Who is Pumla Nabachwa?
I am a certified financial literacy coach and an economist who has dedicated her career to empowering others with essential financial knowledge.
How did your childhood influence your career?
I grew up in a household where education and personal development were highly valued. My father, an IT specialist, and my mother, a nutritionist and educator, instilled in me the belief that education is a powerful tool. They emphasized discipline, confidence, and the idea that obstacles are often self-imposed, shaping my mindset and career path.
My parents taught me that I could achieve anything I set my mind to, provided I was genuinely interested in it. They encouraged independence and self-exploration, believing in the importance of exposing me to various opportunities so I could discover my passions.
What role did your interests play in shaping your career and how did these experiences contribute to your current role as a financial literacy coach?
Once I discovered that I loved economics, I became excited about learning and performing well in my studies. This guided me toward a career in financial literacy, where I could combine my passion for economics with my desire to help others.
The confidence and independence instilled in me by my parents, along with my passion for economics, led me to become a financial literacy coach. I want to share the knowledge I have gained and empower others to take control of their financial futures, drawing from my own journey of self-discovery and resilience.
What was the turning point or key moment that shaped your career path?
My turning point came when a change in leadership at the Bank of Uganda led to a significant shift. A new Deputy Governor restructured the Bank. He believed that some people might be better suited in different departments to serve more. Around this time, I had already started appearing on podcasts and television-speaking about women, motherhood, and society.
Then, I received a letter notifying me of my transfer from the Economics Department to the Communications Department.
My initial reaction was resistance. After all, I am an economist, trained to work with numbers, data, and policy. Yet, I have always had an open mind and a heart for service. So I accepted, unaware that this shift would redefine my purpose.
In that moment of transition, I realised that while numbers and data are essential, they are only as useful as the people who understand them. If people can’t grasp the information we are giving them no matter how accurate or sophisticated, it is useless.
I saw a gap between the technical language of economists and the understanding of ordinary Ugandans. As a Central Bank, we often communicated from a place of expertise-dense, data-heavy, and inaccessible. Yet the people we served could not respond to monetary policy they did not understand.
That is when it clicked.
I realised that my gift was more than technical knowledge-I could speak, connect and simplify. So I committed myself to taking complex economic and financial concepts and translating them into everyday language that ordinary Ugandans could understand and apply in their lives.
I stopped speaking to impress and started speaking to connect. That shift shaped the trajectory of my career.
Around the same time, the Deputy Governor now Governor recognised the same issue: Our policies were not reaching the people they were meant to help. He leveraged communication as a monetary policy tool.
He said something that stayed with me: ‘We can have all the right tools in our economic toolkit, but if people don’t understand what we’re doing, those tools stop working. Communication must be part of the solution.’
It was like seeing my internal conviction validated at the highest level. I wasn’t just being ‘moved’ into Communications-I was being positioned to fill a critical national gap. Even then, I thought I was a good communicator. But I learned that talking is not the same as communicating.
My first presentations in this new role flopped. Colleagues told me, ‘We didn’t understand anything you said.’ That was humbling. I had to unlearn and relearn. I had to admit, ‘I don’t know how to communicate with people who aren’t economists.’
It took time, practice, and humility. But eventually, I learned how to simplify, humanise, and contextualise financial knowledge.
What has shaped you?
Humility and a willingness to learn. I had to be humbled before I could grow. Even with my expertise, I had to pause and tell myself, ‘No, no. Nobody understands that. Break it down. That mindset shift changed everything.
Technical knowledge alone is not enough. You must communicate it in a way that people can understand, especially in a country like Uganda where financial literacy is still growing. The current governor who was a deputy then decided to leverage communication as a monetary policy.
What has shaped me is stepping outside the typical economist’s desk beyond typing and drafting, and going into communities, schools, and public spaces. I now focus a lot on young people, especially students in Senior Four to Senior Six. The realisation that knowing is not enough. Sharing, connecting, and translating that knowledge to empower others-that’s where the real impact lies.
What is your biggest success story, and why does it stand out?
Five years ago, shortly after Covid-19, I got certified as a financial literacy educator. I was a trained economist-both academically and practically-but sitting in that classroom and learning the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of saving, budgeting, and planning changed my life in ways I had not expected.
I knew the theory, but I had never been taught how to apply it to my life. For three years after that training, I practised what I learned: saving with purpose, setting financial goals, and planning my money. The transformation in my own finances was so significant that I kept thinking: ‘What if I had learned this 10 years earlier?’ That question became my motivation to start teaching others.
I began speaking at schools, markets, and public forums-initially as part of the Bank of Uganda’s financial inclusion work. But gradually, I started getting invited in my personal capacity-on podcasts, radio, and public platforms-to educate people on personal finance in a way that was simple, practical, and relatable.
What stands out are the conversations that happen after I speak. People share their struggles, their mindset shifts, and how they’ve started to make better decisions with money. That feedback keeps me going.
Someone recently told me, ‘I used to save aimlessly. But when you explained saving as soon as income comes in, assigning a percentage, and tying it to a goal, my whole savings habit changed-and I’ve started to see real results.’
Another shared, ‘I always heard about Treasury Bonds, but never knew how to invest. After listening to your podcast, I have been investing for a year-and I’m seeing benefits I never imagined.’
A touching moment was when a woman told me that after listening to one of my talks on planning for children, she and her husband began rethinking how many kids they could afford-not just emotionally, but financially. She was about to compromise her existing children’s education by rushing into a decision they had not planned for. ‘Now I know,’ she said, ‘It is okay to want more children, but I must plan for them-because love is not enough without provision.’
How can someone grow within an organisation or in their own space an entrepreneur?
To succeed-whether within a company or as an entrepreneur-two key principles apply: Be visible and add value. Growth is about showing up, being seen, and positioning yourself where impact is made.
Anticipate needs before others recognise them. Like vendors selling umbrellas before the rain starts, successful people spot opportunities early and act fast.
Create meaningful solutions: Great businesses like Uber and SafeBoda, Amazon were built by people solving everyday inconveniences in smarter, more convenient ways. People are willing to pay for ease and reliability.
Don’t chase trends-build for sustainability: It is easy to enter a market but harder to stay. Long-term success comes from caring about the problem you are solving and staying committed to it.
Monetise your passion: Do what pays, but also work on what you care about. Passion brings the resilience to survive tough times and build something lasting.