Flavia Eleanor Kasenge Wants to Inspire the Next Generation of Female Techies

Flavia Eleanor Kasenge is the chief operating officer at EzeeMoney, a technology company that deals in both financial and non-financial services.

Before joining EzeeMoney, Kasenge had been in the tech industry for a while having worked with MTN Uganda, where she was part of the founding project team that successfully rolled out mobile money services.

After four years at MTN, she moved to Orange Uganda as a Revenue Assurance Executive which she left to join EzeeMoney Ltd.

"It is at EzeeMoney that I have seen my career grow from being a finance executive to becoming the Chief Operating Officer today. I am a senior executive tasked with overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the business and reporting directly to the" chief executive, she said in a conversation with The KampalaPost.

Flavia Kasenge says she has a passion for economic empowerment of women by leveraging digital tools and she hopes her success will inspire more women to join the tech industry.

"... as a woman I... now appreciate the sacrifices and the commitment one needs to rise up to the top. I am convinced that if I do this well, I shall be a great example for many women that are marginalized," she said. “It’s not success if it doesn’t benefit others."

She says cultural beliefs and the nature of the final systems limit women from being financially included.

"Cultural beliefs – from inception, women have been excluded from financial matters right from the family setting to the business world with the notion that they belong to the kitchen instead of business... The nature of existing financial systems - systems like the banking sector place emphasis on underlying assets as security knowing very well that women have been excluded from owning such assets e.g land that men inherited from their fathers because there is the mentality that the girl child is married off into another family."

According to her, obstacles to the financial empowerment of women can be mitigated by offering women more challenging roles, rolling out financial platforms for women to access funding, educating women on better business practices, and personalizing women's products to enable them to have easy access.

Q & A with Flavia Eleanor Kasenge

At what point do you think you are careerwise?

It is still a journey that I am relishing. Seeing EzeeMoney business grow against all odds has been a great inspiration for me. Serving those who seat at the bottom of the pyramid gives me the impetus that indeed together we can change the world.

At EzeeMoney, the odds were against us as not many gave us a chance to be where we are today. We take great pride in what we have achieved thus far. We are confident of what lies ahead.

What are some of the important lessons you've learnt in your work life?

Pay attention to your now as you focus on what’s next. The 3Cs - choice, commitment and consequences.

As a leader, how do you bring the best out of those you lead?

By encouraging them to understand that the strongest person on the team is as strong as the weakest person on the team. (We win and lose together.)