Ethel Chiwara Mupambwa is a distinguished financial inclusion evangelist and the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of MoneyMart Finance Group, which also houses the solar company MosolarCo (Private) Limited. With over a decade of experience in the financial services sector, she has dedicated her career to creating innovative financial solutions that empower underserved communities, particularly women and rural populations across Zimbabwe.
As part of our Female Founders Spotlight Series, we spoke with Ethel to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey, the pivotal moments that shaped her business, and her vision for a more inclusive and sustainable future.
What is one pivotal moment in your entrepreneurial journey that changed the trajectory of your business?
Ethel: “The transformative moment for our solar business was reshaping our pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system to include multiple customized payment tiers based on detailed customer financial analysis and energy consumption patterns.
Initially, we offered a standard PAYG model with fixed payment structures. While this provided access to solar for customers who couldn’t afford upfront purchases, we faced challenges with customer retention and payment consistency, which constrained our business growth.
The breakthrough occurred when we developed a proprietary algorithm that analyzed customers’ payment histories and financial capacities to create tailored PAYG plans. This system offered variable payment options that could adjust seasonally and incorporated incentives for consistent payment histories.
This strategic shift fundamentally transformed our business in several ways:
- Increased customer acquisition: Tailored payment plans made solar energy accessible to previously untapped market segments.
- Improved customer retention: Flexible payment options reduced default rates by aligning with customers’ actual ability to pay.
- More accurate revenue forecasting: This enabled better business planning and investment.
This pivot to a sophisticated, data-driven PAYG model ultimately positioned our company as an industry leader in financial innovation within the solar sector. It allowed us to scale operations while maintaining strong customer relationships and economic stability.”
How do you see your business contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable future?
Ethel: “Our pay-as-you-go solar business model is fundamentally transforming energy access by addressing critical barriers that have historically limited solar adoption among underserved populations. Through our flexible payment structure, we eliminate large upfront costs and enable households with diverse income levels to access clean energy solutions.
Each solar installation significantly reduces carbon emissions, and our model accelerates this impact by expanding the addressable market for solar adoption. The cumulative effect of thousands of distributed solar systems creates substantial environmental benefits while fostering energy independence at the community level.
We continuously invest in improving our remote monitoring systems and payment platforms to ensure system reliability while gathering valuable data on energy consumption patterns. This information informs our product development, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement that enhances accessibility and effectiveness.
Beyond energy access, our solutions promote economic growth through cost savings and enhanced productivity. Reliable electricity supports education, small business operations, and improved quality of life. Additionally, we create jobs by employing agents and installers within the communities we serve.
Our business model proves that commercial success and social impact can reinforce each other. By aligning our growth strategy with measurable contributions to economic inclusion and environmental sustainability, we are building a resilient enterprise that delivers value across multiple dimensions.”
If you could give one piece of advice to female entrepreneurs seeking investment, what would it be?
Ethel: “My key advice for female entrepreneurs seeking investment is to prepare extensively for investor scrutiny by developing robust financial projections anchored in verifiable market data.
While passion and vision are essential, investors require evidence that your business model will generate returns commensurate with their risk. This evidence must be particularly comprehensive for female entrepreneurs, who often face heightened scrutiny during the investment process.
Preparation of robust financial projections not only enhances your chances of investment success but also establishes the foundation for effective financial management as your business grows.”
What were the biggest challenges you faced before securing SIMA’s investment, and how did they impact your business growth?
Ethel: “Prior to SIMA’s investment, our most significant challenge was managing the tension between capital requirements and growth potential. Our PAYG model created a financing dilemma—each new customer installation required a substantial upfront investment, while revenue returned gradually over extended periods. This misalignment created severe cash flow constraints that limited our ability to service growing market demand.
This financing gap forced us to decline viable customer opportunities, frustratingly limiting our expansion despite strong market validation of our business model. Our growth trajectory flattened precisely when market momentum suggested we should accelerate deployment.
Additionally, our early operational systems were developed for a smaller customer base and lacked the robust architecture needed for efficient scaling. As customer numbers grew, our payment processing, remote monitoring, and customer service systems experienced increasing strain. These infrastructure limitations manifested in prolonged customer onboarding timelines, delays in service response, and suboptimal asset tracking capabilities, all of which eroded operational efficiency.
These challenges created a classic growth paradox: our proven business model generated increasing demand, yet we lacked the resources to fulfill it. SIMA’s investment ultimately addressed these constraints by providing the financial foundation necessary to resolve our capital structure, upgrade our operational infrastructure, and expand our geographic reach. This transformed our growth limitations into strategic advantages that now underpin our market leadership position.”
Since receiving SIMA’s investment, what has changed for your company, and what milestones are you most proud of?
Ethel: “SIMA’s investment has fundamentally transformed our capital structure, resolving the cash flow constraints that previously limited our expansion. This financial foundation has enabled us to increase our installation capacity and expand our operations.
With a restructured capital base, we have negotiated more favorable terms with equipment suppliers, reducing our hardware costs and significantly improving our unit economics. Our trajectory now points toward sustainable profitability with continued growth, validating both our business model and SIMA’s investment thesis. This success demonstrates that commercial viability and social impact can complement each other, rather than compete.”
Conclusion
Ethel Chiwara Mupambwa’s journey as an entrepreneur exemplifies the power of financial innovation in fostering inclusion and sustainability. Through MoneyMart Finance Group and MosolarCo, she has not only expanded financial access for underserved communities but has also pioneered impactful clean energy solutions. Her story is a testament to resilience, strategic thinking, and the potential for business success to drive meaningful social change. As we continue to celebrate female founders, we honor leaders like Ethel, whose vision and determination are shaping a brighter future for all.