Present across 36 African countries, Ecobank invested $60m into expanding its Zambian presence in 2014. Joining as legal head and company secretary in 2012, Matembo Lisimba has been with Ecobank Zambia from the very early stages of its three-year-old operations in the country.

In this time, she has played a pivotal role in building up the legal, compliance and company secretarial operations, of its rapidly-expanding headcount. Most recently, she has drawn notice for her role in strategising the bank’s first fully integrated advertising campaign, “The future is pan-African”. Her move to Ecobank followed 12 years at state-owned power company Zesco, where she led support on a number of defining projects in the jurisdiction, and was also praised for her strong instincts in handling disputes.