Chanozya Kabaghe is a Zambian investor and financial adviser, who, through hard work and dedication, has surpassed expectations. From growing up as a financially meticulous kid to becoming one of the notable faces of financial literacy in Zambia, Chanozya’s life-long ambition is to liberate a generation of African youth from financial illiteracy. Having studied on scholarship abroad, she felt the need to come back home in order to have the opportunity to impart financial knowledge. Today, Chanozya is a household name who is on high demand at major events and national media to teach on “Investing.” Biografrica had the rare privilege of playing host to her on its weekly African Spotlight Series. Happy reading!
Why She Chose Financial Literacy Path, Instead of Dancing on TikTok
“It started with a personal journey,” Chanozya revealed. Before she ever signed up on social media, Chanozya had early understanding that her family might not be able to cater to some of the good things she wants out of life, including further education.
Consequently, she had an epiphany, and decided to work part time during second year in the university, and from there she started earning money, which led to the need to sustain the income. Some questions came to mind and she thought, “now I am making money, how do I manage the money and be financially free?” Driven by all the goals she had in mind, “I started reading up books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but all these were western,” she says.
Chanozya wanted to apply this financial knowledge locally; so, she started exploring the Zambian markets, checking if these opportunities actually exist locally. To her amazement, the bond market was doing really well and “I wondered if people knew about this.” Chanozya felt the need to tell peers that she was investing and some of her friends and family encouraged her to go public with the wealth of knowledge she had gained, but she wasn’t cut out for it at the time. Fast forward four years later, after returning to Zambia from studying on scholarship, Chanozya was ready, having now become more experienced in the investing world. In her words, “I was very passionate about it because I have been practising it and know that it works, not just from theoretical knowledge, but knowing that it works.”
Chanozya decided to maximise the opportunities available in Zambia, because people look to the west every time, thinking things work better there, but “I am like, what do you have in your own country?” So, she wanted Zambians, and Africans in general, to benefit from her knowledge, and that decision informed the creation of social media pages. The goal was to make people look at what is in their country “that you can maximise before looking at opportunities elsewhere.”
The Investors’ Challenge
Chanozya started her social media platforms in 2021, and was on fire to educate Africans on investing, and she thought, “everyone needs to be an investor, and a shareholder”. So, she started the 2021 shares challenge that she used to educate people on the need to invest in shares in their local stock markets before looking at opportunities elsewhere, thereby retaining ownership of shares in their respective countries. Even though the challenge was not widespread, being the first of its kind, it was very exciting for people who took part across the continent, from countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Kenya etc. “You could see that people are now beginning to understand the importance of investing and creating wealth in their own countries,” she said. Incidentally, the Lusaka Securities exchange (LuSE) market became the best performing stock market in Africa in 2021, so those who jumped on the challenge got amazing dividends.
Encouraged by the 2021 success, with the understanding that not everyone is interested in shares, “I now created the Investors’ Challenge in 2022.” The goal was to get Africans to invest in something, whether shares, bonds and other investment opportunities available in order to start the journey to financial freedom. Chanozya and her team had over a thousand participating Africans, and “it was great to see that people are meeting their challenges.”
Things That Help Her Relax
Chanozya confessed that she loves watching series. She mentioned Grey’s Anatomy, Gracie and Frankie as two of her favourites. She also values her family and friends and therefore finds pleasure in spending time with them. Asked if she is the banker of the family, she termed that question a good one because growing up, her passion was saving up money and having piggy banks. As a result, she was called the IMF of the family. That said, “our family is doing our own thing and we are very focused,” but if there was a need to help out financially, she would come through.
Favourite Book That Influenced Her Journey
“The Millionaire Fastlane” by M.J. DeMarco is a book that has had a significant influence on her life. According to her, it is an exceptional book because it challenges the traditional belief of saving money and provides a detailed analysis of how to establish successful businesses by examining the workings of economies. She highly recommends that Africans read this book.
How She Makes Financial Education Exciting and Embracing
Chanozya says the first step is to remind people of the pain they pass through when they are financially insufficient. “The pain you feel about not being where you are financially is a motivation.” For a lot of people, she reminds them that things don’t have to remain the same. For her, she wanted to do more in life, and she asked herself if she would continue to live like this or do something about it. “Life happens; people die, cars breakdown. Will you be the person who is not able to take financial charge of circumstances or that person who is able to meet needs as they come up in life?”
“Then there is a second part of just wanting the good things of life,” she said, noting how TV shows depicting millionaire lifestyles serve as a reminder of such possibilities. People tell themselves, “I’ll be a millionaire by 25,” only to realize the difficulty of that aspiration. So, she reminds people that there’s a route to achieving those dreams.
Recognitions & Challenges
Some of the challenges Chanozya faces are: “When dealing with people, you are met with different positions that people are at, e.g., skepticism, some people will call the stock market a scam; and even on social media, people are not very kind, they throw shots and they want to be more aggressive than necessary.” She emphasized that it takes a lot of patience when dealing with people, and she gets more than 100 messages a day, which can be very exhausting, especially when she didn’t have any team.
“But at the end of the day, the clear vision is to create a generation of financially literate Africans who are active investors in their home countries.” And for her to achieve that, “I know I will face challenges and that’s part of the game.”
Asked why she used the phrase, “small girl, big God” in one of her Instagram posts, she responded, “I don’t think people would have thought this was my path. I thought I was going to be a 9-5er, but when I look at my life I see God directing me.” Chanozya’s path naturally brought her to her current position, even from the time she was referred to as the “IMF” of the family due to her strong interest in saving money. When she began her platform, her intention was not to seek recognition, but rather to pursue her passion. She reiterated, “this was God directing my path.” Three months of being on social media, she was already nominated for awards, and was also invited by a national broadcaster to speak on financial literacy. And that’s how she was discovered and invited to speak in an event that Zambia’s President and Ministry of Sports were putting together.
Chanozya shared that she attended an event alongside high-ranking executives from major companies and the Vice President, who was representing the President. It was evident that God had placed her in this influential position as she spoke impressively, despite feeling anxious beforehand. This led one of the ministers to suggest that she should have a conversation with the President in the future.
Why Investing is Not The Same as Entrepreneurship
There are misunderstandings regarding investing and entrepreneurship. Many individuals prefer to be investors rather than entrepreneurs. This means that individuals who are engaged in other professions can also choose to become investors. Passive investments such as stocks, bonds, and other securities gradually generate wealth over time without the need for marketing or other entrepreneurial activities. Chanozya hopes that people grasp this distinction, as failing to do so may result in missing out on opportunities.
Safe and Accessible Opportunities in Zambia
“Just like the same way we talk about Facebook and Tesla shares, we have stock market in Zambia where you can become shareholders in companies, meaning you own a little part of the company.”
Chanozya highlighted several avenues for potential investment such as:
- Lusaka Securities Exchange: “This is where major Zambian companies are listed—telecom, mining companies, big banks. By investing here, you essentially become a part-owner through the stock market.”
- Bonds, Treasury Bills, and Government Securities: “These are instruments where you lend money to the government and earn returns after a certain period. Many locals are unaware, but the Zambian bond market was the highest yielding in Africa for quite some time.”
- Unit Trusts: “Known as mutual funds in other nations, these are funds where money from various investors is pooled together. Professionals then invest this collective sum across different businesses on your behalf.”
- Real Estate: “While this is certainly a higher-cost investment, the potential returns and the tangible nature of property make it a worthwhile consideration for those with the necessary capital.”
Her Coaching Business and How People can Sign Up
“Social media pages are always the easiest way,” Chanozya states, but hints those posts are only nuggets that reflect what she is thinking at the moment, which will not be enough to “take you from point A to B.” However, she conducts comprehensive live classes on the backend using Zoom. The most effective way to contact her is through the WhatsApp business line, which provides access to various services.
The Importance of Teaching Kids Financial Literacy
According to Chanozya, “if we are going to be raising kids to know how to cook, clean, look after themselves, show respect to elders which is important to social interactions,” we must also include financial literacy, so they will not struggle in the future. She states further that it’s so important to understand and learn how money works and how to make it work, so your life will be easier. The best way to instill good money habits in children is showing examples because children learn by example. She advises parents to budget with their kids and let them see the benefits of their money habits. “This is how the jews teach their children how to handle money. You just don’t give them money, they need to see the good practises while growing up before it is too late,” she concluded.
How Scholarships Shaped Her Journey
Asked about the Mandela Rhodes and Beit Trust scholarships, which she was a recipient of, she answered, “those came while I was studying in the university and they have had monumental influences on my journey, especially the Mandela Rhodes scholarship that includes leadership development program, and was a great experience.” According to Chanozya, the Mandela Rhodes scholarship aids in the understanding of one’s future identity as a leader and highlights the obligation one has towards the individuals they will be serving. “It really emboldens this idea about going home to serve your people. It obviously provides financial support, but it builds you up to become a leader in the society, and makes you a more well-rounded person around how you can impact your society,” she stated.
Her Next Big Thing
Currently, Chanozya is highly dedicated to expanding her financial mentoring business to a level where its impact extends beyond her native country, Zambia. This aspiration, which she has discussed with her family and friends, has motivated her to take on the challenge of spreading financial literacy to people all over the continent this year. “People are now having real time conversations about financing,” and she is of the opinion that people should be more open about sharing ideas with the world, because that mentality is what will help take her business to a bigger level.
How Diaspora Africans Can Plug Into Her Mentoring Scheme
“A lot of my students are abroad,” Chanozya answers. “Because this is online, a lot of them, wherever they live, are able to invest in Zambia as long as they have a bank account in Zambia and have vested interest in the country.” She often advises people in the diaspora to “build wealth there, but those dollars you are earning in America, the value in Zambia is so much more. It is good for those who are earning higher currencies to come invest in countries with lower currencies, like Zambia.”
Bonds Or Stocks: Which is Better?
“Honestly, that depends on the person and the goals you have. Different people have different risk profiles,” she says. Basically, where you choose to invest your money is influenced by your objectives and tolerance for risk. Bonds are considered safer than stocks because stocks can be unpredictable. Therefore, someone who is 50 years old and looking to retire soon may not be inclined to invest in the stock market.
Can a Non-Zambian Invest in Zambia?
“For majority of the investments, they require a bank account,” Chanozya states. But she suggests you can open a bank account online with Standard Chartered Bank, but the parameters around that determines what you can do in Zambia. “What we consider in terms of why we advise people to invest in other countries is the cost implication of moving money. If you are planning to move money from Zambia to America, it would cost a lot more than moving money from America to Zambia. And these factors affect your returns as you move money across countries.”
Influencer She Would Love Having a Conversation With
“Dave Ramsey,” she answers. “Dave Ramsey deals with debts and talks to a lot of people in America, and after watching hundreds of his videos, I am interested in how he built his empire in America… like the radio shows, TV shows, etc.”
African Business Magnate She Wishes to Have a Conversation With
“Strive Masiyiwa,” she says, adding that “he has done a lot of investments. I would like to know how his investments work.”
Chanozya would also like to have a conversation with her President, Hakainde Hichilema. “He is very private; and so, I would like to know the business side of him,” she says.
You can connect with Chanozya Kabaghe on instagram @miss_kabaghe.