From Poverty to Wall Street – The Making of a Chartered Accountant at 23: Maud Chifamba

By Valentine Zoza

Some journeys begin with privilege. Others begin with poverty, loss, and impossible odds — and still rise.

This is the extraordinary story of Maud Chifamba, a girl who walked 8 kilometres to school, studied without fees, slept in a railway station when homeless, and went on to become one of Africa’s youngest Chartered Accountants and a global finance professional.

A Childhood Marked by Loss and Poverty

Maud Chifamba was born in 1997 in Zimbabwe, into a life defined by hardship.

At just 5 years old, she lost her father. Her mother later suffered from cancer and could no longer care for Maud and her younger brother. The siblings fell under the care of their step-brother in 2003, living on a rural plot between Kwekwe and Gweru in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province.

Life was difficult. School resources were scarce. Poverty was constant. Yet even in hardship, Maud’s brilliance was impossible to ignore.

The Mistake That Changed Everything

In 2005, when Maud was in Grade 3, she was mistakenly given a Grade 4 exam paper during mid-year tests. She scored 100%. Later that year, she requested a Grade 5 test paper — and passed with distinction.

By age 9, she had completed Grade 7, years ahead of her peers. She once recalled walking 8 kilometres to school at age 6, kneeling to write because the school had no desks, and living in classrooms that were only three rooms in total.

“For a girl who had to walk 8km to school at 6 years old, kneel down in the classroom to write because the school had no desks, sleep at a railway station when we were homeless, and skip grades after being given the wrong exam… this is beyond my wildest dreams.”

Image: Valentine Zoza.