Colisile Tfwala is helping everyday Africans build financial confidence through practical, community-driven training.
Colisile Tfwala is a social entrepreneur, author, and speaker whose work focuses on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and community-based leadership across Africa. Her early years were shaped in the rural classrooms of Masundvwini National High School in the Kingdom of Eswatini, a background she often cites as central to her interest in economic empowerment.
Subsequently, she attended Waterford Kamhlaba United World College before continuing her education in South Africa. There, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an Honours in Small Business Development and Entrepreneurship from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She furthered her studies by obtaining a Master’s degree in Business Sciences from the University of the Witwatersrand.
In 2016, she was selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow, an experience she says broadened her understanding of development and leadership on the continent.
Much of Tfwala’s work today revolves around the Busisiwe Bhembe Foundation, named in honour of her late mother, who was dedicated to community service. The Foundation focuses on mentorship, financial literacy education and small-business training.
It has provided financial literacy training to over 4,000 individuals and mentored over 40 young people in areas related to leadership and entrepreneurship. The Foundation also reports that it has supported over 600 aspiring entrepreneurs through value-added workshops covering activities such as fruit and vegetable dehydration, sauce making, dairy and meat processing, and the production of household products. These initiatives aim to build practical business skills while addressing gaps in economic inclusion.
One of the its environmentally focused projects involves converting food waste into compost. The initiative currently supports over 100 women in Eswatini who earn an income through its activities.
Beyond economic training, Colisile Tfwala has also been involved in community information efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked with the U.S. Exchange Programs Alumni Association of Eswatini, where she served as Chairperson, sharing multilingual public health information at a time when misinformation was widespread.
The social entrepreneur has expressed interest in expanding her work with young children, particularly in orphanages across Africa, to introduce early lessons on money management and entrepreneurship. “I aim to begin equipping children… with the tools to become self-reliant, innovative and financially empowered by the time they reach adulthood,” she told a local news house.
Her work has gained traction in parts of Southern and Eastern Africa, with an increasing focus on collaboration across the region. While her initiatives continue to grow, long-term impact assessments and independent evaluations would provide further insight into the effectiveness of her programmes and their sustainability.
Colisile Tfwala’s story highlights a broader movement among African social entrepreneurs who are working to expand financial literacy and create practical, community-rooted pathways to economic participation. Through her foundation and training programmes, she contributes to ongoing conversations about wealth building, youth empowerment, and enterprise development across the continent.
