Juggling work and family is no obstacle for ambitious female banker

By ANN ZULU

THE notion of being a role model to her three children and to excel in the male-dominated banking field is what drives 34-year-old client analyst Chuma Chabala.

Stanbic Bank client analyst Chuma Chabala receives the best student award at the recent Zambia Institute of Banking and Financial Services (ZIBFS) 16th graduation ceremony.

Mrs Chabala, who works in the Stanbic Bank’s corporate and investment banking unit, says it is important for women to know that they can have a “big goal” career-wise and achieve it while looking after their families.

“I encourage fellow women to strive to constantly improve themselves professionally by exposing themselves to programmes that can help them develop their careers,” she says.

“It becomes easier when you get started with something than when you keep procrastinating because you may never fully know what potential you have.”

Mrs Chabala delicately juggles time as a client analyst in one of the busiest Lusaka banks, which involves client relationship management and research, and looking after her three children aged six, four and one.

Mixing motherhood with a demanding career requires a careful balancing act, and for Chuma this has been helped by her optimistic, problem-solving disposition – an ability to get through things even when they seem impossible.

“You just have to make time for things you deem important in life as time waits for no one, while ensuring your family is not neglected at the same time,” she says.

Recently, she had added studies to her already packed schedule and she excelled with flying colours.

Mrs Chabala was presented with the best student award at the Zambia Institute of Banking and Financial Services (ZIBFS) 16th graduation ceremony held on February18, 2017.

Her new qualifications add to the Bachelor of Science degree in computer science she obtained from the Copperbelt University.

“I had to balance time for work, study and family by being disciplined with the way I managed my time. I had to deliberately set time to be with my family and attend to my school, and stick to the times I had set. This worked for me and that is how I managed to balance it all up,” she says.

In between her busy schedules, she still found spare time for her hobbies of reading, baking and watching movies.

If nothing else, Mrs Chabala’s desire to live her dream of standing out in a sector that has for a long time been dominated by men adds more fuel to her ambition.

“I want to be a woman of excellence hence the need to advance my studies and do my best in my position at work,” says Mrs Chabala who has been with Stanbic Bank since 2006.

“My ambition to become a more valuable employee of the bank is what gave me the drive to embark on the programme I studied and to excel by being the overall best student. I had to make time despite a busy schedule of a demanding job and family life,” she said.

She’s in a good place, too, working for a bank that recognises the achievement of women.

Last year Stanbic Bank set a goal of attaining the 50-50 gender equality, which has seen most of departments in the bank being headed by women.

In October 2016, the bank held its annual Blue Diamond celebration of women bankers that brought together all its women employees from across the country with the aim of mentoring, networking and dealing with the challenges women face within the bank across the country.

Recently, the bank was recognised for supporting women entrepreneurs in Zambia by the African Women's Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP) Pan-Africa.

Inaugurated in 2011 and registered in June 2016, AWEP Pan-Africa seeks to take advantage of the offerings of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) including enabling a range of duty-free products to enter the US market.

Its central thrust is to enable African women and men to participate in the American market, using regional linkages, policies and strategies.