Member of the Task Force of the Mechanization and Financial Committee of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF).
She takes delight in empowering women. Her major motivation was women’s lack of collateral which often denies them the opportunity to adequately fund their business. Dr. Kisyombe to this effect, initiated SELFINA, a micro-leasing company. And just so thousands of women could benefit from this, she made eligibility for the financial support scheme a lot easier such that women who have no assets and even with minimal business experience can also take part.
So far, over 27,500 women have benefited from her financial support with the creation of over 150,000 jobs. The establishment has also disbursed over US$ 17 million to women.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Veterinary Science, Dar es Salaam, Edinburgh University, Scotland.
At Tanzania’s 50th independence celebration, Dr Kisyombe was acknowledged and duly appreciated for her effort toward building SMEs in Tanzania.
She was awarded an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the World Economic Forum and Schwab Foundation in 2010.
In July 2014 she received a Global Leadership Award by Vital Voices Global Leadership established by Hon. Hillary Clinton.
