Joyce Banda

Founder of the National Association of Business Women of Malawi

Joyce Banda is an influential advocate for improving the quality of life in Malawi by empowering thousands of women to become economically self-reliant.

Frustrated by red tape she encountered as a secretary, Mrs. Banda founded the NABW in order to boost the status of all women - by giving them access to credit, training, information, markets and appropriate technology. So far, NABW has mobilized 15,000 women countrywide, disbursed US$2,000,000 in loans, and trained 12,000 women to run their own businesses. Sixty percent of the women live are rural.

In Malawi, women entrepreneurs have moved progressively up the economic ladder from trading to small businesses to village industries formerly dominated by men, such as lime, soap and timber making, and small-scale manufacturing.

With vision, leadership and inspiration, Mrs. Banda has become a global asset for improving the well-being of the people of her country and the rest of Africa.