Otis Chirwa

Banking and Finance professional with over 10 years of experience in Commercial and Central Banking. Expertise includes Banking, Treasury, Project Management, and Payment processes, with a strong focus on Foreign Exchange, Liquidity Risk Management, and Compliance Reporting. Proven track record in operating Financial Market Infrastructures, including RTGS and SWIFT, and enhancing regulatory frameworks for financial systems. Key contributor to the upgrade of the Zambia Interbank Payment and Settlement System, ensuring compliance with ISO 20022 standards.

• Disciplined Agile Scrum Master, 2025
• Certified Associate in Project Management, 2021
• Financial Development and Financial Inclusion, 2019
• Fundamentals of Payment Systems, 2019
• ACI Financial Markets Operations Certificate, 2013

• Led a team to migrate the ZIPSS to ISO 20022 on 10/14/23
• Awarded the most dependable employee for the year 2023
• Championed the initiative to extend the operating hours on the ZIPSS and CSD, 2023

• Date of Birth: 10/13/86
• Gender: Male

• Mrs. Maria Katepa, Formerly Manager- Payment Systems Operations, Bank of Zambia, Head Office Lusaka, +260 977 781 913
• Mr. Chilumba Simumba, Assistant Manager – Cheque Processing and Payment Systems Relations, Bank of Zambia, +260 977 810 913
• Mrs. Gloria Zimba, Head-Foreign Payments, Zambia National Commercial Bank, +260 977 786 678

• Watching and playing football, basketball and volleyball
• Reading diverse literature
• Meeting and learning from different people

• PAPSS instant payment clearing and settlement, 2023
• John Maxwell Leadership Gold Training, 2023
• ISO 20022 Business Training, 2022
• Microsoft Project, 2021
• Customer Service, 2014
• Performance Management, 2014
• Business Intelligence, 2014
• AML/CFT training, 2011

• Project Management Institute (PMI)
• Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ)
• ACI Zambia Financial Markets Association
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Student Member
• Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) Student Member

• Treasury Operations, Involved in providing support to the Treasury Front Office Team including deal validation, confirmation and settlement, treasury risk management through reconciliation of the nostro and vostro accounts, liquidity forecasting and management of Kwacha position, investment maturities profiling, weekly assets and liabilities return, daily money markets return, exceptions and query resolutions and verification of lines of credit with counterparties.
• Swift and ISO 20022 Messaging Standard, Supported the migration of the ZIPSS to ISO 20022 messaging standards, practical skills and understanding of the Message Usage Guidelines for both the Accelerator Package 1.1 for High Value Payment Infrastructures and the Cross Border Payments Reporting Plus (CBPR+) for cross border payments.
• Project Management, Supported the successful upgrade and migration of the ZIPSS to ISO 20022 messaging standard. Involved in compiling project documents such as the project charter, requirements, the project management plan, detailed test plans and test cases including the creation of message templates which were published on MyStandards and Readiness Portal.
• Strategic Planning and Execution, Responsible for planning and executing the Strategic Objectives of the Payment System Department by identifying the focus areas for the section I manage.
• Performance Management, Manage the performance management process of my subordinates from objective setting through to daily operations as well as performance appraisal stage.
• Customer Service, Provided customer services through my interactions with internal and external stakeholders.
• Digital Money and Assets, Familiar with mobile money as it is a predominantly used mode of payment in Zambia.
• Risk Management, Managing the systemic risk of operating the only settlement system in Zambia.