As Eswatini Bank’s first female Managing Director, Dr Nozizwe Mulela-Zulu embodies the country’s shift toward modern, diverse leadership.
When Dr Nozizwe Mulela-Zulu walked into Eswatini Bank’s headquarters as Managing Director in 2022, she was stepping into more than a corner office. She was stepping into history. For the first time in the institution’s six decades, the country’s only state-owned bank would be led by a woman, one whose journey had already spanned law, academia, banking and royalty.
Known officially as Her Royal Highness Queen Nozizwe Ka Mulela-Zulu, the second Queen of Eswatini and wife of King Mswati III, Dr Mulela’s ascent to the top of the banking sector was not preordained. It was built, piece by piece, through years of legal practice, corporate governance and strategic leadership.
Her career began far from the boardrooms she now oversees. As a young Candidate Attorney at Robinson Bertram Attorneys, she spent her early career drafting legal documents and representing clients, later becoming a Practising Attorney. She also lectured part-time at the University of Eswatini, a role that sharpened both her discipline and her voice.
Her shift into banking came through Standard Bank Eswatini, where she joined as Company Secretary and Legal Advisor. But legal oversight was only the beginning. She was drawn toward the engine room of banking, the business units, customer relationships and operational strategy. She transitioned into business-facing roles and, recognising the need for broader expertise, pursued an MBA at Stellenbosch Business School. This combination of legal grounding and business training would later define her leadership style.
In the years that followed, Dr Mulela Mulela-Zulu held several senior roles within Eswatini’s financial sector. Her appointment as Managing Director of Eswatini Bank marked the culmination of that trajectory and the start of a new chapter for the institution. Her leadership has coincided with the bank’s growing emphasis on digitisation, customer-centred transformation and financial accessibility.
Inside the bank, she is known for a collaborative approach that prioritises stakeholder engagement and community ties. Outside it, she has emerged as a steady advocate for financial inclusion, especially for women, young people and small business owners, groups often locked out of meaningful economic participation.
Under her leadership, the bank has steered investments toward national development priorities, including approximately E150 million (about $173.9 million) committed to job creation projects across key regions. She has encouraged the bank to explore new ways of supporting economic activity in both urban and rural communities, framing access to finance as a lever for development rather than merely a service.
Dr Mulela’s academic credentials mirror the breadth of her professional life, a BA in Law from the National University of Lesotho, an LLB from Rhodes University, a Master of Laws and an MBA from Stellenbosch. In 2025, her contributions to leadership and development were recognised with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University for Development Studies in Ghana.
Her rise to the helm of Eswatini Bank represents more than a personal milestone. It reflects a slow but decisive shift in the country’s corporate landscape, one in which women are increasingly occupying spaces that have long been reserved for men. The full impact of her tenure will reveal itself over time. Still, her appointment alone signals a changing tide, towards inclusion, modernisation and a broader definition of leadership in Eswatini’s financial sector.
