Dr. B. Mbuyisa

Dr Barbara Mbuyisa (PhD) is the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at the Zimbabwe Open University. Before this appointment, she served as the chairperson in the Department of Banking and Finance, and also a Senior Lecturer at the Bulawayo Regional Campus. Dr Mbuyisa has been working in this department for more than 10 years. The beginning of her profession as a Banker in several banks dating back to the year 2004 was largely driven by the marginalised who need finance to run their projects. She started her career as a Business Development officer at a local bank. She enjoyed working in the banking sector as well as carrying out research studies in the banking industry. Yet all the while her concern was the discriminatory tendencies of the traditional banks in servicing the less privileged Zimbabwean community. This led to a career development in micro-finance and a passion for providing services to the economically active poor. Contrary to her experience with the banking community, she noted that there was excess demand for financial services in the small business sector. Dr Mbuyisa also learned that people are more knowledgeable about product development today. This awareness drove her to carry out her PhD studies. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Development Finance & Entrepreneurial Economics), (Wits University, South Africa), a Master’s in Business Administration Degree (National University of Science and Technology, NUST) and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Banking, (NUST). Her research interests are in Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, Poverty Alleviation issues, Development Finance, Gender Equality and Women Empowerment. She has also written modules in Marketing of Financial Services, International Banking, and Principles of Economics. As part of her social responsibility, she has been a board member in one of the Non-Governmental Organisations that offer empowerment and psychosocial support by being proactive, preventive, and informative to alleviate the cases of child sexual abuse. Dr Mbuyisa also sits on several committees at the University and in the community at large. Dr Mbuyisa has contributed many units in published ZOU modules and she has also published several papers in referred journals.