16th – 17th May 2023
Catch all the highlights on the
1st West Africa Deal Summit
2nd Ghana Impact Summit
- Accra, Ghana
Theme: “Conversations that Move Catalytic Capital for Impact”.
About the Summit
Over two exciting days, West Africa’s impact investing community will convene in Accra, Ghana, and online to engage with global catalytic capital providers to take action on initiatives that can move the capital to transform the region and contribute to economic recovery. This flagship event will focus on action to move catalytic capital to fill the SME financing gap and contribute to economic recovery in Ghana and West Africa. It will promote knowledge sharing and collaboration, provide more visibility for locally-led businesses and funds and unlock more catalytic capital for Ghana and the region in ways that drive the attainment of the SDGs. The event will feature the launch of the Deal Source Africa initiative and Catalytic Capital Africa initiative.
Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) and the Nigeria National Advisory Board for Impact Investing (Nigeria NABII) together with impact investing task forces in Burkina Faso and Senegal hosted the inaugural West Africa Deal Summit and Ghana Impact Summit to drive catalytic capital to fill the $331 billion Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) financing gap in Africa.
The summit brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and development practitioners from the private sector, development finance institutions, government, and civil society organizations to explore and accelerate innovative approaches to increase catalytic capital for SMEs and to identify investment opportunities with high potential for social and environmental impact. The West Africa Deal Summit 2023 was held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, Ghana on 16th and 17th May 2023.
The summit facilitated Impact Fund Showcases introducing West Africa’s vibrant impact funds and ecosystem-building initiatives to catalytic capital providers. Deal Rooms connected businesses with impact funds and a post-summit Study Tour to Nigeria gave delegates an opportunity to experience more of West Africa vibrant businesses and ecosystems.
As part of the summit facilitated impact fund showcases will introduce West Africa’s vibrant impact funds and ecosystem-building initiatives to catalytic capital providers, deal rooms will connect businesses with impact funds and a post-summit study tour to Nigeria will give delegates an opportunity to experience more of West Africa. Register above for the summit and sign up below for the deal rooms, impact fund showcases and study tours.
Deal Rooms
Connecting impact funds/investors with SMEs looking for investment opportunities. Click on the link below to register as a business or Impact fund for the Deal Rooms .
Impact Fund Showcase
This invite-only facilitated roundtable will draw in Impact Funds across West Africa to engage with catalytic capital investors. Click on the link below to express interest to participate.
Study Tours
Join a post-summit study tour and road show on 18th & 19th May to explore Nigeria's vibrant and growing impact investing ecosystem. Organised by the Nigeria NABII in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria Office.
The impact so far..
Key takeaways from the inaugural summit
- Catalytic capital is an essential tool to close capital gaps and enable the flow of funds, especially to SMEs to support enterprise growth and wider sustainable development.
- Catalytic capital must be the fulcrum in addressing systemic barriers that will move and make markets more efficient, competitive, resilient and have direct impact on scaling up businesses.
- The capital is available, but the key question lies in how to liaise with catalytic investors and impact capital investors to help unlock these funds that are not being deployed in an efficient manner.
- Catalytic capital seeks strong governance structures or vehicles that can receive that capital and be able to channel it to those transactions that are looking for impact to be made.
- Mindsets are shifting as the right conversations are being held about how to mobilise domestic capital to solve financing problems.
- There are desperate needs to be met across almost all sectors of Africa’s social and economic spaces through visionary leadership, good governance and finances that can make an impact, in the form of catalytic capital.
- There are desperate needs to be met across almost all sectors of Africa’s social and economic spaces through visionary leadership, good governance and finances that can make an impact, in the form of catalytic capital.
- There is the need to increase the supply of adequate and suitable agribusiness financing which is long-term, has lower interest rates than the industry interest rates, allows disbursements to be made when the agribusiness needs funds, and delays repayments to enable the business recycle the funds and make profits
- Catalytic capital seeks strong governance structures or vehicles that can receive that capital and be able to channel it to those transactions that are looking for impact to be made.
Deal Rooms at the West Africa Deal Summit 2023.
The Deal Rooms as part of the 1st West Africa Deal Summit 2023 connected businesses with investors and transaction advisors and
Study Tour to Nigeria
The Study Tour to Nigeria as part of the West Africa Deal Summit 2023 and efforts in building partnerships with the
Impact Fund Showcase
Impact Fund showcases was facilitated between catalytic capital providers and local impact funds and ecosystem-building initiatives in West Africa at the
2 Events
Over 300 Delegates
60+ Speakers
TWO EVENTS
OVER 300 DELEGATES
60+ SPEAKERS
Take action on the next steps
Speakers at the summit
Mr. Charles Abani
UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana
A seasoned international development practitioner, Mr. Charles Abani has spent over 25 years leading inclusive transformation across the public, private and non-profit sectors through senior country, regional and international leadership, and non-profit board roles. Before joining the UN, Mr. Abani has worked across Africa, Asia, and in Europe with development organizations such as VSO, ActionAid International, Oxfam, Absolute Return for Kids, Palladium and Chemonics International. Mr. Abani’s work has contributed thought, programmatic and management leadership in multiple sectors to address poverty, accelerate growth and prosperity, strengthen peace, resilience and inclusion, as well as capability across diverse stakeholders, fostering transparent and accountable partnerships and sustainable solutions.
As UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana, he provides strategic leadership for the entire UN Development System’s work, so as to support the Government and peoples of Ghana as they work towards their ambition to achieve self-reliance, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063.
From the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Abani holds a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Nigeria, an MSC in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria and an executive management certificate from Oxford University in the U.K.
He takes over from Ms. Sylvia Lopez-Ekra who served in dual capacity as UN Resident Coordinator ai for 18 months and as Chief of Mission for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in charge of Ghana, Togo and Benin.
Mrs. Ibukun Awosika
Chairperson, Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing
Ibukun Awosika is an African entrepreneur, author, international leader, and global culture shaper. She is the Chairman and Founder of The Chair Centre Group, a leading furniture and security systems provider in Nigeria. With an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from University of Ife and advanced degrees from various global institutions, including Lagos Business School, IESE Business School, Wharton and China European International Business School (CEIBS), Ibukun is both a student.
She serves as Chairman or Board member on various Corporate and non-profit boards around the world, cutting across Education (IESE Business School, Imperial Gate Schools, Pan Atlantic University), Energy (D-Light Inc.), IT (Digital Jewels Limited), Manufacturing (Cadbury Nigeria Plc), Retail (House of Tara International), Financial Services (Binance, Alitheia IDF Fund LP, Nigeria Advisory Board for Impact Investing), Corporate Governance (Convention on Business Integrity), Advocacy (Women in Management, Business and Public Service, IFVI International Foundation for Valuing Impacts), to mention a few.
In addition to her work leading businesses, Ibukun Awosika is also committed to serving nations. She was recently appointed to the UK G7 Impact Taskforce and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing (GSG). She is a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and served on the pioneer board of the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Over the years, she has received numerous awards locally and internationally. Her most recent recognitions are the 2020 Forbes Woman Africa Chairperson Award and the Beta Gamma Sigma 2020 Business Achievement Award. She is a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative and Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is also a recipient of 4 Honorary Doctorate Degrees.
Ibukun Awosika has spoken at numerous world conferences and platforms, including the Global Leadership Summit, where she shares her knowledge on several economic, leadership and faith-based topics. She is the founder of Ibukun Awosika Leadership Academy; Convener of The International Woman Leadership Conference in Dubai; also the founder of the Christian Missionary Fund, a faith-based organization that works with hundreds of missionaries spread across Nigeria to change lives through the provision of medical, educational and general relief. Ibukun Awosika is a woman of many firsts; she was the first Female Chairperson of Nigeria’s Premier Bank, First Bank 2016 - 2021, the first Nigerian recipient of the prestigious International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) Award and the first African recipient of the International Friendship Award 2019 by the Queen of Spain.
As part of her commitment to investing in the next generation of business leaders, she started the 360 Executive Masterclass and The Life Series with Ibukun Awosika, which have directly impacted over 10,000 men and women and countless more across the world to date. She founded the Afterschool Graduate Development Centre, a career centre established to checkmate the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria. She is also a judge on Jack Ma’s Africa’s Business Heroes program for African entrepreneurs.
Ibukun Awosika has multiple expressions beyond the boardroom. She is a seasoned author and shapes culture through her active involvement in media and purposeful entertainment. She featured in the highly rated Netflix Original blockbuster movie, Citation, and was the Executive Producer of ‘God Calling’, another exceptional movie which was released on Netflix in 2020. She is happily married to Abiodun Awosika and they are blessed with three wonderful sons.
Emmanuel Alex Asiedu
IIGh Board Chair and Head, Africa Region Investments, Standard Bank
Emmanuel Alex Y. Asiedu is the Managing Director of STANLIB Ghana Limited. Prior to this he held lead responsibility for Ecobank’s investment management portfolio where his team managed retail and institutional portfolios.
Alex holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon and a Master’s degree in Economics from Queen’s University in Canada. He is a Private Investors for Africa (PIA) fellow, a Yale World fellow and a member of the CFA Institute, the global organization at the leading edge of investment management practice.
He is currently the president of the Ghana Securities Industry Association, the umbrella body for capital market operators in Ghana and President of the CFA Society, Ghana. He also chairs the national advisory board of Impact Investment Ghana.
Alex is passionate about bringing about change in Africa and is involved in a number of social impact programmes and activities that aim at creating positive health and educational outcomes. He has lectured as an adjunct at Ashesi University, a leading Ghanaian university and works with the Share Foundation, a local not-for-profit that supports the educational needs of Ghanaian children. He is a Trustee of the Gaede Foundation supporting local communities with educational and health grants and providing start-up funding for micro-businesses.
He also serves on international advisory board of the West African Centre for Cell Biology and Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) and is a member of the management committee of the School of Social Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon.
Samuel Akyianu
Chief of Party Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund
Sam Akyianu brings over 25 years experience of in designing, implementing, and leading the delivery of financial advisory solutions across Africa and Asia covering a variety of sectors such as agribusiness for export; SMEs; private education, health insurance and services, and Private Equity ("PE") funds. Samuel has also led PE and Venture Capital ("VC") Regulatory environment reviews, including assessments of Ecosystems for Start-ups, Entrepreneurs, and SMEs.
Samuel has worked with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) since 2006 and has held various roles including Global Lead, Regional Lead, and Sector lead. In his most recent role as Global Lead, Samuel managed the investment advisory for IFC’s global portfolio of SME Ventures funds. Working with an investment team Samuel is experienced in conducting limited partner due diligence of PE Funds, analysis, design, and implementation of technical assistance and grant programs for portfolio performance and compliance.
Prior to IFC, Samuel was a Director of Investment for TechnoServe where he managed a $10 million investment fund to sustain TechnoServe's operations and financing guarantees for SMEs. In this role, he also managed a team to deliver Business Development Services and Investment readiness/Business Plans for Agribusiness SMEs
Hamdiya Ismaila
General Manager of Venture Capital Trust Fund
Hamdiya has over 20 years’ experience in Finance and Investments and over 13 years’ experience in Venture Capital and Private Equity investing. She has supported the Venture Capital and Private Equity ecosystem development through education and influencing policy and regulatory outcomes for the industry in Ghana.
She is currently the General Manager of Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF), where she oversees the Investments and general operations of the Trust. Prior to joining VCTF, she was a Deputy Director at the Ministry for Private Sector Development, where she led in the provision of Business Advisory Services, financing arrangements, enterprise support services, skills development, entrepreneurship training, and promotional workshops for MSMEs.
She is an Angel Investor and was instrumental in the design of the Ghana Angel Investor Network (GAIN). She is also a Director of the Ghana Angel Fund and a Founder of the Lady Angel Network – which invests in women owned/led businesses. She chaired the Ghana Taskforce which successfully led to the establishment of a National Advisory Board (NAB) for Impact Investing Ghana (IIGH). Ghana, through IIGH is now a member of the Global Steering Group (GSG) for impact investing. She has been at the forefront of impact investing over the last 8 years, establishing the GIMPA Centre for Impact Investing and working closely with the team and other stakeholders in promoting impact investing in the country.
Ms. Ismaila currently serves as a Trustee of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing. She is also a Council Member for the Ghana Alternative Exchange (GAX), An Investment Committee Member of the MasterCard Africa Growth Fund and a member of the Governing Council of the Star Ghana Foundation where she chairs the Fundraising Committee and co-chairs the Audit and Finance Committee.
Ms. Ismaila Holds an Executive Certificate in Private Equity and Venture Capital from Harvard Business School, a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University in the City of New York, BBA (Sum Cum Laude) from Monroe College and an LLB degree from the GIMPA Law School.
She is a Fellow of the 2019 Class of the Aspen Finance Leaders Fellowship and a Member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Reginald Yofi Grant
CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre
Reginald Yofi Grant, draws from over three decades of a successful career and experience in investment banking and finance as he heads the Ghana Investment Promotion Agency, under the Office of the President of Ghana.
He is unquestionably recognized in the fields of Financial Markets and Investment and has cofounded a number of companies including Grant Dupuis Investment Limited, and Praxis Fortune Caliber.
Yofi is an accomplished leader — an attribute that transcends beyond his country’s borders, where he is a key financial policy adviser. On the continent, he’s credited with having successfully led a number of advisory mandates involving both equity and debt transactions, including the development and implementation of AAF SME Fund LLC, one of the largest agriculture funds in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As a council member of the Continental Business Network of the African Union, and a member of the board of trustees of the OACP Endowment and Trust Fund he remains passionately committed to shaping the continent’s financial and economic transformation.
Yofi is also on the Steering Board of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) representing Sub-Saharan Africa and continues to serve on a number of private and public sector boards.
He is a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN).
Robert Haynie
Ventures Ecosystem Building, FMO
Robert Haynie has over 20 years of experience in impact investing focused mainly on frontier and growth markets. He is currently supporting FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, by serving as the Ventures Program Ecosystem Building lead and Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA) Investor Relations lead.
As the former CEO of SPRING Accelerator, plus several years as a U.S. government diplomat and development specialist, Robert has expertise structuring and managing blended finance mechanisms that align development and commercial capital to achieve impact at scale.
Yacouba Ouedraogo
Co-founder Africa Impact Investing Partnerships Center , Member, Burkina Faso Impact Investing Taskforce
Yacouba Ouedraogo
Co-founder Africa Impact Investing Partnerships Center , Member, Burkina Faso Impact Investing Taskforce
Yacouba Ouedraogo is an international development professional based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He is a member of Burkina Faso National Advisory Board Taskforce on Impact Investing, a fellow of the Africa Impact Investing Programme and an accredited trainer for the SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises. Yacouba has over 25 years senior management experience in rural development, forestry, agriculture, climate adaptation and mitigation in the West and East African regions especially in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya and Ethiopia.
He has supported the work of several international organisations including the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD; GlobalCAD; Climate Analytics in Burkina Faso; the Global Green Growth Institute Burkina Faso Office; International Development Enterprises; the World Agroforestry Centre; Concern Universal in Guinea and Tree Aid in West Africa. Yacouba brings over cutting edge knowledge of the emerging trends in global development finance, impact investing and public-private partnerships; a passion for catalyzing public and private investments towards the achievement of the SDGs.
He holds an MBA Degree, obtained in 2011, at the University of Exeter Business School in the UK and a Rural Development Technical Engineer degree obtained in 1989 at the Rural Development Institute of the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Yacouba is currently a PhD Candidate in Development Finance in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch Business School, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa. His research investigates the economy-wide impact of public and private investments in energy, transport and telecommunication infrastructure in Burkina Faso.
Tracy Kroner
Investment SpecialistInvestment Specialist, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investing Ghana
Amma Lartey is CEO of Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh), the Ghana National Advisory Board for Impact Investing, and a member of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing. IIGh is a platform representing all the stakeholder groups needed to redirect significant capital flows toward social and environmental impact in Ghana - bringing together leaders from the worlds of finance, business, government, social organizations, and philanthropy.
Amma has led organizations in the US, Ghana and across Africa. She led the Africa region of Reach for Change - a Venture Philanthropist that runs accelerators, incubators, and hubs for social enterprises in key growth markets including Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia Rwanda, Tanzania, DRC and Chad, and currently serves on the board of Reach for Change, Ghana.
Amma is an accredited trainer for the SDG Impact Standards where she helps organizations integrate sustainability and the SDGs into their operations. She is an experienced executive coach and trainer with a mission to help leaders increase their impact and personal development. Over the past sixteen years, she has coached leaders and supported teams to help over 3000 entrepreneurs launch, grow or scale.
Amma graduated with a BA from the University of Ghana and an MBA from Babson College. She is a fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative-West Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Maria Etemore Glover
Projects Lead of Impact Investors' Foundation
Etemore is the Chief Executive Officer of The Impact Investors Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded in partnership with The Ford Foundation, Africa Capital Alliance, BusinessDay Media Limited, Bank of Industry and Dalberg Advisors. She was previously the pioneer Executive Secretary of The Knowledge Exchange Centre (KEC), a non-profit organization focused on bridging the skills gap for young unemployed graduates.
While at KEC, Ms Glover was responsible for translating and implementing the five-year vision and strategic plan of the organization. She has worked on several youth development programmes with the government and has a wide range of experience in banking, research, monitoring and evaluation, project management, strategy and planning.
As the Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing she is responsible for implementing its vision and strategies and coordinating projects. In the last year, Etemore established a task force consisting of private and public sector actors in Nigeria to set up a National Advisory Board (NAB) for Impact Investing, the highest national body responsible for promoting social investments in the country and building the market infrastructure. Etemore led the establishment of the Nigerian NAB, which will be under the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, the umbrella body with 35 NABs across 28 countries and regions. She also engages with development finance institutions (DFIs), bilateral and multilateral agencies, and local and foreign investors to grow impact capital and investment in Nigeria.
She is a problem-solver, learning and development strategist and trainer with extensive knowledge and experience in the development and management of capacity-building programmes for youths; programme evaluation; budget; fundraising strategies; leadership; NGO management and consultancy, research, finance and impact investing. Etemore is also an MSME Consultant with over 10 years of experience in setting up and running startups. She is an Associate Member of the Learning and Development Network International.
Ms Glover holds a double honour in Economics and Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Leicester. After transiting to the nonprofit sector, she further obtained a Post-Graduate Certificate in NGO and Development Management from the University of East London, UK.
Nelson Amo
CEO of Innohub Growth Center
Nelson Amo is the CEO for Innohub and Founder of Accra Angels. He has experience in business development, grant management, business model innovation, growth planning and project management in the profit and non-profit sectors, leading projects in Accra, Berlin, Lusaka and Johannesburg.
He is an alumnus of the Oxford Social Finance Program from the Oxford University Said Business School. He has an MSc. in Development Studies from LSE, with a special interest in Business Model Innovation at the bottom of the Pyramid. He also has a certificate in “Unlocking Finance for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies”, a World Bank course, as well as a certificate in “Startup Accelerators in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” from the Golda Meir MASHAV Carmel International Training Center in Israel.
He is the Grant Manager/Program Lead for mLab Ghana, a US$2million project under Ghana’s Ministry of Communication with funding from the World Bank, with the objective of promoting the development of digital start-ups, supporting them develop their prototype and launching on the market. He is also the Grant Manager for a US$3.2million World Bank sponsored Ghana Climate Venture Facility, designed to support climate focused SMEs through pre-investment Technical Assistance and access to funding.
He designed and/led on enterprise support programs like the Innohub Accelerator Program, Solidaridad West Africa’s Accelerator for Responsible Gold, fLab Incubator for females in tech, the British Council’s ReadyToWork incubator program for 25 small and growing businesses and was Academy Manager of the 2017 Growing Business Together, an initiative of MBC Africa with funding from the Dutch government, for 20 start-ups. He was part of a consortium that executed the World Bank sponsored Cross Border Climate Technology Diffusion program in Ghana. He is currently leading the Innohub team as local implementers of develoPPP Ventures, a GIZ sponsored initiative that seeks to invest €1.4m as matching grants to fourteen Ghanaian SMEs with demonstrable impact. Nelson has also led consulting projects across several industries including m-health, renewable energy, agribusiness, green housing, etc. Nelson is a Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance Fellow and a Coach of the Africa Entrepreneurship Awards, hosted by the BMCE Bank of Africa in Morocco annually. He holds a Train-the-Trainer certificate from the Coventry University’s Africa Institute for Transformational Entrepreneurship. Nelson has a deep passion for driving enterprising solutions to poverty and Underdevelopment. He is a Founding Member of Impact Investing Ghana and serves as a member of its Steering Committee.
Andrew Shaw
Technical Assistance for Market Ecosystems and Programs at FMO
Andrew has almost 25 years of experience in crafting partnerships and deploying grant-based solutions to bring about a more inclusive and sustainable prosperity for all. He heads-up Technical Assistance for Market Ecosystems and Programs at FMO (the Dutch Development Bank). He and his team innovate across the financial, agribusiness and energy sectors, to position FMO as a market creator and catalyst, supporting pioneering inclusive businesses and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in collaboration with the right partners.
He holds a dual MBA from Tias and Bradford University and a degree in Anthropology from Durham, and is passionate about trying out creative solutions and making a difference in the world. He enjoys applying the principles of Adaptive Leadership and Non Violent Communication in his leadership role. He struggles to pick a favourite SDG, but it is a close call between SDG 5 and SDG 17.
Andrew Shaw
Technical Assistance for Market Ecosystems and Programs at FMO
Andrew has almost 25 years of experience in crafting partnerships and deploying grant-based solutions to bring about a more inclusive and sustainable prosperity for all. He heads-up Technical Assistance for Market Ecosystems and Programs at FMO (the Dutch Development Bank). He and his team innovate across the financial, agribusiness and energy sectors, to position FMO as a market creator and catalyst, supporting pioneering inclusive businesses and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in collaboration with the right partners.
He holds a dual MBA from Tias and Bradford University and a degree in Anthropology from Durham, and is passionate about trying out creative solutions and making a difference in the world. He enjoys applying the principles of Adaptive Leadership and Non Violent Communication in his leadership role. He struggles to pick a favourite SDG, but it is a close call between SDG 5 and SDG 17.
Edwin Zu-Cudjoe
Executive Director of Social Enterprise Ghana
Edwin Zu-Cudjoe is the Executive Director of Social Enterprise Ghana, the national network of about 900 social enterprises operating in Ghana. He has 14 years’ work experience in business development, trade and investment promotion, training and business development having worked with various organisations including Voltic Ghana Ltd, Vodafone Ghana and Glo Mobile in various management positions.
He has a first degree from University of Ghana, Legon and an MBA in Global Business and Sustainability-Social Entrepreneurship from Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan. He is also a graduate in Msc Development Finance (SME Finance and FDI) from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana.
He is a strong advocate for policies and programmes that promote social and green businesses and inter-regional trade.
Michael Mensah-Baah
Deputy CEO of Development Bank Ghana
Michael Mensah-Baah has over 25 years of experience working in financial services across Europe, America and Africa.
In 1998, Michael began his professional career in the United Kingdom and joined JP Morgan as an Associate on the Equity Derivatives Trading Desk. He later became Vice President, Investment Banking with Union Bank of Switzerland (UK), where he helped the bank grow Fixed Income Product Revenue, managing to increase the client base while keeping losses to a minimum.
In 2010, Michael joined Barclays Bank (now ABSA) in Africa, starting as Vice President and Head of Risk Management and subsequently becoming Chief Operating Officer. In 2022, Michael joined Development Bank Ghana as Deputy Chief Executive Officer responsible for Impact Investing. Over the years, Michael has gained unique expertise in the development and implementation of strategy, the establishment of key strategic partnerships, and the development of new products and services. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Statistics and Computer Science from the University of Ghana and a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK). He is both an Associate Member of the Chartered Global Management Accountants (CGMA) in the US and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA) in the UK.
Solomon E. Twum
Country Manager for Reach for Change
Solomon has 15+ years' experience in enterprise development and delivery of technical and business skills development for MSMEs in various sectors in sub-saharan Africa region.
He is currently the Country Director at Reach for Change Ghana, an international NGO supporting social entrepreneurs across 18 countries in Europe and Africa, with grant funding and business skills development through programs such as innovation labs, incubators and scaling readiness. Prior to this role, he worked as a general manager for Simon Page, a professional management training institute, specialising in Marketing, Digital Marketing and Strategic Management, where he led a major market expansion project into Nigeria and Kenya. Solomon also boasts of experience in the banking sector where he worked in treasury and consumer banking.
Solomon is an astute marketing and enterprise development professional. He is a member of the chartered institute of marketing, U.K., and a professional member of the American Marketing Association.
Ténemba Anna Samaké
Executive Director of MBC-Africa
Ténemba Anna Samaké has near 30 years of experience in business development and SME financing (Bank, Microfinance and impact investment) in West Africa. Ténemba believes that rural entrepreneurship is the solution in creating jobs for African youth, reduce food insecurity and alleviate poverty on the continent.
Tenemba is Executive Director of MBC-Africa (www.mbcafrica.org) , a model of enabling environment that aims to improve SMEs in agribusiness in Africa by integrating business services they need to grow on one single platform. MBC-Africa’s role is to identify, nurture and develop a critical mass of viable growth-oriented agribusinesses as a pipeline for sustainable and impactful investment in selected African economies. She is Co-Founder of ShEquity Business Accelerator (SHEBA) linked to ShEquity Fund an investment vehicle for woman owned and led businesses in Africa (www.shequity.com).
She has developed an extensive network of partners that support Micros, Small and Medium Enterprises in accessing to financing, through product development, funding schemes (www.subiz-ghana.com) and network building. Ténemba is Founding Member of Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh). She is also Member of Aspen Network Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Executive Committee.
Ténemba Anna Samaké holds a MBA from Quebec University in Montreal and has a Master’s Degree in Private Law from National Administration School, Mali. Ténemba speaks fluently French and English and understands Spanish.
Zubeiru Salifu
Senior Investment Manager, AV Ventures LLC
Zubeiru Salifu is the Senior Investment Manager of AV Ventures LLC, an impact fund management company headquartered in Washington, DC that provides mezzanine debt to early stage and growing agribusinesses in emerging markets including Ghana. Zubeiru leads the operations of AV Ventures including managing deal sourcing, transaction structuring and documentation, due diligence, portfolio management, business development support and investor relations in Ghana and West Africa. Zubeiru also represents the interest of AV Ventures on the boards of portfolio companies where he provides portfolio management and strategic management support to the companies.
Zubeiru has over 15 years’ experience investing in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana and West Africa. His experience spans across the entire impact investing and private equity investment activity spectrum from pipeline sourcing to exits. Prior to joining AV Ventures, he spent about 10 years at Mustard Capital Partners (previously Fidelity Capital Partners), a private equity and venture capital fund management company in Ghana where he managed a portfolio of early-stage companies.
Zubeiru also has extensive experience and strong background in investment management, corporate finance and advisory services and management consulting in Ghana. He holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in Finance and a BSc (Administration) degree in Banking & Finance both from the University of Ghana Business School, Ghana.
Amma Gyampo
Co-founder of ScaleUp Africa
Amma Gyampo is an African Ecosystem Builder committed to mentoring on programmes with Ashesi University and Founder Institute Ghana as well as an Advisor to Pan-African Entrepreneurial development initiatives like https://www.africanscalecraft.com/team-advisors.
Amma brings operational, strategic, programme management, business analysis, risk management and stakeholder management to her work with social enterprises and small-medium sized businesses - particularly in the Agriculture, Digital and Creative sectors.
As a Board / Advisory Board member to several organisations, she supports the management of strategy - communications, stakeholder management, socio-environmental, gender and innovation in particular.
She is co-founder of ScaleUp Africa which helps large, global organizations achieve stronger Impact, ESG, Sustainability, Economic Development and Innovation outcomes through the design and implementation of strategic initiatives. ScaleUp Africa designs and implements SME and Gender focused programmes for Access Bank, Mastercard Foundation, GIZ and the EU.
One of the star judges on European Union funded, GHOne TV entrepreneurship show, "The Circular Economy Competition", Amma's career spans 20 years across EMEA Region with myriad consulting projects including Strategic Advisory, Board Member and Programme Management roles for:
- TROTRO Tractor - Contract Farming, Regenerative Agriculture and Mechanization Services
- Ghana's National Taskforce on Impact Investing: (Impact Investing Ghana)
- Reach for Change (Global Advisory Board)
- Maanch UK (Impact Advisory Board)
- BlackBerry
- Vodafone
- Ghana's Ministry of Youth and Sports: Ministerial Sub-Committees on Youth, Sports Tourism, Job Creation, Gender, Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship
Her work has been featured in BBC, Business Insider Africa, Quartz Africa, Forbes, Africa.com and Entrepreneur.com.
Mr. Kwesi Korboe
Chief Executive Officer of GIRSAL
Mr. Kwesi Korboe is an agribusiness specialist with over 30 years of experience in managing and providing financial support to agribusiness enterprises and designing, managing, and implementing agricultural projects. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of GIISAL Limited. Before his position at GIRSAL Ltd, Mr. Korboe was a USAID Embedded Advisor to the Ministry of Food & Agriculture from 2015 to 2019.
Mr. Korboe was the Regional Manager for West Africa at ACDI/VOCA and Country Representative of its subsidiary Agribusiness Systems International in Ghana. He previously worked with the US$ 547 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Compact Program for Ghana in the capacity of Chief of Party for the Southern Horticultural Zone Project.
Mr. Korboe has worked in both the private and public sector in senior management and at the board level and was a Non-Executive Director of the Agricultural Development Bank. He has an M.A. in Economic Policy Management, Post Grad Dip Agric Administration, and a Bachelor’s in Agriculture, all from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Mr. Deji Adebusoye
Principal at Sahel Capital
Deji is a Principal at Sahel Capital, a food and agriculture-focused private investment firm in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sahel Capital manages Fund for Agriculture Financing in Nigeria (FAFIN) and Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA). Deji leads investments and portfolio management for SEFAA and manages FAFIN portfolios, one of which was recently exited. He is a director on the board of one of the portfolio companies.
Before that, he spent three years across a range of senior roles with Syngenta Crop Protection AG. He played a significant role in the formal opening of Syngenta Nigeria as the Chief Operating Officer. He later became the Global Portfolio Operations Manager for one of the company’s business units in Switzerland. He started his career building systems and processes for Procter & Gamble across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Deji is an African-Asia Impact Investing (AAII) Fellow and a Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA) Fellow.
Deji studied chemical engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, where he graduated with a first (1st) class degree and has an MBA from INSEAD Business School.
Mrs. Toyin Sanni
Group CEO at Emerging Africa
Toyin Sanni is Founder and CEO of the Emerging Africa Capital Group, Co-Founder of the Africa Investment Roundtable as well as Board Chairman at Emerging Africa Asset Management Limited. A prominent Investment Banker, Public Personality & Speaker, she derives satisfaction from grooming future leaders and proferring capital solutions for financing & investing challenges of African governments, businesses & individuals. With a background in securities law and extensive experience in corporate finance, investment banking and asset management, she leverages networks across markets and her extensive experience working on leading transactions to achieve growth objectives. She leads a team of experts who provide advisory & capital raising solutions across Africa to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Toyin sits on several boards and committees including Transnational Corporation Plc, the Off Grid Energy Fund - Financing Energy Inclusion (OGEF-FEI) sponsored by the AfDB and other International Development Finance Institutions, NEPAD Business Group Nigeria and the Pearl Awards Governance Board. She chairs the Technical Committee on Financial Literacy of the Nigerian Capital Market and is Ambassador/Co-chair for the Africa CEO Forum Network for Nigeria. She is also the Founder and Chairperson for the Women in Finance Nigeria Network and Founder, WIFNG UK.
Toyin was declared the All African Business Woman of the year 2017 by CNBC Africa, & Nigeria's CEO of the Year 2017 by Pearl Awards. In 2020, she won the Africa Influencer (CEO) Award by Tech Times Africa. Toyin has written three published books including Riding The Eagle - A Guide to Investing in Nigeria. Her past roles include President, Association of Investment Advisers (CIIA), President, Investment Advisers and Portfolio Managers (IAPM), and President, Association of Corporate Trustees.
In addition to a Master’s degree in law, Toyin holds professional qualifications as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Fellow Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators, and Member, Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments, United Kingdom.
Ukinebo O. Dare
Executive Member and the Chairman of the board of the Edo State Skills Development Agency
Ukinebo O. Dare
Executive Member and the Chairman of the board of the Edo State Skills Development Agency
Ukinebo is an Executive Member and the Chairman of the board of the Edo State Skills Development Agency. Prior to this time, she was the Managing Director of the Edo State Skills Development Agency, where she oversaw the Edojobs initiative; Edo Innovates, Edo Creative Hub, Edo Food and Agric Cluster and Edo Production Centre. All these initiatives under her administration jointly impacted over 180,000 beneficiaries in Edo State in the following industries; ICT, Agriculture, Creative, Renewable Energy, Manufacturing and Construction. She was also the coordinator of the Edo State COVID-19 Helpline Center.
She has also overseen the setup and running of several notable projects in and out of Edo State such as:
● EdoJobs Portal with over 200,000 registered members● Edo Food and Agricultural Cluster, Ehor
● Edo Innovates
● Edo Production Centre, for artisans and small-scale industrialists
● Managing Migration Through Development Programs (MMDP)
● State Focal Person for the Human Capital Development (HCD) Program
● Focal Person for the Edo State Government/Bank of Industry 2 Billion Naira MSME Fund
● Convener and Founder of Edo State International Film Festival
Her passion for job creation and human development in Nigeria has seen her receive several awards and recognitions such as Mandela Washington Fellowship in 2017, Ford Foundation Prize for Youth Employment in 2015, and JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award for 2017. Most recently, Ukinebo was also selected as one of the recipients of the Most Influential People of African Descent Under 40 Award for 2019. She has attended Benson Idahosa University, Nigeria, the University of Bradford, UK and Clark Atlanta University, USA.
She started her career in the Information Technology department of Oando Plc, Nigeria. Her passion for people development then led her to setup Poise Graduate Finishing Academy (PGFA) in 2010 which achieved an 87% employment rate of its graduates and earned endorsements from the Nigerian National Universities Commission and multiple reputable employers.
Her exploits in tackling the menace unemployment in Edo State as the SSA to the Governor on Skills Development and Jobs saw her appointed as the Managing Director of the Edo State Skills Development Agency as soon as it was established by law. She has been credited for the execution of employability interventions projects and vocational skills programs Nationwide in partnership with organizations such as Oxfam International, SOS Kinderdorpen, Google Nigeria, Microsoft Nigeria, Butterfly Works Netherlands, Amazon web services and so on.
She has written many publications including 40 First Jobs, Wake Up This is Your Life and so on. She is also the author of ‘The Impact Blog’ a resource for people interested in learning about effective job creation strategies for Africa. Her website is www.ukinebodare.com
Sam Yeboah
CEO of Mirepa Capital Ltd.
Mirabelle Moreaux
Partner Injaro Investments
Mirabelle Moreaux’s career spans over fifteen years in private equity and business advisory services. She is the Investment Director of Injaro Investments Limited where she is responsible for identifying and assessing viable companies as well as managing them for optimum growth.
Prior to Injaro, Mirabelle was an Engagement Manager at Booz & Company, a global management consulting firm, where she solved problems for top businesses, governments and organizations in the USA, Middle East and North Africa. She focused on formulating and implementing strategic and operational improvements for clients in the agriculture, health, financial services, public and non-profit sectors. Mirabelle also worked with Abt Associates, Inc., a socio-economic policy research and consulting firm in Washington, D.C. At Abt, she evaluated health, education and social programs funded by foundations and federal and state governments.
Mirabelle graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell College and the London School of Economics with a B.A. in Economics and French. She holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Gifty Abena Nketia-Yeboah
Investment Analyst at Oasis Capital Ghana Limited
Ms. Gifty Abena Nketia-Yeboah is a private equity professional with about eight years of experience in the finance industry. She has worked in traditional banking, investment banking, asset management, and the private equity space. Her experience also includes working as an Investment Analyst at Injaro Advisors Limited and Oasis Capital Ghana Limited, where she was involved in multi-sector deal sourcing, screening, evaluation of investment opportunities, and portfolio monitoring.
Gifty is currently an Operations Officer at Oasis Capital Ghana Limited, where she works to manage and deploy a US$50m fund. She has also worked as a Financial Analyst at Black Star Advisors Limited, where she was involved in fund management, investment banking, research, and deal structuring.
She has mentored and advised entrepreneurs in incubator and accelerator programs organized by industry players like the Kosmos Innovation Center (Ghana). She has also served on several investment screening panels organized by Intellecap – Advisory Services Private Limited (Kenya) and Impact Investing Ghana.
Gifty holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. She has also passed the CFA Level 1 exam and holds a Ghana Stock Exchange Securities Certificate.
Jean-Marc Kilolo
Economist at United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Jean-Marc Kilolo is an economist with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in the Private Sector Development and Finance Division. He is part of Innovative Finance and Capital Markets team in Addis-Abeba.
He also work at the central Africa office of ECA in Yaounde (Cameroon). Before joining ECA, Jean-Marc worked in Switzerland (ECE, ITC, UNCTAD) and Kenya (UNDRR) where he conducted capacity building activities in 15 SSA countries. He also has a teaching experience as professor of mathematical economics n DRC. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Economics & Politics, the Review of Development economics and the Review of the World Economics.
Mr. Kilolo holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the École polytechnique (France), an MBA from UQAM (Canada), a Masters and B.A in Economics from the Université de Montréal (Canada) and UCLouvain (Belgium), respectively.
Bowel Diop
Head of Makesense Africa
For over 6 years, Bowel Diop has been helping Impact companies to structure and boost their economic performance in order to contribute to solving key challenges of their sectors.
Bowel is convinced that the future of our societies lies in creating new development models and building bridges to foster dialogue on social and responsible economies. She designs technical and financial programmes that help entrepreneurs to combine economic performance with social and/or environmental purposes. Committed to women's rights in Africa, she is also the founder of initiatives to advocate for their legal and social recognition of women on the continent.
She is currently the head of Makesense Africa's incubator and builds support programs and ecosystems across 6 countries in the region. Bowel has a Master's degree in management of social economy organizations.
Baaba Jackson
Partner at Rainbow Consult
Baaba Jackson, FLPI is a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute (LPI), UK. Baaba serves on the LPI Advisory Board for Memberships. She is also an International Finance Corporation -Learning and Performance Institute (IFC-LPI) Certified Trainer, an LPI Expert Facilitator, and a certified trainer for the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). Baaba is a skilled online facilitator and is an LPI Certified Designer of Online Learning as well as an LPI Certified Online Learning Facilitator. Additionally, she is involved in the design of training manuals for various Rainbow Consult (RAINBOW) clients across the West African sub-region.
She also doubles a Partner at for RAINBOW, overseeing all administrative work for RAINBOW, the day-to day running of the firm, as well as managing RAINBOW’s associates and consultants. She is also in charge of maintaining and growing client relationships. Prior to joining the RAINBOW Team, Baaba worked in communications, and brings to the team her extensive experience in advertising strategy, account management and Public Relations (PR). She has been involved in advertising and PR strategy for brands like Rainbow Consult, CloseUp, FanMilk Ghana, Christie Brown, Club Beer and GCB Bank.
Baaba has over 8 years’ experience in the L&D industry, working on projects for clients like G4S, Accra Brewery Limited, Pan-African Savings and Loans, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Dalex Finance and Leasing Company and Access Bank Nigeria. She has supervised other trainers to execute training projects for RAINBOW’s various clients. She is currently the head of the Secretariat that spearheads the organisation of the L&D Africa Conference, the First ever Africa-wide conference for L&D professionals.
She holds an MSc in Social and Public Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she specialised in Corporate Communication and Social Influence.
Baaba lives in Accra, Ghana with her family. She is passionate about women’s issues and entrepreneurship for young people, and volunteers for these causes in her free time. She was chosen by the Moremi Initiative for Women’s Development in Africa as one of the 25 Outstanding Young Women Leaders in Africa in 2015.
Lola Adekanye
Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
Lola Adekanye leads the Business Integrity and Anti-Corruption Programs in Africa at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). She works on a diverse portfolio that spans 12 countries and is leading the launch of a global due diligence product designed to standardize compliance for SMEs across Africa.
Adekanye sits on several working groups, editorial boards, and committees including at the CIPE Anti-Corruption and Governance Center supporting anti-corruption programs and projects globally. Her specialty is in public policy on anti-corruption, financial crime prevention, business ethics compliance in value chains and in emerging markets, and she is passionate about advancing technology to strengthen public sector accountability.
Adekanye is a licensed attorney, and a member of the New York State Bar and the Nigerian Bar with more than a decade of experience as a corporate attorney and compliance specialist. Prior to Joining CIPE, Adekanye practiced white-collar crime defense, consulted for the World Bank Integrity Compliance Unit, and led business risk management projects at E*trade FC. She holds two LL.M degrees; in Securities and International Financial Regulations from Georgetown University and in International Economics Law from the University of Warwick, England.
Margaret Jackson
Managing Partner, Rainbow Consult
Margaret Jackson, FLPI is the Managing Partner of Rainbow Consult. is an accomplished Management Consultant Learning and Performance Expert. She serves as the board chair of the HR Network Africa and Leaders Fort Company. She also sits on the board of advisors of the Learning and Performance Institute (LPI), UK and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) West Africa Chapter. Margaret is also a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute UK, and the Institute of Human Resource Management, Ghana. Margaret. She has superior skills in the areas of Learning and Performance, Leadership Development, Research and Compliance, Adult Learning, and Instructional Design. Margaret has proven herself in institutional development and has exceptional research, training, facilitation, leadership coaching and public speaking skills.
She is a Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) Expert Facilitator, Face-to Face and Online Facilitator, Certified Online Learning Designer, as well as a Certified Assessor in addition to being an International Finance Corporation (IFC) Certified Master Trainer, IFC Master Trainer in Designing and Developing for Learning and an IFC Certified Instructional Designer. Margaret is also an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach and a certified anti-corruption compliance trainer for Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). She has designed training manuals for organisations across Africa and the Middle East and has led teams to develop e-learning courses for organisations. Margaret has led various research projects for organisations like SNV Netherlands Organisation, IFC, Dalex Finance and Leasing Company. She has facilitated retreats for numerous organisations including SNV Netherlands Organisation, West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), FORD Foundation, Amnesty International, GRIDCO, NSIA Insurance, among others.
Margaret is a resourceful and open-minded leader with an optimistic outlook. She has led various successful capacity building projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Guinea, Senegal and Mozambique. Her work in post-Ebola Sierra Leone and Liberia has received critical commendation from the IFC.
Margaret is passionate about the development of women and has been instrumental in the development of Financial Literacy programmes impacting over 1,500 illiterate and semi-illiterate women in Ghana. She also led the team that created, designed courses for and executed the Access Bank Mini -MBA Program. The Mini-MBA equipped 50 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria with business skills to scale up their Margaret Jackson - Personal Profile businesses. She also led the team that designed a course on mentorship, and a handbook for mentors for the Millennium Development Agency’s (MiDA) Ghana Power Compact Internship and Mentoring
.Programme. This programme seeks to provide mentorship opportunities for young girls in STEM. Additionally, she led a team that conducted training for 200 women on leadership and financial literacy for 200 women entrepreneurs in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Margaret Jackson collaborated with Fidelity Bank to set up the SME Business Academy. This SME Academy thrived, and Margaret once again teamed up with Fidelity Bank and SNV to create the Possible to Profitable (P2P) Business Academy for SMEs in the Water and Sanitation Sector. She also teamed up with UNICEF to set up a Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Academy for the Water and Sanitation Sector.
A prolific public speaker, Margaret loves to coach and mentor young women.
Ifeoma Malo
Co-Founder/ CEO of Clean Technology Hub Nigeria.
Ifeoma Malo is an organizational management expert with over 23 years’ experience, building and directing organizational policy and strategy in energy and large scale utility markets, public health, bio technology, leadership, change management and infrastructure finance. She is the Co-Founder/ CEO, Clean Technology Hub Nigeria.
Ifeoma Malo is a Caux Scholar, African Leadership PIA Fellow, Desmond Tutu Fellow, Crans Montana New Leader Fellow, Acumen West Africa Fellow and also the Global Leadership Academy-We Africa Network. She is a Commonwealth Leaders Scholar-CSC Leaders. She is also a member of boards that include:GreenPeace International, Access to Energy Institute (AE21), Extractive 360 and Norrenberger Financial Service.
Edith Uyovbukerhi
Partner and CFO of ShEquity
Edith Ameyo Uyovbukerhi is the Partner and CFO of ShEquity, whose purpose is to provide smart and sustainable investments for African female entrepreneurs and innovators. She is Director for Harley Reed, Ghana, an international integrated knowledge, advisory and assurance professional services firm.
She is a chartered accountant and a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, (ICAG). She holds an MBA in Finance from Stirling University in Scotland and a degree in Accounting and Finance from Brighton University in England.
Edith’s wide professional experience spans over 29 years in senior management roles within finance at blue chip organisations such as PwC, Cadbury Schweppes, Nestle and Diageo in the UK and Ghana.
Edith is a strong believer that the African woman is uniquely placed by way of heritage to be a formidable force for advancement and achievement globally.She is the Founder of Strands of Pearls International, a women’s organisation focussed on excellent self-development, business solutions and peer networking and serves as a director and member of the Advisory Board of the African Women in Leadership Organisation (AWLO). As a strong advocate for mentoring young women as a means of ensuring a stronger next generation of African women who lead, she co-founded Path of Hope, to develop, empower, support, and inspire next generation African women leaders, aged 18 to 35, towards anticipating, leading, and celebrating positive change and development in our society, our country and continent. She is a member of the board of Old Mutual Ghana.
She is the co-founder of LittleBigSouls International Charitable Organisation, a not-for-profit organization committed to advocating on the serious issue of prematurity and the reduction of the terrible rates of death and disability for pre-term babies born in Africa.
Edith’s experience of premature birth is a deeply personal one. She brings all her experience of being an angel preemie mother into the programmes that LittleBigSouls provide; (medical supplies and equipment donation to neonatal intensive care units, awareness, parental support, training, and advocacy), and hence the organisation provides support and care from a place of knowing. Her goal is that through the work of LittleBigSouls, they can level the playing field for the care of preemies born in Africa and to give these precious babies a fighting chance at survival.
She was named Ghana Ambassador for the textile manufacturing giant Vlisco in 2018 and has won several awards in recognition of her life and work. She is involved in many community and charitable projects both at the local and international level.
Grace Safoa Buaka
GInvestment Director at Oasis Capital Ghana Limited
Grace Safoa Buaka is a professional investor with 14 years’ experience in investment banking, private equity and venture capital. She is an Investment Director at Oasis Capital in Ghana responsible for sourcing and executing transactions, as well as managing portfolio investments. She has supported many entrepreneurs and business owners execute their growth and expansion plans and has a passion for youth and female-led businesses. Grace is a director of Legacy Girls College, JACCD Design Institute Africa and appsNmobile Solutions among others.
She begun her career with Lehman Brothers in New York and Nomura International in London, and holds degrees from the University of Virginia (MBA) and Bryn Mawr College (BA Economics) both in the U.S.A.
Rukayatu Sanusi
CEO of Ghana Climate Innovation Centre
Ruka Sanusiisa highly accomplished management consultant with 28 years of international consulting experience in Europe and across sub-Saharan Africa. Her career to date has been built around her abilities to both provide advice on matters of business/organisational strategy, operations and transformation,and organizing resources and facilities to implement recommendations–she has strategic and operational ability. An astute professional,Ruka has provided technical and operational leadership in private sector transformation as well public sector reform assignments, sustainability and climate change programs, as well as large,complex change management programs.She Conveys deep knowledge of matters pertinent to business/organizational strategy and operations,climate action in the government and business sector; gender and entrepreneurship,as well as SME-growth.
Ruka is currently the Executive Director of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC). Recognized That Private Enterprise has a vital role to play in driving down greenhouse gas emissions and the transition to low carbon economies, GCIC is a pioneering national business incubator providing business services to enterprises in the green economy. GCIC was initially funded through an US$8.5m grant from the World Bank,and,having successfully raised additional funds under Ruka's leadership, the Center has now closed on a new $10m grant from a new donor for an additional four years. The GCIC’s work is at the nexus of climate change, private enterprise, economic development, and ecological prosperity, with a particular focus on ensuring gender equality for women entrepreneurs. The Center offers a different approach to business leadership and commercial enterprise–a premise that pays attention to enterprise agility, prioritizes slim-smart innovation, ethical leadership,and gender equity. Ruka is also the founder of Alldens Lane, a boutique business strategy consulting firm focused on providing executive and business coaching services to women-owned and women-led businesses across Africa. Female CEOs and entrepreneurs are supported with business direction, balanced support, and thought-provoking business performance and growth analytics, from which they can grow and transform their businesses—and their lives. Before founding Allens Lane, Ruka worked with PwC Ghana and PwC Nigeria for over a decade. As a member of senior management and Head of Strategy and Operations Unit at PwC Advisory Services, Ruka led a team of management consultants and problem solvers helping global corporations and governments in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria to solve their complex business and organizational issues from strategy to execution. In 2010, she set up PwC Ghana’s Sustainability and Climate Change Advisory business unit, where she and members of her team advised clients in the government sector as well as private corporations on transitioning their business strategies, investments, and operations to be more climate-responsive and climate smart. Ruka Sanusi is a highly accomplished management consultant with 28 years of international consulting experience in Europe and across sub-Saharan Africa. Her career to date has been built around her abilities to both provide advice on matters of business / organizational strategy, operations, and transformation, and organizing resources and facilities to implement recommendations–she has both strategic and operational ability. As an analytical professional, Ruka has provided technical and operational leadership in private sector transformation as well as public sector reform assignments, sustainability and climate change programs, and large, complex change management programs. She conveys a deep knowledge of matters pertinent to business/ organizational strategy and operations, climate action in the government and business sector; gender and entrepreneurship, as well as SME-growth.
Ruka has advised governments, public sector organizations and private corporations on international projects and Assignments across Europe, in 16 sub-Saharan African countries. She has lived in the UK, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Andrew Akoto
Project Manager, Injaro Investments
Andrew is the Corporate Social Investments (CSI) Advisory Manager at Injaro. He is responsible for supporting multinational firms to deliver sustainable economic transformation solutions using private sector-led approaches in their operational communities.
His close to two decades of consulting and project management experience spans the defence, education, extractives, insurance, and media sectors. He has also led private sector development work streams in the international development sector.
Prior to Injaro, Andrew was Managing Director at Growth Mosaic, where, among other things, he led the team to prepare businesses to scale and to be ready for investment through programs such as the Kosmos Innovation Center, Deep Dive Africa, and the Ghana Climate Innovation Center.
Andrew is a certified project management professional (PMP). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree in Financial Economics from American University in Washington, DC.
Em Ekong
ANDE West Africa Regional Head
With over 20 years’ experience in the economic development space in Europe and across Africa, working closely with intergovernmental and government institutions including London Development Agency, City of London Corporation, UN Women, the United Cities and Local Governments for Africa, to transform and improve the quality of life for its citizens through advocacy and lobbying, and strategic economic development. As the current West Africa Regional Head for Aspen Institute’s Network of Development Entrepreneurs my focus is on building entrepreneurial ecosystems and building bridges across the region that drives the growth and development of Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs).
Also, a seasoned coach and mentor prioritizes women’s entrepreneurship and leadership where support has been provided to over 500 women in Ghana and Nigeria over the last 10 years. Other work includes supporting organizations from the public, private sector and civil society around the creation and delivery of innovative business development services, including co-creating women’s accelerator programs, entrepreneurship skills training and driving diaspora relations to improve the lives of some of the poorest communities in the world.
Alexis Thirouin
Financial Director and Head of C3 study, Investisseurs & Partenaires
Alexis Thirouin holds a MSc in Corporate Finance from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers. His Master’s dissertation focused on the impact of the financial crisis on microfinance institutions.
Alexis joined Investisseurs & Partenaires in 2012 as Financial Manager, and had the opportunity to work on all I&P’s catalytic projects (funds IPAE, IPDEV I, IPDEV II). His position involves responsibilities at all stages of the fund’s life: from fundraising to audit and reporting, including accounting and cash management, but also portfolio management and relations with investors and donors. In parallel, he manages the financial, procurement and reporting aspects of six Technical Assistance subsidies. Alexis also works on developing internal and external tools related to the group’s portfolio and financial management, and provides direct support to I&P’s portfolio SMEs.
He notably authored the evaluation study “IPDEV, a pioneering initiative to promote African SMEs”, an assessment of the performance of IPDEV’s investment portfolio.
Doris Ahiati
CEO Crescendo Consult Ltd
Doris Ahiati is passionate about helping individuals, families, small businesses and Corporates to achieve happiness associated with financial and spiritual liberation.
She helps through Consulting, Financial advisory and transformational Coaching, leadership development, training facilitation and other learning experiences. She has 21 years industry experience cutting across industries such as investment banking, commercial banking, professional studies/academia and Business Accelerators. She provides ongoing support on MSME and Business Leadership Projects including the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative, ShEquity's Sheba Accelerator, the Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative, the USAID Centre for African Leadership in Agriculture, Risesmart Career Transition and the China Europe International Business School CEIBS Advanced Management Programme and Owner Director Post Graduate Programmes.
She's a John C Maxwell certified Coach, Speaker and Trainer and also holds a professional coaching certification from Coach Masters Academy in Singapore and credentialed membership with the International Coaching Federation. She is a Human Behaviour Expert DISC Trainer and Consultant. She's a Fellow Chartered Banker, holds an MBA Finance; BSc. Finance, Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment UK Associate membership.
Prior to co-founding Crescendo Consult Ltd, a financial advisory, executive coaching and consulting firm, Doris was the Country Director for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants-ACCA GLOBAL and Vice President at the Databank where she led financial advisory & Corporate Finance transactions, Macro-Economic & Equity Research and founded the Group's Pensions business. She was on the team of advisors to the Government of Ghana for the issuance of one of Ghana's Eurobonds raising $1billion on the international markets. She, her husband and their four sons love travel adventure.
Martin Eigbike
West Africa Programs Lead, AVPA
Martin is an experienced strategy and policy advisor and certified program/project manager. He has worked extensively across Africa, advising public institutions, bilateral and multilateral development agencies, international foundations, and private corporations on strategy and execution, public policy reform, and organizational effectiveness.
He is currently the Managing Partner at Gawani Africa, a strategy and innovation advisory start-up he founded in 2019. Prior to founding Gawani Africa, he was an Associate Partner and member of the global management team at Dalberg Advisors – an impact focused global consulting firm, where he worked on business development and project delivery across the Africa region. Before joining Dalberg, Martin worked with Accenture for nearly a decade, playing a key role in the firm’s successful expansion into the public sector in Nigeria, and helping build the firm’s internal capabilities in strategy development.
Over the last 5 years, Martin has worked extensively on global research and innovation with a specific focus on strengthening national research capacities of low- and medium-income countries (LMICs) across the world, and particularly in Africa. His work in this domain includes helping to incubate an African coalition for strengthening research and innovation; advising on an initiative to establish a continental research fund for Africa; and helping to implement a mechanism to improve coordination between large global funders of health research for greater synergy in investments in LMIC clinical research capacity strengthening.
He currently is a Consultant to the Special Programs for Tropical Diseases Research (TDR) on the UK-led G7 initiative to strengthen global infrastructure for clinical trials towards faster development of vaccines, drugs, and therapeutics during global public health emergencies. Martin has recently started work on developing a tech-enabled platform to help young thinkers and potential innovators in Africa’s higher institutions develop their critical thinking skills and strengthen their research competencies, to improve their readiness to conduct or participate in international standard research. This platform is being incubated within Gawani Africa. His other domains of interest and active involvement include public health, nutrition, tech-driven innovation in the public sector, and economic growth strategies and policy execution. Martin is actively involved in other endeavors aimed at fostering positive social and economic impact on the African continent.
He has recently become involved with the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), a Pan-African network for social investors aimed at bridging the social investment financing gap on the continent. He also founded LearnHistory Africa, an NGO with a mission to help preserve the connection between African children and Africa’s rich history, by giving children a modern and positive perspective of African history and culture through immersive experiences.
Martin has a Bachelors’ degree in Geography and Regional Planning from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and a masters’ degree in Information Technology from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He served on the Planning Committee of the annual Nigeria Economic Summit between 2011 and 2016. He has been a certified Project Manager on the PRINCE II methodology since 2006.
Brian Frimpong
Managing Partner of Zebu Investment Partners
Brian is the Managing Partner of Zebu Investment Partners (formerly DAFML), a private equity fund with offices in Ghana, Mauritius & South Africa, managers of Africa Food Security Fund. The fund has invested across 11 countries in Africa, primarily in the food-value chain. Zebu’s pan-African funds has an AUM in excess of $130m focused mainly on SMEs. Brian has two decades experience in private equity, investment banking and corporate strategy, covering countries in both developed and emerging markets.
He was formerly at the Washington DC (USA) office of Emerging Capital Partners, one of the largest pan-African private equity firms with over US$ 2.5 billion under management. Brian started his investment career with the Investment Banking Division of Citigroup (formerly Salomon Smith Barney) and then joined Freddie Mac to help restructure the organization, resulting in a $3 billion reversal of revenue understatement. He also worked for JPMorgan in its Equity Capital Markets.
Brian has served on portfolio and non-profit boards, including Investment Advisory Committee of Ghana Petroleum Fund (Ghana), Avison Pty (South Africa), Venture Capital Trust Fund (Ghana), and Moablaou S.A. (Burkina Faso). He is currently a Member of the Presidential Committee on Private Public Partnerships (Ghana) and board observer on Copia (Kenya). He obtained his undergraduate degree at Howard University, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Brian was licensed in 2001 as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Mr. Mamadou Barro
Country Manager Benin| Investment Specialist West Africa | UNCDF
Mamadou Barro has joined the United Nation Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as Country Manager of Benin and Investment Specialist for Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Niger in April 2021.
Mamadou is a seasoned banker and development finance specialist with over 18 years of accumulated experience in business development, banking, project finance, corporate finance, and SMEs financing, mostly matured in the private sector and development finance institutions across Africa and Middle East. Mamadou led for 6 years the Africa office of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), which is a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group. He also spent 3 years secondment as a CEO of Tamweel Africa Holding an Islamic Banking Group based in Senegal. He has been board member for banks in Niger, Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea and an Islamic fund in Malaysia for over 6 years.
He also held various positions with Shelter-Afrique in Kenya and Bank of Africa Burkina.
Mamadou holds a Global MBA / IE Business School Spain and a MBA in Banking and Finance/ CESAG Senegal as well as Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Dakar, Senegal. Mamadou has attended several executive courses including Innovation and Entrepreneurship/ Policy Considerations Harvard Kennedy School , Silicon Valley Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program Haas Business School, University of Berkeley and Oxford Fintech Program, Oxford Said Business School. Mamadou is from Burkina Faso and speaks English and French.
Dinah Hammond
Dinah Principal Advisor, InvestPro Advisors Limited
Dinah has built her career as an Investment Professional, where she’s spent the last 12 years working with some of the most pioneering investors and small growing businesses in emerging markets, particularly in high-impact sectors like Smart Agriculture, Healthcare, Energy, Infrastructure Development and Technology. She has keen interest in gender equity and youth empowerment as cross-cutting themes for responsible development, and brings these lenses to all of her work.
Her progressive experience cuts across Private Equity, Financial Advisory, Venture Building and Entrepreneurial Support at national, regional and global levels. She’s been instrumental in raising US$ 300 million in capital and has advised on over US$ 75 million of Ghanaian debt and equity transactions focusing on strategy and execution.”
Karl Ocran
Investment Strategist at Axis Pension Trust
Karl currently serves as an Investment Strategist at Axis Pension Trust. In this capacity, he is responsible for manager selection and formulating the firm’s broad asset allocation and execution of investment strategies across multi-asset classes. Karl was amongst the founding members responsible for setting up the CFA Society Ghana, and is currently a member of the CFA Institute, a global organization that is considered to provide the gold standard in the investment management industry. He holds a business degree from Ashesi University and one of the many things he’s deeply passionate about is using finance as tool to promote socioeconomic development.
Bankole Oloruntoba
CEO of Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre and Honorary Consul to Finland
Bankole Oloruntoba is the CEO of the Nigeria Climate Innovation Center www.nigeriacic.org , a Climate Technology Partnership program of the World Bank with the help of the Government of Nigeria focusing on the growth of a viable green economy in Nigeria. The NCIC has, since its inception, incubated over 60 green ventures and seed funded 24 ventures in total of $240,000 USD and developed knowledge on the emerging Nigeria Green Economy, the center has worked with several partners to create growth structures in Nigeria including solving scale challenges including Coca-Cola Foundation, AllOn, EDC/PAU, FC4S Lagos and GIZ etc implementing Green Economy startups and SME economic scale projects worth over $3million USD
Bankole is currently the Honorary Consul to Finland in Lagos, Nigeria and has a first degree (BSc. Economics) from ABU Zaria, an executive certificate in Building Brands from the Lagos Business School (LBS) and an MBA from Businesschool Netherlands (BSN).
He is a social and business tactics engagement specialist with a deep background in entrepreneurship development, business development and innovation management. Bankole started the Abuja startup Ecosystem and has supported the setup of over 15 innovation hubs in Nigeria. Bankole has shown strength in the identification and building of strategic work/business partnership in Innovation ecosystem development.
As a thought leader in Digital and Climate focused Start-ups and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development in Nigeria/West Africa, Bankole sits on the board and advises several organizations, governments, dozens of Hubs and Businesses in Nigeria and West Africa. He brings a wealth of experience in Green Innovation Programmes Design, financing and Sustainability Management, Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship (IDE) Development, Startup Business Development and Ecosystem Advisory.
Bankole is an engaging Speaker, Convergence Coordinator and a fantastic listener.
Dr Samuel Frimpong Boateng
Founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group
Samuel has varied experience, training and qualifications in numerous disciplines and has travelled to over 123 countries including Vietnam and San Andres. He has previously worked in such areas as geotechnical investigations, mine project structuring, gold exploration, mining and development for companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, Goldfields Ghana, and Tournigan Canada. He has also worked for Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation developing DANIDA-funded groundwater systems using Schlumberger and Dipole-Dipole in major parts of the Western Region of Ghana.
He is the founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group (Afrideg), headquartered in London with offices in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Dr Boateng has worked as impact investment specialist for London’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) using industry value chain diagnostics and data-rich risk management programmes for easier access to EIB’s $427m finance for SMEs in the objective 2 areas (deprived communities) in the UK.
He has recently structured and delivered financial models, financial risk and corporate strategy projects for several companies in different countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Dr Boateng’s major works in this area include a World Bank funded Value Chain Development and ERP project for Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation. Samuel has also designed and delivered over 320 corporate training programmes for the past 19 years for several companies in different countries spanning over 20 industries and sectors.
Dr Boateng holds varied degrees and qualifications: BSc (hons), Geological Engineering; PgDip (Programming using JAVA and Visual Basic); MBA (finance and investment), DBA (Real Investments and Risk Management). Samuel is World Bank certified investment promotion and investment scorecard specialist and a WTO/ITC certified trade facilitation expert. He has attended several corporate training programmes covering international trade, investment promotion, risk management, financial modelling, value chain finance, investment management, etc, mostly delivered by WTO/ITC, Euromoney, and IFF. Samuel has also designed and delivered financial risk management programmes on behalf of GIMPA for several firms including VRA and Broll Ghana. Dr Boateng is a key member of the technical committee on finance for Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry’s programme on AfCFTA. He has structured several value chain financing programmes for impact investments for several firms in different countries including Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria and USA. Some of his most recent major work includes BUSAC funded business performance indexing for Ghana drawing on over 3,000 companies of various sizes covering 17 industries. The work is aimed at providing financing and policy tool for risk-friendly capital, investment impact, enterprise visibility and feasibility. As lead consultant for GNCCI, Dr Boateng is working with Ghana’s recent Development Bank (DBG) on risk management and industrial value chain development to facilitate catalytic capital for high impact industries in the country.
Dr Boateng is the chairman of the Policy and Advocacy Advisory Committee (PAAC) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI). He serves on several boards as chairman and member including Yedent Agro Group of Companies, Vester Oil Ghana Limited, Miraburst Ghana, Venture Resource Associates, Nigeria. Samuel is also the founder and President of Centre for Investments, Trade and Industry (citi-africa). Citi-Africa is committed to promoting impact investment and developing trade and industrial dynamics of our operating countries. Samuel was the lead speaker on ‘Financing Extractives Value Chain in Africa’, a recent high level programme jointly organised by the offices of the Presidents of Ghana and Tanzania.
Samuel has a dedicated desk of work, through citi-africa, for improving risk management, value chain development (using 10 development dimensions covering over 276 data variables as tools for policy innovations, investment visibility, impact, ease of access, cheaper and feasible financing), microeconomic reforms, business performance indexing, ESG, wholesale and retail innovations (to promote more Ghana made products and services), all aimed at facilitating catalytic financing and high impact investments in Ghana, Nigeria and others.
Constance Elizabeth Swaniker
CEO of Accents & Arts
Miss Constance Elizabeth Swaniker is a master craftsperson, entrepreneur, and educationist. Her key passions are skills development and job creation for the youth imparticularly females. She coined and conceptualized the practice of “Precision Quality”, a curriculum aimed at enhancing technical education and training to meet industry requirements. It combines practice and theory needed to improve the teaching of TVET.
She had her pre-university education in The Gambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Ghana where she obtained an undergraduate degree in Fine Art from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in 1999. She is a Stanford Seed Fellow. She chairs the Sector Skills Body of Ghana’s Commission for TVET on which she is a Board Member. Constance Swaniker set up her construction firm, Accents & Art (AnA) in 2000. She has trained numerous university students and craftsmen and women in the informal sector. She established the Design & Technology Institute (DTI) in 2016 to bridge the academia-industry divide. DTI, an accredited private TVET institution, runs three courses in Metal Fabrication, Design Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and has won recognition and funding from the Mastercard Foundation and SIFA/AUDA.
Constance has exhibited her works in Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) and Europe (Paris) and won numerous local and international awards. She is a dedicated mother of 2 who aspires to leave a positive mark on society and inspire the youth to live their dreams no matter the challenges. Her work can be found in a wide range of upscale homes, offices, and diplomatic missions both home and abroad.
Dr Christian Jahn
Head of Programme Support to the Private and Financial Sector (PFS) - GIZ
Christian joined GIZ in Ghana as Head of the Support to the Private and Financial Sector (PFS) Programme in January 2023. Prior joining GIZ Ghana, Christian was the Executive Director of the Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) and was responsible for the management of the global programme from 2015 until 2022. Before that he was based for five years in Addis Ababa as Deputy Country Director of GIZ overseeing a broad portfolio including the private-public-partnership programmes.
Christian has more than 25 years of experience in international development cooperation with a thematic focus on collaboration with the private sector, health systems, population dynamics and social franchise systems. He has worked mainly in the Africa and Asia region as long-term and short-term expert and provided advisory services to the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also worked for five years in the private sector and was an entrepreneur and founder of a company in the food sector. Christian holds a master’s degree and PhD in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin.
Daouda Alain Bamba
Sustainability/Climate Manager at PwC
Alain is a Sustainability/Climate manager at PwC with more than 13 years of experience.
Alain is responsible for business development activities for French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
He has strong expertise in ESG/Climate risk analysis, ESG/Climate strategy and transformation consulting, project structuring and ESG/Climate reporting in private and public companies.
Alain was for several years ESG/CSR manager of a banking group within which he was in charge of developing the ESG management system and bringing all of the institution's transactions into compliance with the standards of financial partners: IFC, AFD, ADB, CRRH-UEMOA etc.
Borris Sonny
Head of the Quality Management System Department and Environmental and Social Specialist at Coris Bank International
Borris Sonny
Head of the Quality Management System Department and Environmental and Social Specialist at Coris Bank International
Boris Sonny, Head of the Quality Management System Department and Environmental and Social Specialist at Coris Bank International (CBI) is engineer in agro-industries, with a degree in quality management, health, safety and the environment as well as in finance, accounting and auditing. He joined Coris Bank International after 8 years spent in industries.
For the past ten years, he has been responsible for sustainability and quality management issues at Coris Bank International (CBI).
His role has been to integrate sustainability into the heart of Coris Bank International's activities. As such, he leads the Bank's corporate social responsibility strategy and is head of the accreditation project with the Green Climate Fund.
Raymond Denteh
Agribusiness and Financial Services of the Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity at ACDI/VOCA
Raymond Denteh
Agribusiness and Financial Services of the Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity at ACDI/VOCA
Raymond Denteh is an Agribusiness Business Specialist, Impact Investment expert, Business Development Services (BDS) specialist, Value Chains/Inclusive Business (IB) expert and a Banker with experience in small to middle market investing and business development. He has rich knowledge in value chain analysis and development, fund management, markets facilitation for poverty reduction as well as wealth creation and capacity building. He is also an inclusive market systems practitioner.
Raymond has 20 years of varied experience working across various industries, including the private sector (shipping, accounting, banking, impact investment) and international development (cocoa, oil palm, poultry, maize, soya, etc). His key expertise includes provision of corporate and market development advisory services, impact investment, value chain facilitation, project management, fund management amongst others.
He has also consulted for government and non-governmental organizations on financing and access to finance in the agricultural sector. As an Agribusiness development expert, Raymond has supported several value chains including poultry, cocoa, oil palm, cashew, grains and cereals, etc. and is currently the Team Lead, Agribusiness and Financial Services for USAID Feed the Future Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity, being implemented by ACDI VOCA in Ghana.
Mr. Kwasi Duah
Director, Knowledge Management & Technical Assistance – GIRSAL Ltd.
Mr. Duah plays a pivotal role in managing the delivery of GIRSAL’s Technical Assistance Facility, which focuses on enhancing financial institutions' agricultural lending capacity and providing expert support.
In addition to this responsibility, Mr. Duah provides oversight for the operations of MIS, M&E, research, and communications at GIRSAL.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Duah gained valuable experience working with Touton, a renowned international agricultural commodity sourcing company. Throughout his career, he has actively contributed his expertise to various development-related initiatives across West Africa, collaborating with prestigious organizations such as Palladium International, Mott McDonald, Christian Aid, Coffey International, and USAID.
He has an MBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Ghana Business School
Benjamin Gyan-Kesse
Executive Director, Kosmos Innovation Center
Benjamin Gyan-Kesse is Executive Director of Kosmos Innovation Center, Ghana, a Not-for Profit Organisation, where he is driving the strategic execution of sustainable value chain transformation through innovation and tech for young people and entrepreneurs within the agricultural sector. As an AgriTech Thought Leader and Professional with 23 years of experience in farmer capacity building and agribusiness value chain programmes, he has nurtured over 600+ agri entrepreneurs, incubated 16 startups and has supported over 58,000 cocoa farmers across all the cocoa growing regions in Ghana, focusing on productivity, value addition, market access and other livelihood improvement programmes through ICTAg.
Ben worked previously with Technoserve Ghana as Business Advisor. He also worked with Wienco-Cocoa Abrabopa Association as Training and Development Manager, as well as with Esoko as Business Development Manager, DAI.
A modern farmer, into fruit cultivation and processing, he is also into foodtech with a special focus on postharvest loss management, project management, agri-marketing and sales.
Ibrahim Koara
AGRA
Ibrahim Koara is an agricultural economics engineer specialized in sustainable social and economic development. Independent consultant, he is the inclusive finance focal person for AGRA in Burkina Faso, working with AGRA’s inclusive finance unit on various schemes seeking to unlock financing for MSME, women and youth. He is also technical advisor for Pan African. Microfinance Burkina Faso on a project that promotes financial and non-financial services to catalyze young women entrepreneurship in rural areas of Burkina Faso.
With his passion for rural development and social advancement he has worked during several years in promoting social entrepreneurship in Burkina targeting smallholder farmers at the bottom of the pyramid. He is registered to be certified as the SDG Impact Standards accredited trainer of trainers. How to make the value chains and market systems work better and sustainably for the small producers including women and youth has been a driving force for him. More than a job—it’s a life goal!
Naana Winful Fynn
Regional Director for West Africa for Norfund
She is a member of Norfund’s 6-person global Credit Committee.
She is a management professional with about 20 years of diversified experience in the financial services, real estate and consumer products industries. She has experience in investing, strategy development, financial and strategic advisory, project management and brand management.
Prior to Norfund, she was a Director of Sagevest Holdings, an investment holding company investing in private companies in West Africa on behalf of its investors. She has previously worked as Vice President at Travant Real Estate in Lagos, Nigeria, where she led and managed investments in real estate and related operating companies and managed real estate developments.
Other previously-held positions include brand marketing and strategy roles at CVS Corporation and the Timberland Company in the US, where her achievements included developing and executing integrated marketing plans for the $1 billion+ CVS Brand of products. Naana also previously worked as a financial analyst in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs & Co, advising companies on mergers, acquisitions and sales as well as public equity and debt offerings, and as an Associate at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, both in New York.
She holds a Bachelor's degree with Honors in Economics from Vassar College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she was the winner of the Goldman Sachs MBA Fellowship.
She is a non-executive Board Director for Continental Blue Investments (CBI Ghana), a former member of the Investment Advisory Committee for the Ghana Petroleum Funds and a mentor for young professionals in the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) program.
Olivier Furdelle
Co-founder and the Managing Director of TERANGA CAPITAL
Olivier Furdelle is a co-founder and the Managing Director of TERANGA CAPITAL, the first impact investment fund dedicated to early-stage SMEs and start-ups in Senegal and the Gambia.
He was previously an independent consultant specializing in private equity and SME financing in Africa; since 2009 he conducted multiple investment transactions with SMEs in various sub-Saharan African countries and led assignments across the whole lifecycle (from pre-investment screening to due diligence, monitoring and exit). Previously, he was Vice-President Business Development & Planning at Proximus, the leading telecommunications and ICT company in Belgium, where he led several venture capital and M&A transactions in start-ups. Before that he co-founded a start-up in e-learning and was also a Consultant at Accenture and KPMG.
He holds a Master’s degree in Management Science from the Solvay Business School (Belgium) and gained executive education at INSEAD (France).
Elizabeth Biney-Amissah
Venture Partner at E3 Capital
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Biney-Amissah is a Venture Partner at E3 Capital (formerly Energy Access Ventures), a 75m EUR venture capital fund focused on investing in low-carbon, smart energy-enabled solutions, with over 15 years of experience. Passionate about operating at the nexus of business and government to drive real and sustainable transformation in climate and energy in emerging markets, she was most recently a Business Development Director at Globeleq, an Africa-focused power generation company owned by CDC Group plc and Norfund, where she transformed their West Africa strategy. Prior to that, she was a Project Developer and the Founding Regional Head of West Africa Operations for EleQtra/InfraCo Africa Fund. Prior to working at EleQtra, she started her career in public securities research at GL Group and TMT-focused hedge fund Coatue Management in New York.
She holds an AB degree in Molecular Biologyfrom Princeton University, and an MPA degree from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, where she was an Edward S. Mason Fellow. She is also an Archbishop Tutu Fellow with the African Leadership Institute (AFLI).
Prof. Ernest Ofori Asamoah
Program Officer, University of Toronto,
Prof. Ernest Ofori Asamoah is Program Officer, University of Toronto, Canada at the Office of the Vice President International. Ernest served as president of Regent University College of Science and Technology. Ernest has over two decades work experience in development finance, academia and consulting. He previously worked with KPMG as Manager He has provided consulting services for several mining, oil and gas, financial services as well as educational institutions in Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Canada, Austria, Netherlands and Germany..
He chairs Ghana Industry Research Collaborative Steering Committee; a Project being implemented by Impact Investing Ghana .
Sheila Elorm Enni
CEO of WHESOYY LTD
After years of working as a Budget Development and Management Analyst, I decided to start my business out of the passion to provide healthy and affordable cereals.
Since the establishment of Whesoyy in 2019, Sheila Elorm Enni has moved it from a one-woman business to a strong team of seven, three consultants and from one retail shop to 235 shops and 4 distributors across the region.
She is excited about all the impact her business is making in regards to health and nutrition of all the family units who enjoy their breakfast meal with Whesoyy Cereals and the employment opportunities it creates for young people and stay at home wives who becomes economically empowered through our value chain.
Osayi Alile
C.E.O Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation
Osayi Alile is a quintessential leader with over 20 years in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and the third sector with a wide array of experience covering International Development, Business and Philanthropic Management, Fundraising and Sustainability.
Her degrees in Sociology and Public Administration from Rutgers University, New Jersey prepared her to be a catalyst for change as she has revolutionised the non profit sector in Nigeria and beyond. She possesses Executive Certifications from LBS (Nigeria), IMD, Cranfield, Harvard University and YALE. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria, CIBN (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria) Mentoring Advisory Committee, Lagos Business School Nigeria Non-profit Senior Management Fellow, ANDE Executive Committee, Council Member, LCCI (Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Member TheBoardroom Africa, Executive Member of the Access Women Network, Trustee, Alaghodaro (Edo State) Economic Summit and Board Member Saro Oil Palm Limited.
Osayi Alile is currently the Chief Executive Officer at ACT Foundation, a grant making non-profit organisation that provides funding to social sector organisations focused in the areas of Health, Entrepreneurship, Environment and Leadership. Through her hard work, dedication and resilience, ACT Foundation has been adjudged the “Not-For-Profit of the Year” at the 2018, 2019 & 2020 SERAS CSR Awards. She is also co-author of ACT Foundation’s Non-Profit Guidebook Series which was designed to cover general knowledge for establishing a viable non profit organisation.
She is also the Co- Administrator at the Coalition Against Covid-19(CACOVID) which is a Private Sector task force in partnership with the Federal Government,the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) with the sole aim of combating Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria.
As a visionary leader, Ms. Alile has served in various leadership capacities including being the Executive Director, FATE Foundation; Vice President, Junior Achievementof Nigeria; and CSR Consultant, Access Bank Plc.
Osayi Alile has served the nation and the world at large in various capacities including Council Member on Youth Unemployment for the World Economic Forum Global Agenda; Committee Member, Ministry of Communication Technology for IT Business Incubation Technology; and was recognised as a YoungGlobal Leader by the World Economic Forum.
In recognition to her many contributions to the economic and social development of Nigeria, Osayi has won several awards. To mention a few; Top 50Women in Management Africa, Her Network Woman of the Year, Business Day Inspiring Women Series Award, PSAG Forty Leading Women on the SDGs, Top 100 Women Impacting Africa, 100 Most Influential Civil Society Leaders in Nigeria, by the Nigerian Network of NGOs (NNNGO) in the collaboration with Google Nigeria. She was also recognized by H.E. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu,Governor of Lagos State as one of the Eko 100 Women in 2020 & 2022.
Osayi Alile is the founding curator of the Global Shapers Forum Nigeria and servesas a consultant on sustainability, non-profit management and strategy. She is acolumnist and writes on entrepreneurship and business development in Nigeria’s leading dailies, The Guardian and Business Day.
Past Chairperson, Women in Management, Business and Public Policy (WIMBIZ),Osayi AlilesitsonseveralboardsincludingHouse of Tara, ZapphaireEvents, FutureProjects, Africa Leadership Network Forum, IDEA Hub and Global Dignity, an affiliation of the World Economic Forum in Norway.
Osayi is passionate about creating positive social impact in our world, women,youth empowerment and equity.
Rekia Foudel
Founder & Managing Partner at Barka Fund
Rekia is the Founder & Managing Partner at Barka Fund, an impact investment vehicle, backing founders in francophone Africa that are building companies to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Barka offers the most bottom-up approach to early-stage investing in the region, filling an important funding gap known as the missing middle.
Barka supports and invests in startups in important sectors where entrepreneurs have a significant opportunity for climate action, such as agriculture and food systems, renewable energy and environment & natural resources sectors. Prior to founding Barka, Rekia spent 15 years in the financial services sector in the US, Europe & Africa. As Head of Project Development at MCA-Niger, a unit of the Executive Office of the President, Rekia helped raise $437 million in development aid from the US Millennium Challenge Corporation for two growth-focused and climate-resilient projects.
Rekia graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA in Finance and from Stony Brook University with a BA in political Science. She is bilingual in English and French.
Andrew Shaw
Technical Assistance for Market Ecosystems and Programs at FMO
Andrew has almost 25 years of experience in crafting partnerships and deploying grant-based solutions to bring about a more inclusive and sustainable prosperity for all. He heads-up Technical Assistance for Market Ecosystems and Programs at FMO (the Dutch Development Bank). He and his team innovate across the financial, agribusiness and energy sectors, to position FMO as a market creator and catalyst, supporting pioneering inclusive businesses and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in collaboration with the right partners.
He holds a dual MBA from Tias and Bradford University and a degree in Anthropology from Durham, and is passionate about trying out creative solutions and making a difference in the world. He enjoys applying the principles of Adaptive Leadership and Non Violent Communication in his leadership role. He struggles to pick a favourite SDG, but it is a close call between SDG 5 and SDG 17.
Edwin Zu-Cudjoe
Executive Director of Social Enterprise Ghana
Edwin Zu-Cudjoe is the Executive Director of Social Enterprise Ghana, the national network of about 900 social enterprises operating in Ghana. He has 14 years’ work experience in business development, trade and investment promotion, training and business development having worked with various organisations including Voltic Ghana Ltd, Vodafone Ghana and Glo Mobile in various management positions.
He has a first degree from University of Ghana, Legon and an MBA in Global Business and Sustainability-Social Entrepreneurship from Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan. He is also a graduate in Msc Development Finance (SME Finance and FDI) from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana.
He is a strong advocate for policies and programmes that promote social and green businesses and inter-regional trade.
Michael Mensah-Baah
Deputy CEO of Development Bank Ghana
Michael Mensah-Baah has over 25 years of experience working in financial services across Europe, America and Africa.
In 1998, Michael began his professional career in the United Kingdom and joined JP Morgan as an Associate on the Equity Derivatives Trading Desk. He later became Vice President, Investment Banking with Union Bank of Switzerland (UK), where he helped the bank grow Fixed Income Product Revenue, managing to increase the client base while keeping losses to a minimum.
In 2010, Michael joined Barclays Bank (now ABSA) in Africa, starting as Vice President and Head of Risk Management and subsequently becoming Chief Operating Officer. In 2022, Michael joined Development Bank Ghana as Deputy Chief Executive Officer responsible for Impact Investing. Over the years, Michael has gained unique expertise in the development and implementation of strategy, the establishment of key strategic partnerships, and the development of new products and services. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Statistics and Computer Science from the University of Ghana and a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK). He is both an Associate Member of the Chartered Global Management Accountants (CGMA) in the US and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA) in the UK.
Solomon E. Twum
Country Manager for Reach for Change
Solomon has 15+ years' experience in enterprise development and delivery of technical and business skills development for MSMEs in various sectors in sub-saharan Africa region.
He is currently the Country Director at Reach for Change Ghana, an international NGO supporting social entrepreneurs across 18 countries in Europe and Africa, with grant funding and business skills development through programs such as innovation labs, incubators and scaling readiness. Prior to this role, he worked as a general manager for Simon Page, a professional management training institute, specialising in Marketing, Digital Marketing and Strategic Management, where he led a major market expansion project into Nigeria and Kenya. Solomon also boasts of experience in the banking sector where he worked in treasury and consumer banking.
Solomon is an astute marketing and enterprise development professional. He is a member of the chartered institute of marketing, U.K., and a professional member of the American Marketing Association.
Ténemba Anna Samaké
Executive Director of MBC-Africa
Ténemba Anna Samaké has near 30 years of experience in business development and SME financing (Bank, Microfinance and impact investment) in West Africa. Ténemba believes that rural entrepreneurship is the solution in creating jobs for African youth, reduce food insecurity and alleviate poverty on the continent.
Tenemba is Executive Director of MBC-Africa (www.mbcafrica.org) , a model of enabling environment that aims to improve SMEs in agribusiness in Africa by integrating business services they need to grow on one single platform. MBC-Africa’s role is to identify, nurture and develop a critical mass of viable growth-oriented agribusinesses as a pipeline for sustainable and impactful investment in selected African economies. She is Co-Founder of ShEquity Business Accelerator (SHEBA) linked to ShEquity Fund an investment vehicle for woman owned and led businesses in Africa (www.shequity.com).
She has developed an extensive network of partners that support Micros, Small and Medium Enterprises in accessing to financing, through product development, funding schemes (www.subiz-ghana.com) and network building. Ténemba is Founding Member of Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh). She is also Member of Aspen Network Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Executive Committee.
Ténemba Anna Samaké holds a MBA from Quebec University in Montreal and has a Master’s Degree in Private Law from National Administration School, Mali. Ténemba speaks fluently French and English and understands Spanish.
Zubeiru Salifu
Senior Investment Manager, AV Ventures LLC
Zubeiru Salifu is the Senior Investment Manager of AV Ventures LLC, an impact fund management company headquartered in Washington, DC that provides mezzanine debt to early stage and growing agribusinesses in emerging markets including Ghana. Zubeiru leads the operations of AV Ventures including managing deal sourcing, transaction structuring and documentation, due diligence, portfolio management, business development support and investor relations in Ghana and West Africa. Zubeiru also represents the interest of AV Ventures on the boards of portfolio companies where he provides portfolio management and strategic management support to the companies.
Zubeiru has over 15 years’ experience investing in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana and West Africa. His experience spans across the entire impact investing and private equity investment activity spectrum from pipeline sourcing to exits. Prior to joining AV Ventures, he spent about 10 years at Mustard Capital Partners (previously Fidelity Capital Partners), a private equity and venture capital fund management company in Ghana where he managed a portfolio of early-stage companies.
Zubeiru also has extensive experience and strong background in investment management, corporate finance and advisory services and management consulting in Ghana. He holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in Finance and a BSc (Administration) degree in Banking & Finance both from the University of Ghana Business School, Ghana.
Amma Gyampo
Co-founder of ScaleUp Africa
Amma Gyampo is an African Ecosystem Builder committed to mentoring on programmes with Ashesi University and Founder Institute Ghana as well as an Advisor to Pan-African Entrepreneurial development initiatives like https://www.africanscalecraft.com/team-advisors.
Amma brings operational, strategic, programme management, business analysis, risk management and stakeholder management to her work with social enterprises and small-medium sized businesses - particularly in the Agriculture, Digital and Creative sectors.
As a Board / Advisory Board member to several organisations, she supports the management of strategy - communications, stakeholder management, socio-environmental, gender and innovation in particular.
She is co-founder of ScaleUp Africa which helps large, global organizations achieve stronger Impact, ESG, Sustainability, Economic Development and Innovation outcomes through the design and implementation of strategic initiatives. ScaleUp Africa designs and implements SME and Gender focused programmes for Access Bank, Mastercard Foundation, GIZ and the EU.
One of the star judges on European Union funded, GHOne TV entrepreneurship show, "The Circular Economy Competition", Amma's career spans 20 years across EMEA Region with myriad consulting projects including Strategic Advisory, Board Member and Programme Management roles for:
- TROTRO Tractor - Contract Farming, Regenerative Agriculture and Mechanization Services
- Ghana's National Taskforce on Impact Investing: (Impact Investing Ghana)
- Reach for Change (Global Advisory Board)
- Maanch UK (Impact Advisory Board)
- BlackBerry
- Vodafone
- Ghana's Ministry of Youth and Sports: Ministerial Sub-Committees on Youth, Sports Tourism, Job Creation, Gender, Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship
Her work has been featured in BBC, Business Insider Africa, Quartz Africa, Forbes, Africa.com and Entrepreneur.com.
Mr. Kwesi Korboe
Chief Executive Officer of GIRSAL
Mr. Kwesi Korboe is an agribusiness specialist with over 30 years of experience in managing and providing financial support to agribusiness enterprises and designing, managing, and implementing agricultural projects. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of GIISAL Limited. Before his position at GIRSAL Ltd, Mr. Korboe was a USAID Embedded Advisor to the Ministry of Food & Agriculture from 2015 to 2019.
Mr. Korboe was the Regional Manager for West Africa at ACDI/VOCA and Country Representative of its subsidiary Agribusiness Systems International in Ghana. He previously worked with the US$ 547 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Compact Program for Ghana in the capacity of Chief of Party for the Southern Horticultural Zone Project.
Mr. Korboe has worked in both the private and public sector in senior management and at the board level and was a Non-Executive Director of the Agricultural Development Bank. He has an M.A. in Economic Policy Management, Post Grad Dip Agric Administration, and a Bachelor’s in Agriculture, all from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Mr. Deji Adebusoye
Principal at Sahel Capital
Deji is a Principal at Sahel Capital, a food and agriculture-focused private investment firm in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sahel Capital manages Fund for Agriculture Financing in Nigeria (FAFIN) and Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA). Deji leads investments and portfolio management for SEFAA and manages FAFIN portfolios, one of which was recently exited. He is a director on the board of one of the portfolio companies.
Before that, he spent three years across a range of senior roles with Syngenta Crop Protection AG. He played a significant role in the formal opening of Syngenta Nigeria as the Chief Operating Officer. He later became the Global Portfolio Operations Manager for one of the company’s business units in Switzerland. He started his career building systems and processes for Procter & Gamble across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Deji is an African-Asia Impact Investing (AAII) Fellow and a Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA) Fellow.
Deji studied chemical engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, where he graduated with a first (1st) class degree and has an MBA from INSEAD Business School.
Mrs. Toyin Sanni
Group CEO at Emerging Africa
Toyin Sanni is Founder and CEO of the Emerging Africa Capital Group, Co-Founder of the Africa Investment Roundtable as well as Board Chairman at Emerging Africa Asset Management Limited. A prominent Investment Banker, Public Personality & Speaker, she derives satisfaction from grooming future leaders and proferring capital solutions for financing & investing challenges of African governments, businesses & individuals. With a background in securities law and extensive experience in corporate finance, investment banking and asset management, she leverages networks across markets and her extensive experience working on leading transactions to achieve growth objectives. She leads a team of experts who provide advisory & capital raising solutions across Africa to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Toyin sits on several boards and committees including Transnational Corporation Plc, the Off Grid Energy Fund - Financing Energy Inclusion (OGEF-FEI) sponsored by the AfDB and other International Development Finance Institutions, NEPAD Business Group Nigeria and the Pearl Awards Governance Board. She chairs the Technical Committee on Financial Literacy of the Nigerian Capital Market and is Ambassador/Co-chair for the Africa CEO Forum Network for Nigeria. She is also the Founder and Chairperson for the Women in Finance Nigeria Network and Founder, WIFNG UK.
Toyin was declared the All African Business Woman of the year 2017 by CNBC Africa, & Nigeria's CEO of the Year 2017 by Pearl Awards. In 2020, she won the Africa Influencer (CEO) Award by Tech Times Africa. Toyin has written three published books including Riding The Eagle - A Guide to Investing in Nigeria. Her past roles include President, Association of Investment Advisers (CIIA), President, Investment Advisers and Portfolio Managers (IAPM), and President, Association of Corporate Trustees.
In addition to a Master’s degree in law, Toyin holds professional qualifications as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Fellow Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators, and Member, Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments, United Kingdom.
Ukinebo O. Dare
Executive Member and the Chairman of the board of the Edo State Skills Development Agency
Ukinebo O. Dare
Executive Member and the Chairman of the board of the Edo State Skills Development Agency
Ukinebo is an Executive Member and the Chairman of the board of the Edo State Skills Development Agency. Prior to this time, she was the Managing Director of the Edo State Skills Development Agency, where she oversaw the Edojobs initiative; Edo Innovates, Edo Creative Hub, Edo Food and Agric Cluster and Edo Production Centre. All these initiatives under her administration jointly impacted over 180,000 beneficiaries in Edo State in the following industries; ICT, Agriculture, Creative, Renewable Energy, Manufacturing and Construction. She was also the coordinator of the Edo State COVID-19 Helpline Center.
She has also overseen the setup and running of several notable projects in and out of Edo State such as:
● EdoJobs Portal with over 200,000 registered members● Edo Food and Agricultural Cluster, Ehor
● Edo Innovates
● Edo Production Centre, for artisans and small-scale industrialists
● Managing Migration Through Development Programs (MMDP)
● State Focal Person for the Human Capital Development (HCD) Program
● Focal Person for the Edo State Government/Bank of Industry 2 Billion Naira MSME Fund
● Convener and Founder of Edo State International Film Festival
Her passion for job creation and human development in Nigeria has seen her receive several awards and recognitions such as Mandela Washington Fellowship in 2017, Ford Foundation Prize for Youth Employment in 2015, and JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award for 2017. Most recently, Ukinebo was also selected as one of the recipients of the Most Influential People of African Descent Under 40 Award for 2019. She has attended Benson Idahosa University, Nigeria, the University of Bradford, UK and Clark Atlanta University, USA.
She started her career in the Information Technology department of Oando Plc, Nigeria. Her passion for people development then led her to setup Poise Graduate Finishing Academy (PGFA) in 2010 which achieved an 87% employment rate of its graduates and earned endorsements from the Nigerian National Universities Commission and multiple reputable employers.
Her exploits in tackling the menace unemployment in Edo State as the SSA to the Governor on Skills Development and Jobs saw her appointed as the Managing Director of the Edo State Skills Development Agency as soon as it was established by law. She has been credited for the execution of employability interventions projects and vocational skills programs Nationwide in partnership with organizations such as Oxfam International, SOS Kinderdorpen, Google Nigeria, Microsoft Nigeria, Butterfly Works Netherlands, Amazon web services and so on.
She has written many publications including 40 First Jobs, Wake Up This is Your Life and so on. She is also the author of ‘The Impact Blog’ a resource for people interested in learning about effective job creation strategies for Africa. Her website is www.ukinebodare.com
Sam Yeboah
CEO of Mirepa Capital Ltd.
Mirabelle Moreaux
Partner Injaro Investments
Mirabelle Moreaux’s career spans over fifteen years in private equity and business advisory services. She is the Investment Director of Injaro Investments Limited where she is responsible for identifying and assessing viable companies as well as managing them for optimum growth.
Prior to Injaro, Mirabelle was an Engagement Manager at Booz & Company, a global management consulting firm, where she solved problems for top businesses, governments and organizations in the USA, Middle East and North Africa. She focused on formulating and implementing strategic and operational improvements for clients in the agriculture, health, financial services, public and non-profit sectors. Mirabelle also worked with Abt Associates, Inc., a socio-economic policy research and consulting firm in Washington, D.C. At Abt, she evaluated health, education and social programs funded by foundations and federal and state governments.
Mirabelle graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell College and the London School of Economics with a B.A. in Economics and French. She holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Gifty Abena Nketia-Yeboah
Investment Analyst at Oasis Capital Ghana Limited
Ms. Gifty Abena Nketia-Yeboah is a private equity professional with about eight years of experience in the finance industry. She has worked in traditional banking, investment banking, asset management, and the private equity space. Her experience also includes working as an Investment Analyst at Injaro Advisors Limited and Oasis Capital Ghana Limited, where she was involved in multi-sector deal sourcing, screening, evaluation of investment opportunities, and portfolio monitoring.
Gifty is currently an Operations Officer at Oasis Capital Ghana Limited, where she works to manage and deploy a US$50m fund. She has also worked as a Financial Analyst at Black Star Advisors Limited, where she was involved in fund management, investment banking, research, and deal structuring.
She has mentored and advised entrepreneurs in incubator and accelerator programs organized by industry players like the Kosmos Innovation Center (Ghana). She has also served on several investment screening panels organized by Intellecap – Advisory Services Private Limited (Kenya) and Impact Investing Ghana.
Gifty holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. She has also passed the CFA Level 1 exam and holds a Ghana Stock Exchange Securities Certificate.
Sheila Elorm Enni
CEO of WHESOYY LTD
After years of working as a Budget Development and Management Analyst, I decided to start my business out of the passion to provide healthy and affordable cereals.
Since the establishment of Whesoyy in 2019, Sheila Elorm Enni has moved it from a one-woman business to a strong team of seven, three consultants and from one retail shop to 235 shops and 4 distributors across the region.
She is excited about all the impact her business is making in regards to health and nutrition of all the family units who enjoy their breakfast meal with Whesoyy Cereals and the employment opportunities it creates for young people and stay at home wives who becomes economically empowered through our value chain.
Jean-Marc Kilolo
Economist at United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Jean-Marc Kilolo is an economist with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in the Private Sector Development and Finance Division. He is part of Innovative Finance and Capital Markets team in Addis-Abeba.
He also work at the central Africa office of ECA in Yaounde (Cameroon). Before joining ECA, Jean-Marc worked in Switzerland (ECE, ITC, UNCTAD) and Kenya (UNDRR) where he conducted capacity building activities in 15 SSA countries. He also has a teaching experience as professor of mathematical economics n DRC. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Economics & Politics, the Review of Development economics and the Review of the World Economics.
Mr. Kilolo holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the École polytechnique (France), an MBA from UQAM (Canada), a Masters and B.A in Economics from the Université de Montréal (Canada) and UCLouvain (Belgium), respectively.
Bowel Diop
Head of Makesense Africa
For over 6 years, Bowel Diop has been helping Impact companies to structure and boost their economic performance in order to contribute to solving key challenges of their sectors.
Bowel is convinced that the future of our societies lies in creating new development models and building bridges to foster dialogue on social and responsible economies. She designs technical and financial programmes that help entrepreneurs to combine economic performance with social and/or environmental purposes. Committed to women's rights in Africa, she is also the founder of initiatives to advocate for their legal and social recognition of women on the continent.
She is currently the head of Makesense Africa's incubator and builds support programs and ecosystems across 6 countries in the region. Bowel has a Master's degree in management of social economy organizations.
Baaba Jackson
Partner at Rainbow Consult
Baaba Jackson, FLPI is a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute (LPI), UK. Baaba serves on the LPI Advisory Board for Memberships. She is also an International Finance Corporation -Learning and Performance Institute (IFC-LPI) Certified Trainer, an LPI Expert Facilitator, and a certified trainer for the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). Baaba is a skilled online facilitator and is an LPI Certified Designer of Online Learning as well as an LPI Certified Online Learning Facilitator. Additionally, she is involved in the design of training manuals for various Rainbow Consult (RAINBOW) clients across the West African sub-region.
She also doubles a Partner at for RAINBOW, overseeing all administrative work for RAINBOW, the day-to day running of the firm, as well as managing RAINBOW’s associates and consultants. She is also in charge of maintaining and growing client relationships. Prior to joining the RAINBOW Team, Baaba worked in communications, and brings to the team her extensive experience in advertising strategy, account management and Public Relations (PR). She has been involved in advertising and PR strategy for brands like Rainbow Consult, CloseUp, FanMilk Ghana, Christie Brown, Club Beer and GCB Bank.
Baaba has over 8 years’ experience in the L&D industry, working on projects for clients like G4S, Accra Brewery Limited, Pan-African Savings and Loans, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Dalex Finance and Leasing Company and Access Bank Nigeria. She has supervised other trainers to execute training projects for RAINBOW’s various clients. She is currently the head of the Secretariat that spearheads the organisation of the L&D Africa Conference, the First ever Africa-wide conference for L&D professionals.
She holds an MSc in Social and Public Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she specialised in Corporate Communication and Social Influence.
Baaba lives in Accra, Ghana with her family. She is passionate about women’s issues and entrepreneurship for young people, and volunteers for these causes in her free time. She was chosen by the Moremi Initiative for Women’s Development in Africa as one of the 25 Outstanding Young Women Leaders in Africa in 2015.
Lola Adekanye
Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
Lola Adekanye leads the Business Integrity and Anti-Corruption Programs in Africa at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). She works on a diverse portfolio that spans 12 countries and is leading the launch of a global due diligence product designed to standardize compliance for SMEs across Africa.
Adekanye sits on several working groups, editorial boards, and committees including at the CIPE Anti-Corruption and Governance Center supporting anti-corruption programs and projects globally. Her specialty is in public policy on anti-corruption, financial crime prevention, business ethics compliance in value chains and in emerging markets, and she is passionate about advancing technology to strengthen public sector accountability.
Adekanye is a licensed attorney, and a member of the New York State Bar and the Nigerian Bar with more than a decade of experience as a corporate attorney and compliance specialist. Prior to Joining CIPE, Adekanye practiced white-collar crime defense, consulted for the World Bank Integrity Compliance Unit, and led business risk management projects at E*trade FC. She holds two LL.M degrees; in Securities and International Financial Regulations from Georgetown University and in International Economics Law from the University of Warwick, England.
Margaret Jackson
Managing Partner, Rainbow Consult
Margaret Jackson, FLPI is the Managing Partner of Rainbow Consult. is an accomplished Management Consultant Learning and Performance Expert. She serves as the board chair of the HR Network Africa and Leaders Fort Company. She also sits on the board of advisors of the Learning and Performance Institute (LPI), UK and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) West Africa Chapter. Margaret is also a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute UK, and the Institute of Human Resource Management, Ghana. Margaret. She has superior skills in the areas of Learning and Performance, Leadership Development, Research and Compliance, Adult Learning, and Instructional Design. Margaret has proven herself in institutional development and has exceptional research, training, facilitation, leadership coaching and public speaking skills.
She is a Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) Expert Facilitator, Face-to Face and Online Facilitator, Certified Online Learning Designer, as well as a Certified Assessor in addition to being an International Finance Corporation (IFC) Certified Master Trainer, IFC Master Trainer in Designing and Developing for Learning and an IFC Certified Instructional Designer. Margaret is also an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach and a certified anti-corruption compliance trainer for Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). She has designed training manuals for organisations across Africa and the Middle East and has led teams to develop e-learning courses for organisations. Margaret has led various research projects for organisations like SNV Netherlands Organisation, IFC, Dalex Finance and Leasing Company. She has facilitated retreats for numerous organisations including SNV Netherlands Organisation, West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), FORD Foundation, Amnesty International, GRIDCO, NSIA Insurance, among others.
Margaret is a resourceful and open-minded leader with an optimistic outlook. She has led various successful capacity building projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Guinea, Senegal and Mozambique. Her work in post-Ebola Sierra Leone and Liberia has received critical commendation from the IFC.
Margaret is passionate about the development of women and has been instrumental in the development of Financial Literacy programmes impacting over 1,500 illiterate and semi-illiterate women in Ghana. She also led the team that created, designed courses for and executed the Access Bank Mini -MBA Program. The Mini-MBA equipped 50 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria with business skills to scale up their Margaret Jackson - Personal Profile businesses. She also led the team that designed a course on mentorship, and a handbook for mentors for the Millennium Development Agency’s (MiDA) Ghana Power Compact Internship and Mentoring Programme. This programme seeks to provide mentorship opportunities for young girls in STEM. Additionally, she led a team that conducted training for 200 women on leadership and financial literacy for 200 women entrepreneurs in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Margaret Jackson collaborated with Fidelity Bank to set up the SME Business Academy. This SME Academy thrived, and Margaret once again teamed up with Fidelity Bank and SNV to create the Possible to Profitable (P2P) Business Academy for SMEs in the Water and Sanitation Sector. She also teamed up with UNICEF to set up a Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Academy for the Water and Sanitation Sector.
A prolific public speaker, Margaret loves to coach and mentor young women.
Ifeoma Malo
Co-Founder/ CEO of Clean Technology Hub Nigeria
Samuel has varied experience, training and qualifications in numerous disciplines and has travelled to over 123 countries including Vietnam and San Andres. He has previously worked in such areas as geotechnical investigations, mine project structuring, gold exploration, mining and development for companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, Goldfields Ghana, and Tournigan Canada. He has also worked for Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation developing DANIDA-funded groundwater systems using Schlumberger and Dipole-Dipole in major parts of the Western Region of Ghana.
He is the founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group (Afrideg), headquartered in London with offices in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Dr Boateng has worked as impact investment specialist for London’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) using industry value chain diagnostics and data-rich risk management programmes for easier access to EIB’s $427m finance for SMEs in the objective 2 areas (deprived communities) in the UK.
He has recently structured and delivered financial models, financial risk and corporate strategy projects for several companies in different countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Dr Boateng’s major works in this area include a World Bank funded Value Chain Development and ERP project for Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation. Samuel has also designed and delivered over 320 corporate training programmes for the past 19 years for several companies in different countries spanning over 20 industries and sectors.
Dr Boateng holds varied degrees and qualifications: BSc (hons), Geological Engineering; PgDip (Programming using JAVA and Visual Basic); MBA (finance and investment), DBA (Real Investments and Risk Management). Samuel is World Bank certified investment promotion and investment scorecard specialist and a WTO/ITC certified trade facilitation expert. He has attended several corporate training programmes covering international trade, investment promotion, risk management, financial modelling, value chain finance, investment management, etc, mostly delivered by WTO/ITC, Euromoney, and IFF. Samuel has also designed and delivered financial risk management programmes on behalf of GIMPA for several firms including VRA and Broll Ghana. Dr Boateng is a key member of the technical committee on finance for Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry’s programme on AfCFTA. He has structured several value chain financing programmes for impact investments for several firms in different countries including Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria and USA. Some of his most recent major work includes BUSAC funded business performance indexing for Ghana drawing on over 3,000 companies of various sizes covering 17 industries. The work is aimed at providing financing and policy tool for risk-friendly capital, investment impact, enterprise visibility and feasibility. As lead consultant for GNCCI, Dr Boateng is working with Ghana’s recent Development Bank (DBG) on risk management and industrial value chain development to facilitate catalytic capital for high impact industries in the country.
Dr Boateng is the chairman of the Policy and Advocacy Advisory Committee (PAAC) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI). He serves on several boards as chairman and member including Yedent Agro Group of Companies, Vester Oil Ghana Limited, Miraburst Ghana, Venture Resource Associates, Nigeria. Samuel is also the founder and President of Centre for Investments, Trade and Industry (citi-africa). Citi-Africa is committed to promoting impact investment and developing trade and industrial dynamics of our operating countries. Samuel was the lead speaker on ‘Financing Extractives Value Chain in Africa’, a recent high level programme jointly organised by the offices of the Presidents of Ghana and Tanzania.
Samuel has a dedicated desk of work, through citi-africa, for improving risk management, value chain development (using 10 development dimensions covering over 276 data variables as tools for policy innovations, investment visibility, impact, ease of access, cheaper and feasible financing), microeconomic reforms, business performance indexing, ESG, wholesale and retail innovations (to promote more Ghana made products and services), all aimed at facilitating catalytic financing and high impact investments in Ghana, Nigeria and others.
Edith Uyovbukerhi
Partner and CFO of ShEquity
Edith Ameyo Uyovbukerhi is the Partner and CFO of ShEquity, whose purpose is to provide smart and sustainable investments for African female entrepreneurs and innovators. She is Director for Harley Reed, Ghana, an international integrated knowledge, advisory and assurance professional services firm.
She is a chartered accountant and a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, (ICAG). She holds an MBA in Finance from Stirling University in Scotland and a degree in Accounting and Finance from Brighton University in England.
Edith’s wide professional experience spans over 29 years in senior management roles within finance at blue chip organisations such as PwC, Cadbury Schweppes, Nestle and Diageo in the UK and Ghana.
Edith is a strong believer that the African woman is uniquely placed by way of heritage to be a formidable force for advancement and achievement globally. She is the Founder of Strands of Pearls International, a women’s organisation focussed on excellent self-development, business solutions and peer networking and serves as a director and member of the Advisory Board of the African Women in Leadership Organisation (AWLO). As a strong advocate for mentoring young women as a means of ensuring a stronger next generation of African women who lead, she co-founded Path of Hope, to develop, empower, support, and inspire next generation African women leaders, aged 18 to 35, towards anticipating, leading, and celebrating positive change and development in our society, our country and continent. She is a member of the board of Old Mutual Ghana.
She is the co-founder of LittleBigSouls International Charitable Organisation, a not-for-profit organization committed to advocating on the serious issue of prematurity and the reduction of the terrible rates of death and disability for pre-term babies born in Africa.
Edith’s experience of premature birth is a deeply personal one. She brings all her experience of being an angel preemie mother into the programmes that LittleBigSouls provide; (medical supplies and equipment donation to neonatal intensive care units, awareness, parental support, training, and advocacy), and hence the organisation provides support and care from a place of knowing. Her goal is that through the work of LittleBigSouls, they can level the playing field for the care of preemies born in Africa and to give these precious babies a fighting chance at survival.
She was named Ghana Ambassador for the textile manufacturing giant Vlisco in 2018 and has won several awards in recognition of her life and work. She is involved in many community and charitable projects both at the local and international level.
Grace Safoa Buaka
GInvestment Director at Oasis Capital Ghana Limited
Grace Safoa Buaka is a professional investor with 14 years’ experience in investment banking, private equity and venture capital. She is an Investment Director at Oasis Capital in Ghana responsible for sourcing and executing transactions, as well as managing portfolio investments. She has supported many entrepreneurs and business owners execute their growth and expansion plans and has a passion for youth and female-led businesses. Grace is a director of Legacy Girls College, JACCD Design Institute Africa and appsNmobile Solutions among others.
She begun her career with Lehman Brothers in New York and Nomura International in London, and holds degrees from the University of Virginia (MBA) and Bryn Mawr College (BA Economics) both in the U.S.A.
Rukayatu Sanusi
CEO of Ghana Climate Innovation Centre
Rukayatu Sanusi, CEO of Ghana Climate Innovation Centre Ruka Sanusiisa highly accomplished management consultant with 28 years of international consulting experience in Europe and across sub-Saharan Africa. Her career to date has been built around her abilities to both provide advice on matters of business/organisational strategy, operations and transformation,and organizing resources and facilities to implement recommendations–she has strategic and operational ability. An astute professional,Ruka has provided technical and operational leadership in private sector transformation as well public sector reform assignments, sustainability and climate change programs, as well as large,complex change management programs.She Conveys deep knowledge of matters pertinent to business/organizational strategy and operations,climate action in the government and business sector; gender and entrepreneurship,as well as SME-growth.
Ruka is currently the Executive Director of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC). Recognized That Private Enterprise has a vital role to play in driving down greenhouse gas emissions and the transition to low carbon economies, GCIC is a pioneering national business incubator providing business services to enterprises in the green economy. GCIC was initially funded through an US$8.5m grant from the World Bank,and,having successfully raised additional funds under Ruka's leadership, the Center has now closed on a new $10m grant from a new donor for an additional four years. The GCIC’s work is at the nexus of climate change, private enterprise, economic development, and ecological prosperity, with a particular focus on ensuring gender equality for women entrepreneurs. The Center offers a different approach to business leadership and commercial enterprise–a premise that pays attention to enterprise agility, prioritizes slim-smart innovation, ethical leadership,and gender equity. Ruka is also the founder of Alldens Lane, a boutique business strategy consulting firm focused on providing executive and business coaching services to women-owned and women-led businesses across Africa. Female CEOs and entrepreneurs are supported with business direction, balanced support, and thought-provoking business performance and growth analytics, from which they can grow and transform their businesses—and their lives. Before founding Allens Lane, Ruka worked with PwC Ghana and PwC Nigeria for over a decade. As a member of senior management and Head of Strategy and Operations Unit at PwC Advisory Services, Ruka led a team of management consultants and problem solvers helping global corporations and governments in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria to solve their complex business and organizational issues from strategy to execution. In 2010, she set up PwC Ghana’s Sustainability and Climate Change Advisory business unit, where she and members of her team advised clients in the government sector as well as private corporations on transitioning their business strategies, investments, and operations to be more climate-responsive and climate smart. Ruka Sanusi is a highly accomplished management consultant with 28 years of international consulting experience in Europe and across sub-Saharan Africa. Her career to date has been built around her abilities to both provide advice on matters of business / organizational strategy, operations, and transformation, and organizing resources and facilities to implement recommendations–she has both strategic and operational ability. As an analytical professional, Ruka has provided technical and operational leadership in private sector transformation as well as public sector reform assignments, sustainability and climate change programs, and large, complex change management programs. She conveys a deep knowledge of matters pertinent to business/ organizational strategy and operations, climate action in the government and business sector; gender and entrepreneurship, as well as SME-growth.
Ruka has advised governments, public sector organizations and private corporations on international projects and Assignments across Europe, in 16 sub-Saharan African countries. She has lived in the UK, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Andrew Akoto
Project Manager, Injaro Investments
Andrew is the Corporate Social Investments (CSI) Advisory Manager at Injaro. He is responsible for supporting multinational firms to deliver sustainable economic transformation solutions using private sector-led approaches in their operational communities.
His close to two decades of consulting and project management experience spans the defence, education, extractives, insurance, and media sectors. He has also led private sector development work streams in the international development sector.
Prior to Injaro, Andrew was Managing Director at Growth Mosaic, where, among other things, he led the team to prepare businesses to scale and to be ready for investment through programs such as the Kosmos Innovation Center, Deep Dive Africa, and the Ghana Climate Innovation Center.
Andrew is a certified project management professional (PMP). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree in Financial Economics from American University in Washington, DC.
Em Ekong
ANDE West Africa Regional Head
With over 20 years’ experience in the economic development space in Europe and across Africa, working closely with intergovernmental and government institutions including London Development Agency, City of London Corporation, UN Women, the United Cities and Local Governments for Africa, to transform and improve the quality of life for its citizens through advocacy and lobbying, and strategic economic development. As the current West Africa Regional Head for Aspen Institute’s Network of Development Entrepreneurs my focus is on building entrepreneurial ecosystems and building bridges across the region that drives the growth and development of Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs).
Also, a seasoned coach and mentor prioritizes women’s entrepreneurship and leadership where support has been provided to over 500 women in Ghana and Nigeria over the last 10 years. Other work includes supporting organizations from the public, private sector and civil society around the creation and delivery of innovative business development services, including co-creating women’s accelerator programs, entrepreneurship skills training and driving diaspora relations to improve the lives of some of the poorest communities in the world.
Sheila Elorm Enni
CEO OF WHESOYY LTD
Samuel has varied experience, training and qualifications in numerous disciplines and has travelled to over 123 countries including Vietnam and San Andres. He has previously worked in such areas as geotechnical investigations, mine project structuring, gold exploration, mining and development for companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, Goldfields Ghana, and Tournigan Canada. He has also worked for Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation developing DANIDA-funded groundwater systems using Schlumberger and Dipole-Dipole in major parts of the Western Region of Ghana.
He is the founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group (Afrideg), headquartered in London with offices in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Dr Boateng has worked as impact investment specialist for London’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) using industry value chain diagnostics and data-rich risk management programmes for easier access to EIB’s $427m finance for SMEs in the objective 2 areas (deprived communities) in the UK.
He has recently structured and delivered financial models, financial risk and corporate strategy projects for several companies in different countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Dr Boateng’s major works in this area include a World Bank funded Value Chain Development and ERP project for Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation. Samuel has also designed and delivered over 320 corporate training programmes for the past 19 years for several companies in different countries spanning over 20 industries and sectors.
Dr Boateng holds varied degrees and qualifications: BSc (hons), Geological Engineering; PgDip (Programming using JAVA and Visual Basic); MBA (finance and investment), DBA (Real Investments and Risk Management). Samuel is World Bank certified investment promotion and investment scorecard specialist and a WTO/ITC certified trade facilitation expert. He has attended several corporate training programmes covering international trade, investment promotion, risk management, financial modelling, value chain finance, investment management, etc, mostly delivered by WTO/ITC, Euromoney, and IFF. Samuel has also designed and delivered financial risk management programmes on behalf of GIMPA for several firms including VRA and Broll Ghana. Dr Boateng is a key member of the technical committee on finance for Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry’s programme on AfCFTA. He has structured several value chain financing programmes for impact investments for several firms in different countries including Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria and USA. Some of his most recent major work includes BUSAC funded business performance indexing for Ghana drawing on over 3,000 companies of various sizes covering 17 industries. The work is aimed at providing financing and policy tool for risk-friendly capital, investment impact, enterprise visibility and feasibility. As lead consultant for GNCCI, Dr Boateng is working with Ghana’s recent Development Bank (DBG) on risk management and industrial value chain development to facilitate catalytic capital for high impact industries in the country.
Dr Boateng is the chairman of the Policy and Advocacy Advisory Committee (PAAC) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI). He serves on several boards as chairman and member including Yedent Agro Group of Companies, Vester Oil Ghana Limited, Miraburst Ghana, Venture Resource Associates, Nigeria. Samuel is also the founder and President of Centre for Investments, Trade and Industry (citi-africa). Citi-Africa is committed to promoting impact investment and developing trade and industrial dynamics of our operating countries. Samuel was the lead speaker on ‘Financing Extractives Value Chain in Africa’, a recent high level programme jointly organised by the offices of the Presidents of Ghana and Tanzania.
Samuel has a dedicated desk of work, through citi-africa, for improving risk management, value chain development (using 10 development dimensions covering over 276 data variables as tools for policy innovations, investment visibility, impact, ease of access, cheaper and feasible financing), microeconomic reforms, business performance indexing, ESG, wholesale and retail innovations (to promote more Ghana made products and services), all aimed at facilitating catalytic financing and high impact investments in Ghana, Nigeria and others.
Alexis Thirouin
Founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group
Alexis Thirouin holds a MSc in Corporate Finance from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers. His Master’s dissertation focused on the impact of the financial crisis on microfinance institutions.
Alexis joined Investisseurs & Partenaires in 2012 as Financial Manager, and had the opportunity to work on all I&P’s catalytic projects (funds IPAE, IPDEV I, IPDEV II). His position involves responsibilities at all stages of the fund’s life: from fundraising to audit and reporting, including accounting and cash management, but also portfolio management and relations with investors and donors. In parallel, he manages the financial, procurement and reporting aspects of six Technical Assistance subsidies. Alexis also works on developing internal and external tools related to the group’s portfolio and financial management, and provides direct support to I&P’s portfolio SMEs.
He notably authored the evaluation study “IPDEV, a pioneering initiative to promote African SMEs”, an assessment of the performance of IPDEV’s investment portfolio.
Doris Ahiati
CEO Crescendo Consult Ltd
Doris Ahiati is passionate about helping individuals, families, small businesses and Corporates to achieve happiness associated with financial and spiritual liberation.
She helps through Consulting, Financial advisory and transformational Coaching, leadership development, training facilitation and other learning experiences. She has 21 years industry experience cutting across industries such as investment banking, commercial banking, professional studies/academia and Business Accelerators. She provides ongoing support on MSME and Business Leadership Projects including the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative, ShEquity's Sheba Accelerator, the Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative, the USAID Centre for African Leadership in Agriculture, Risesmart Career Transition and the China Europe International Business School CEIBS Advanced Management Programme and Owner Director Post Graduate Programmes. She's a John C Maxwell certified Coach, Speaker and Trainer and also holds a professional coaching certification from Coach Masters Academy in Singapore and credentialed membership with the International Coaching Federation. She is a Human Behaviour Expert DISC Trainer and Consultant. She's a Fellow Chartered Banker, holds an MBA Finance; BSc. Finance, Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment UK Associate membership.Prior to co-founding Crescendo Consult Ltd, a financial advisory, executive coaching and consulting firm, Doris was the Country Director for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants-ACCA GLOBAL and Vice President at the Databank where she led financial advisory & Corporate Finance transactions, Macro-Economic & Equity Research and founded the Group's Pensions business. She was on the team of advisors to the Government of Ghana for the issuance of one of Ghana's Eurobonds raising $1billion on the international markets. She, her husband and their four sons love travel adventure.
Martin Eigbike
West Africa Programs Lead, AVPA
Martin is an experienced strategy and policy advisor and certified program/project manager. He has worked extensively across Africa, advising public institutions, bilateral and multilateral development agencies, international foundations, and private corporations on strategy and execution, public policy reform, and organizational effectiveness.
He is currently the Managing Partner at Gawani Africa, a strategy and innovation advisory start-up he founded in 2019. Prior to founding Gawani Africa, he was an Associate Partner and member of the global management team at Dalberg Advisors – an impact focused global consulting firm, where he worked on business development and project delivery across the Africa region. Before joining Dalberg, Martin worked with Accenture for nearly a decade, playing a key role in the firm’s successful expansion into the public sector in Nigeria, and helping build the firm’s internal capabilities in strategy development.
Over the last 5 years, Martin has worked extensively on global research and innovation with a specific focus on strengthening national research capacities of low- and medium-income countries (LMICs) across the world, and particularly in Africa. His work in this domain includes helping to incubate an African coalition for strengthening research and innovation; advising on an initiative to establish a continental research fund for Africa; and helping to implement a mechanism to improve coordination between large global funders of health research for greater synergy in investments in LMIC clinical research capacity strengthening.
He currently is a Consultant to the Special Programs for Tropical Diseases Research (TDR) on the UK-led G7 initiative to strengthen global infrastructure for clinical trials towards faster development of vaccines, drugs, and therapeutics during global public health emergencies. Martin has recently started work on developing a tech-enabled platform to help young thinkers and potential innovators in Africa’s higher institutions develop their critical thinking skills and strengthen their research competencies, to improve their readiness to conduct or participate in international standard research. This platform is being incubated within Gawani Africa. His other domains of interest and active involvement include public health, nutrition, tech-driven innovation in the public sector, and economic growth strategies and policy execution. Martin is actively involved in other endeavors aimed at fostering positive social and economic impact on the African continent.
He has recently become involved with the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), a Pan-African network for social investors aimed at bridging the social investment financing gap on the continent. He also founded LearnHistory Africa, an NGO with a mission to help preserve the connection between African children and Africa’s rich history, by giving children a modern and positive perspective of African history and culture through immersive experiences.
Martin has a Bachelors’ degree in Geography and Regional Planning from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and a masters’ degree in Information Technology from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He served on the Planning Committee of the annual Nigeria Economic Summit between 2011 and 2016. He has been a certified Project Manager on the PRINCE II methodology since 2006.
Brian Frimpong
Managing Partner of Zebu Investment Partners
Brian is the Managing Partner of Zebu Investment Partners (formerly DAFML), a private equity fund with offices in Ghana, Mauritius & South Africa, managers of Africa Food Security Fund. The fund has invested across 11 countries in Africa, primarily in the food-value chain. Zebu’s pan-African funds has an AUM in excess of $130m focused mainly on SMEs. Brian has two decades experience in private equity, investment banking and corporate strategy, covering countries in both developed and emerging markets. He was formerly at the Washington DC (USA) office of Emerging Capital Partners, one of the largest pan-African private equity firms with over US$ 2.5 billion under management. Brian started his investment career with the Investment Banking Division of Citigroup (formerly Salomon Smith Barney) and then joined Freddie Mac to help restructure the organization, resulting in a $3 billion reversal of revenue understatement. He also worked for JPMorgan in its Equity Capital Markets.
Brian has served on portfolio and non-profit boards, including Investment Advisory Committee of Ghana Petroleum Fund (Ghana), Avison Pty (South Africa), Venture Capital Trust Fund (Ghana), and Moablaou S.A. (Burkina Faso). He is currently a Member of the Presidential Committee on Private Public Partnerships (Ghana) and board observer on Copia (Kenya). He obtained his undergraduate degree at Howard University, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Brian was licensed in 2001 as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Mr. Mamadou Barro
Country Manager Benin| Investment Specialist West Africa | UNCDF
Mamadou Barro has joined the United Nation Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as Country Manager of Benin and Investment Specialist for Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Niger in April 2021.
Mamadou is a seasoned banker and development finance specialist with over 18 years of accumulated experience in business development, banking, project finance, corporate finance, and SMEs financing, mostly matured in the private sector and development finance institutions across Africa and Middle East. Mamadou led for 6 years the Africa office of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), which is a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group. He also spent 3 years secondment as a CEO of Tamweel Africa Holding an Islamic Banking Group based in Senegal. He has been board member for banks in Niger, Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea and an Islamic fund in Malaysia for over 6 years.
He also held various positions with Shelter-Afrique in Kenya and Bank of Africa Burkina.
Mamadou holds a Global MBA / IE Business School Spain and a MBA in Banking and Finance/ CESAG Senegal as well as Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Dakar, Senegal. Mamadou has attended several executive courses including Innovation and Entrepreneurship/ Policy Considerations Harvard Kennedy School , Silicon Valley Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program Haas Business School, University of Berkeley and Oxford Fintech Program, Oxford Said Business School. Mamadou is from Burkina Faso and speaks English and French.
Dinah Hammond
Dinah Principal Advisor, InvestPro Advisors Limited
Dinah has built her career as an Investment Professional, where she’s spent the last 12 years working with some of the most pioneering investors and small growing businesses in emerging markets, particularly in high-impact sectors like Smart Agriculture, Healthcare, Energy, Infrastructure Development and Technology. She has keen interest in gender equity and youth empowerment as cross-cutting themes for responsible development, and brings these lenses to all of her work.
Her progressive experience cuts across Private Equity, Financial Advisory, Venture Building and Entrepreneurial Support at national, regional and global levels. She’s been instrumental in raising US$ 300 million in capital and has advised on over US$ 75 million of Ghanaian debt and equity transactions focusing on strategy and execution.”
Karl Ocran
Investment Strategist at Axis Pension Trust
Karl currently serves as an Investment Strategist at Axis Pension Trust. In this capacity, he is responsible for manager selection and formulating the firm’s broad asset allocation and execution of investment strategies across multi-asset classes.
Karl was amongst the founding members responsible for setting up the CFA Society Ghana, and is currently a member of the CFA Institute, a global organization that is considered to provide the gold standard in the investment management industry. He holds a business degree from Ashesi University and one of the many things he’s deeply passionate about is using finance as tool to promote socioeconomic development.
Bankole Oloruntoba
CEO of Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre and Honorary Consul to Finland
Bankole Oloruntoba is the CEO of the Nigeria Climate Innovation Center www.nigeriacic.org , a Climate Technology Partnership program of the World Bank with the help of the Government of Nigeria focusing on the growth of a viable green economy in Nigeria. The NCIC has, since its inception, incubated over 60 green ventures and seed funded 24 ventures in total of $240,000 USD and developed knowledge on the emerging Nigeria Green Economy, the center has worked with several partners to create growth structures in Nigeria including solving scale challenges including Coca-Cola Foundation, AllOn, EDC/PAU, FC4S Lagos and GIZ etc implementing Green Economy startups and SME economic scale projects worth over $3million USD.
Bankole is currently the Honorary Consul to Finland in Lagos, Nigeria and has a first degree (BSc. Economics) from ABU Zaria, an executive certificate in Building Brands from the Lagos Business School (LBS) and an MBA from Businesschool Netherlands (BSN).
He is a social and business tactics engagement specialist with a deep background in entrepreneurship development, business development and innovation management. Bankole started the Abuja startup Ecosystem and has supported the setup of over 15 innovation hubs in Nigeria. Bankole has shown strength in the identification and building of strategic work/business partnership in Innovation ecosystem development.
As a thought leader in Digital and Climate focused Start-ups and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development in Nigeria/West Africa, Bankole sits on the board and advises several organizations, governments, dozens of Hubs and Businesses in Nigeria and West Africa. He brings a wealth of experience in Green Innovation Programmes Design, financing and Sustainability Management, Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship (IDE) Development, Startup Business Development and Ecosystem Advisory.
Bankole is an engaging Speaker, Convergence Coordinator and a fantastic listener.
Dr Samuel Frimpong Boateng
Founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group
Samuel has varied experience, training and qualifications in numerous disciplines and has travelled to over 123 countries including Vietnam and San Andres. He has previously worked in such areas as geotechnical investigations, mine project structuring, gold exploration, mining and development for companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, Goldfields Ghana, and Tournigan Canada. He has also worked for Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation developing DANIDA-funded groundwater systems using Schlumberger and Dipole-Dipole in major parts of the Western Region of Ghana.
He is the founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group (Afrideg), headquartered in London with offices in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Dr Boateng has worked as impact investment specialist for London’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) using industry value chain diagnostics and data-rich risk management programmes for easier access to EIB’s $427m finance for SMEs in the objective 2 areas (deprived communities) in the UK.
He has recently structured and delivered financial models, financial risk and corporate strategy projects for several companies in different countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Dr Boateng’s major works in this area include a World Bank funded Value Chain Development and ERP project for Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation. Samuel has also designed and delivered over 320 corporate training programmes for the past 19 years for several companies in different countries spanning over 20 industries and sectors.
Dr Boateng holds varied degrees and qualifications: BSc (hons), Geological Engineering; PgDip (Programming using JAVA and Visual Basic); MBA (finance and investment), DBA (Real Investments and Risk Management). Samuel is World Bank certified investment promotion and investment scorecard specialist and a WTO/ITC certified trade facilitation expert. He has attended several corporate training programmes covering international trade, investment promotion, risk management, financial modelling, value chain finance, investment management, etc, mostly delivered by WTO/ITC, Euromoney, and IFF. Samuel has also designed and delivered financial risk management programmes on behalf of GIMPA for several firms including VRA and Broll Ghana. Dr Boateng is a key member of the technical committee on finance for Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry’s programme on AfCFTA. He has structured several value chain financing programmes for impact investments for several firms in different countries including Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria and USA. Some of his most recent major work includes BUSAC funded business performance indexing for Ghana drawing on over 3,000 companies of various sizes covering 17 industries. The work is aimed at providing financing and policy tool for risk-friendly capital, investment impact, enterprise visibility and feasibility. As lead consultant for GNCCI, Dr Boateng is working with Ghana’s recent Development Bank (DBG) on risk management and industrial value chain development to facilitate catalytic capital for high impact industries in the country.
Dr Boateng is the chairman of the Policy and Advocacy Advisory Committee (PAAC) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI). He serves on several boards as chairman and member including Yedent Agro Group of Companies, Vester Oil Ghana Limited, Miraburst Ghana, Venture Resource Associates, Nigeria. Samuel is also the founder and President of Centre for Investments, Trade and Industry (citi-africa). Citi-Africa is committed to promoting impact investment and developing trade and industrial dynamics of our operating countries. Samuel was the lead speaker on ‘Financing Extractives Value Chain in Africa’, a recent high level programme jointly organised by the offices of the Presidents of Ghana and Tanzania.
Samuel has a dedicated desk of work, through citi-africa, for improving risk management, value chain development (using 10 development dimensions covering over 276 data variables as tools for policy innovations, investment visibility, impact, ease of access, cheaper and feasible financing), microeconomic reforms, business performance indexing, ESG, wholesale and retail innovations (to promote more Ghana made products and services), all aimed at facilitating catalytic financing and high impact investments in Ghana, Nigeria and others.
Dr Samuel Frimpong Boateng
Founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group
Samuel has varied experience, training and qualifications in numerous disciplines and has travelled to over 123 countries including Vietnam and San Andres. He has previously worked in such areas as geotechnical investigations, mine project structuring, gold exploration, mining and development for companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, Goldfields Ghana, and Tournigan Canada. He has also worked for Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation developing DANIDA-funded groundwater systems using Schlumberger and Dipole-Dipole in major parts of the Western Region of Ghana.
He is the founder and CEO of African Investments and Development Group (Afrideg), headquartered in London with offices in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Dr Boateng has worked as impact investment specialist for London’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) using industry value chain diagnostics and data-rich risk management programmes for easier access to EIB’s $427m finance for SMEs in the objective 2 areas (deprived communities) in the UK.
He has recently structured and delivered financial models, financial risk and corporate strategy projects for several companies in different countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Dr Boateng’s major works in this area include a World Bank funded Value Chain Development and ERP project for Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation. Samuel has also designed and delivered over 320 corporate training programmes for the past 19 years for several companies in different countries spanning over 20 industries and sectors.
Dr Boateng holds varied degrees and qualifications: BSc (hons), Geological Engineering; PgDip (Programming using JAVA and Visual Basic); MBA (finance and investment), DBA (Real Investments and Risk Management). Samuel is World Bank certified investment promotion and investment scorecard specialist and a WTO/ITC certified trade facilitation expert. He has attended several corporate training programmes covering international trade, investment promotion, risk management, financial modelling, value chain finance, investment management, etc, mostly delivered by WTO/ITC, Euromoney, and IFF. Samuel has also designed and delivered financial risk management programmes on behalf of GIMPA for several firms including VRA and Broll Ghana. Dr Boateng is a key member of the technical committee on finance for Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry’s programme on AfCFTA. He has structured several value chain financing programmes for impact investments for several firms in different countries including Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria and USA. Some of his most recent major work includes BUSAC funded business performance indexing for Ghana drawing on over 3,000 companies of various sizes covering 17 industries. The work is aimed at providing financing and policy tool for risk-friendly capital, investment impact, enterprise visibility and feasibility. As lead consultant for GNCCI, Dr Boateng is working with Ghana’s recent Development Bank (DBG) on risk management and industrial value chain development to facilitate catalytic capital for high impact industries in the country.
Dr Boateng is the chairman of the Policy and Advocacy Advisory Committee (PAAC) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI). He serves on several boards as chairman and member including Yedent Agro Group of Companies, Vester Oil Ghana Limited, Miraburst Ghana, Venture Resource Associates, Nigeria. Samuel is also the founder and President of Centre for Investments, Trade and Industry (citi-africa). Citi-Africa is committed to promoting impact investment and developing trade and industrial dynamics of our operating countries. Samuel was the lead speaker on ‘Financing Extractives Value Chain in Africa’, a recent high level programme jointly organised by the offices of the Presidents of Ghana and Tanzania.
Samuel has a dedicated desk of work, through citi-africa, for improving risk management, value chain development (using 10 development dimensions covering over 276 data variables as tools for policy innovations, investment visibility, impact, ease of access, cheaper and feasible financing), microeconomic reforms, business performance indexing, ESG, wholesale and retail innovations (to promote more Ghana made products and services), all aimed at facilitating catalytic financing and high impact investments in Ghana, Nigeria and others.
Constance Elizabeth Swaniker
CEO of Accents & Arts
Miss Constance Elizabeth Swaniker is a master craftsperson, entrepreneur, and educationist. Her key passions are skills development and job creation for the youth imparticularly females. She coined and conceptualized the practice of “Precision Quality”, a curriculum aimed at enhancing technical education and training to meet industry requirements. It combines practice and theory needed to improve the teaching of TVET.
She had her pre-university education in The Gambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Ghana where she obtained an undergraduate degree in Fine Art from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in 1999. She is a Stanford Seed Fellow. She chairs the Sector Skills Body of Ghana’s Commission for TVET on which she is a Board Member. Constance Swaniker set up her construction firm, Accents & Art (AnA) in 2000. She has trained numerous university students and craftsmen and women in the informal sector. She established the Design & Technology Institute (DTI) in 2016 to bridge the academia-industry divide. DTI, an accredited private TVET institution, runs three courses in Metal Fabrication, Design Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and has won recognition and funding from the Mastercard Foundation and SIFA/AUDA.
Constance has exhibited her works in Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) and Europe (Paris) and won numerous local and international awards. She is a dedicated mother of 2 who aspires to leave a positive mark on society and inspire the youth to live their dreams no matter the challenges. Her work can be found in a wide range of upscale homes, offices, and diplomatic missions both home and abroad.
Dr Christian Jahn
Head of Programme Support to the Private and Financial Sector (PFS) - GIZ
Christian joined GIZ in Ghana as Head of the Support to the Private and Financial Sector (PFS) Programme in January 2023. Prior joining GIZ Ghana, Christian was the Executive Director of the Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) and was responsible for the management of the global programme from 2015 until 2022. Before that he was based for five years in Addis Ababa as Deputy Country Director of GIZ overseeing a broad portfolio including the private-public-partnership programmes.
Christian has more than 25 years of experience in international development cooperation with a thematic focus on collaboration with the private sector, health systems, population dynamics and social franchise systems. He has worked mainly in the Africa and Asia region as long-term and short-term expert and provided advisory services to the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also worked for five years in the private sector and was an entrepreneur and founder of a company in the food sector. Christian holds a master’s degree and PhD in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin.
Daouda Alain Bamba
Sustainability/Climate manager at PwC
Alain is a Sustainability/Climate manager at PwC with more than 13 years of experience.
Alain is responsible for business development activities for French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
He has strong expertise in ESG/Climate risk analysis, ESG/Climate strategy and transformation consulting, project structuring and ESG/Climate reporting in private and public companies.
Alain was for several years ESG/CSR manager of a banking group within which he was in charge of developing the ESG management system and bringing all of the institution's transactions into compliance with the standards of financial partners: IFC, AFD, ADB, CRRH-UEMOA etc.
Borris Sonny
Head of the Quality Management System Department and Environmental and Social Specialist at Coris Bank International
Borris Sonny
Head of the Quality Management System Department and Environmental and Social Specialist at Coris Bank International
Boris Sonny, Head of the Quality Management System Department and Environmental and Social Specialist at Coris Bank International (CBI) is engineer in agro-industries, with a degree in quality management, health, safety and the environment as well as in finance, accounting and auditing. He joined Coris Bank International after 8 years spent in industries.
For the past ten years, he has been responsible for sustainability and quality management issues at Coris Bank International (CBI).
His role has been to integrate sustainability into the heart of Coris Bank International's activities. As such, he leads the Bank's corporate social responsibility strategy and is head of the accreditation project with the Green Climate Fund.
Raymond Denteh
Agribusiness and Financial Services of the Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity at ACDI/VOCA
Raymond Denteh
Agribusiness and Financial Services of the Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity at ACDI/VOCA
Raymond Denteh is an Agribusiness Business Specialist, Impact Investment expert, Business Development Services (BDS) specialist, Value Chains/Inclusive Business (IB) expert and a Banker with experience in small to middle market investing and business development. He has rich knowledge in value chain analysis and development, fund management, markets facilitation for poverty reduction as well as wealth creation and capacity building. He is also an inclusive market systems practitioner.
Raymond has 20 years of varied experience working across various industries, including the private sector (shipping, accounting, banking, impact investment) and international development (cocoa, oil palm, poultry, maize, soya, etc). His key expertise includes provision of corporate and market development advisory services, impact investment, value chain facilitation, project management, fund management amongst others.
He has also consulted for government and non-governmental organizations on financing and access to finance in the agricultural sector. As an Agribusiness development expert, Raymond has supported several value chains including poultry, cocoa, oil palm, cashew, grains and cereals, etc. and is currently the Team Lead, Agribusiness and Financial Services for USAID Feed the Future Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity, being implemented by ACDI VOCA in Ghana.
Mr. Kwasi Duah
Director, Knowledge Management & Technical Assistance – GIRSAL Ltd.
Mr. Duah plays a pivotal role in managing the delivery of GIRSAL’s Technical Assistance Facility, which focuses on enhancing financial institutions' agricultural lending capacity and providing expert support.
In addition to this responsibility, Mr. Duah provides oversight for the operations of MIS, M&E, research, and communications at GIRSAL.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Duah gained valuable experience working with Touton, a renowned international agricultural commodity sourcing company. Throughout his career, he has actively contributed his expertise to various development-related initiatives across West Africa, collaborating with prestigious organizations such as Palladium International, Mott McDonald, Christian Aid, Coffey International, and USAID.
He has an MBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Ghana Business School
Benjamin Gyan-Kesse
Executive Director, Kosmos Innovation Center
Benjamin Gyan-Kesse is Executive Director of Kosmos Innovation Center, Ghana, a Not-for Profit Organisation, where he is driving the strategic execution of sustainable value chain transformation through innovation and tech for young people and entrepreneurs within the agricultural sector. As an AgriTech Thought Leader and Professional with 23 years of experience in farmer capacity building and agribusiness value chain programmes, he has nurtured over 600+ agri entrepreneurs, incubated 16 startups and has supported over 58,000 cocoa farmers across all the cocoa growing regions in Ghana, focusing on productivity, value addition, market access and other livelihood improvement programmes through ICTAg.
Ben worked previously with Technoserve Ghana as Business Advisor. He also worked with Wienco-Cocoa Abrabopa Association as Training and Development Manager, as well as with Esoko as Business Development Manager, DAI.
A modern farmer, into fruit cultivation and processing, he is also into foodtech with a special focus on postharvest loss management, project management, agri-marketing and sales.
Ibrahim Koara
AGRA
Ibrahim Koara is an agricultural economics engineer specialized in sustainable social and economic development. Independent consultant, he is the inclusive finance focal person for AGRA in Burkina Faso, working with AGRA’s inclusive finance unit on various schemes seeking to unlock financing for MSME, women and youth. He is also technical advisor for Pan African. Microfinance Burkina Faso on a project that promotes financial and non-financial services to catalyze young women entrepreneurship in rural areas of Burkina Faso.
With his passion for rural development and social advancement he has worked during several years in promoting social entrepreneurship in Burkina targeting smallholder farmers at the bottom of the pyramid. He is registered to be certified as the SDG Impact Standards accredited trainer of trainers. How to make the value chains and market systems work better and sustainably for the small producers including women and youth has been a driving force for him. More than a job—it’s a life goal!
Naana Winful Fynn
Regional Director for West Africa for Norfund
She is a member of Norfund’s 6-person global Credit Committee.
She is a management professional with about 20 years of diversified experience in the financial services, real estate and consumer products industries. She has experience in investing, strategy development, financial and strategic advisory, project management and brand management.
Prior to Norfund, she was a Director of Sagevest Holdings, an investment holding company investing in private companies in West Africa on behalf of its investors. She has previously worked as Vice President at Travant Real Estate in Lagos, Nigeria, where she led and managed investments in real estate and related operating companies and managed real estate developments.
Other previously-held positions include brand marketing and strategy roles at CVS Corporation and the Timberland Company in the US, where her achievements included developing and executing integrated marketing plans for the $1 billion+ CVS Brand of products. Naana also previously worked as a financial analyst in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs & Co, advising companies on mergers, acquisitions and sales as well as public equity and debt offerings, and as an Associate at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, both in New York.
She holds a Bachelor's degree with Honors in Economics from Vassar College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she was the winner of the Goldman Sachs MBA Fellowship.
She is a non-executive Board Director for Continental Blue Investments (CBI Ghana), a former member of the Investment Advisory Committee for the Ghana Petroleum Funds and a mentor for young professionals in the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) program.
Olivier Furdelle
Co-founder and the Managing Director of TERANGA CAPITAL
Olivier Furdelle is a co-founder and the Managing Director of TERANGA CAPITAL, the first impact investment fund dedicated to early-stage SMEs and start-ups in Senegal and the Gambia.
He was previously an independent consultant specializing in private equity and SME financing in Africa; since 2009 he conducted multiple investment transactions with SMEs in various sub-Saharan African countries and led assignments across the whole lifecycle (from pre-investment screening to due diligence, monitoring and exit). Previously, he was Vice-President Business Development & Planning at Proximus, the leading telecommunications and ICT company in Belgium, where he led several venture capital and M&A transactions in start-ups. Before that he co-founded a start-up in e-learning and was also a Consultant at Accenture and KPMG.
He holds a Master’s degree in Management Science from the Solvay Business School (Belgium) and gained executive education at INSEAD (France).
Elizabeth Biney-Amissah
Venture Partner at E3 Capital
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Biney-Amissah is a Venture Partner at E3 Capital (formerly Energy Access Ventures), a 75m EUR venture capital fund focused on investing in low-carbon, smart energy-enabled solutions, with over 15 years of experience. Passionate about operating at the nexus of business and government to drive real and sustainable transformation in climate and energy in emerging markets, she was most recently a Business Development Director at Globeleq, an Africa-focused power generation company owned by CDC Group plc and Norfund, where she transformed their West Africa strategy. Prior to that, she was a Project Developer and the Founding Regional Head of West Africa Operations for EleQtra/InfraCo Africa Fund. Prior to working at EleQtra, she started her career in public securities research at GL Group and TMT-focused hedge fund Coatue Management in New York.
She holds an AB degree in Molecular Biologyfrom Princeton University, and an MPA degree from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, where she was an Edward S. Mason Fellow. She is also an Archbishop Tutu Fellow with the African Leadership Institute (AFLI).
Prof. Ernest Ofori Asamoah
Program Officer, University of Toronto,
Prof. Ernest Ofori Asamoah is Program Officer, University of Toronto, Canada at the Office of the Vice President International. Ernest served as president of Regent University College of Science and Technology. Ernest has over two decades work experience in development finance, academia and consulting. He previously worked with KPMG as Manager He has provided consulting services for several mining, oil and gas, financial services as well as educational institutions in Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Canada, Austria, Netherlands and Germany.
He chairs Ghana Industry Research Collaborative Steering Committee; a Project being implemented by Impact Investing Ghana .
Osayi Alile
C.E.O Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation
Osayi Alile is a quintessential leader with over 20 years in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and the third sector with a wide array of experience covering International Development, Business and Philanthropic Management, Fundraising and Sustainability. Her degrees in Sociology and Public Administration from Rutgers University, New Jersey prepared her to be a catalyst for change as she has revolutionised the non profit sector in Nigeria and beyond. She possesses Executive Certifications from LBS (Nigeria), IMD, Cranfield, Harvard University and YALE. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria, CIBN (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria) Mentoring Advisory Committee, Lagos Business School Nigeria Non-profit Senior Management Fellow, ANDE Executive Committee, Council Member, LCCI (Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Member TheBoardroom Africa, Executive Member of the Access Women Network, Trustee, Alaghodaro (Edo State) Economic Summit and Board Member Saro Oil Palm Limited.
Osayi Alile is currently the Chief Executive Officer at ACT Foundation, a grant making non-profit organisation that provides funding to social sector organisations focused in the areas of Health, Entrepreneurship, Environment and Leadership. Through her hard work, dedication and resilience, ACT Foundation has been adjudged the “Not-For-Profit of the Year” at the 2018, 2019 & 2020 SERAS CSR Awards. She is also co-author of ACT Foundation’s Non-Profit Guidebook Series which was designed to cover general knowledge for establishing a viable non profit organisation. She is also the Co- Administrator at the Coalition Against Covid-19(CACOVID) which is a Private Sector task force in partnership with the Federal Government,the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) with the sole aim of combating Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria. As a visionary leader, Ms. Alile has served in various leadership capacities including being the Executive Director, FATE Foundation; Vice President, Junior Achievementof Nigeria; and CSR Consultant, Access Bank Plc.
Osayi Alile has served the nation and the world at large in various capacities including Council Member on Youth Unemployment for the World Economic Forum Global Agenda; Committee Member, Ministry of Communication Technology for IT Business Incubation Technology; and was recognised as a YoungGlobal Leader by the World Economic Forum.
In recognition to her many contributions to the economic and social development of Nigeria, Osayi has won several awards. To mention a few; Top 50Women in Management Africa, Her Network Woman of the Year, Business Day Inspiring Women Series Award, PSAG Forty Leading Women on the SDGs, Top 100 Women Impacting Africa, 100 Most Influential Civil Society Leaders in Nigeria, by the Nigerian Network of NGOs (NNNGO) in the collaboration with Google Nigeria. She was also recognized by H.E. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu,Governor of Lagos State as one of the Eko 100 Women in 2020 & 2022.
Osayi Alile is the founding curator of the Global Shapers Forum Nigeria and servesas a consultant on sustainability, non-profit management and strategy. She is acolumnist and writes on entrepreneurship and business development in Nigeria’s leading dailies, The Guardian and Business Day. Past Chairperson, Women in Management, Business and Public Policy (WIMBIZ),Osayi AlilesitsonseveralboardsincludingHouse of Tara, ZapphaireEvents, FutureProjects, Africa Leadership Network Forum, IDEA Hub and Global Dignity, an affiliation of the World Economic Forum in Norway. Osayi is passionate about creating positive social impact in our world, women,youth empowerment and equity.
Rekia Foudel
Founder & Managing Partner at Barka Fund
Rekia is the Founder & Managing Partner at Barka Fund, an impact investment vehicle, backing founders in francophone Africa that are building companies to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Barka offers the most bottom-up approach to early-stage investing in the region, filling an important funding gap known as the missing middle. Barka supports and invests in startups in important sectors where entrepreneurs have a significant opportunity for climate action, such as agriculture and food systems, renewable energy and environment & natural resources sectors. Prior to founding Barka, Rekia spent 15 years in the financial services sector in the US, Europe & Africa. As Head of Project Development at MCA-Niger, a unit of the Executive Office of the President, Rekia helped raise $437 million in development aid from the US Millennium Challenge Corporation for two growth-focused and climate-resilient projects.
Rekia graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA in Finance and from Stony Brook University with a BA in political Science. She is bilingual in English and French.
Program Schedule
- Tuesday, 16th May 2023
- Wednesday, 17th May 2023
Ghana Impact Summit
- 8:00 - 9:00am
- Location
Registration & Welcome
Registered delegates can check-in and pick up their badge at the registration desk.
- 9:00 - 9:30am
- Omanye 1
- Main Stage
Welcome Speeches
Reginald Yofi Grant
CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre
Charles Abani
UN Resident Coordinator, UN in Ghana
- 9:30 - 10:15am
- Omanye 1
- Main Stage
Opening Plenary | Collaborating to build a strong ecosystem that attracts catalytic capital for SMEs.
Hamdiya Ismaila
General Manager of Venture Capital Trust Fund
Nelson Amo
CEO of Innohub Growth Center
- 10:15 - 11:15am
- Omanye 2
- Breakout Session
Anglophone Breakout Session | Accelerating progress: opportunities for catalytic capital providers to catalyze SME financing in Ghana.
Moderators:
Ebenezer Arthur, CEO of Wangara Green Ventures
- 10:15 - 11:15am
- Omanye 3
- Onsite Activity
Impact Fund Showcase
Ghana is an excellent destination for investors looking for both a financial and social or environmental return. This facilitated roundtable will draw in local Impact Funds to engage with Ghanaian-based catalytic capital investors and other potential investors in their funds. It will create a forum for funds that are fundraising to connect with investors and start conversations that eventually lead to investments. The ultimate goal is to build Ghana’s ecosystem by connecting impact funds to the right investors.
- 10:15 - 11:15am
- Omanye 1
- Onsite Activity
Deal Room
The Deal Room is intended to provide opportunities to showcase and connect impact funds with entrepreneurs looking for investment opportunities and enterprise support organizations, and other market builders seeking to connect with local and international catalytic capital providers. The ultimate goal of the day is to start conversations that eventually lead to investments. Pre-selected entrepreneurs will be matched for one-on-one conversations with investors.
- 11:15 - 11:35am
Cocoa Break
- 11:35 - 11:50pm
- Omanye 1
Microtalk | Lessons from Ghana Unlocking Catalytic Capital for SME Financing.
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investinting
- 11:50am - 12:00pm
- Omanye 1
Launch of Catalytic Capital Africa
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investinting
- 12:00 - 12:30pm
- Omanye 1
Closing Plenary | Catalytic Capital as a driver of SDG attainment
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investinting
- 12:30 - 13:30pm
Lunch Break
West Africa Deal Summit
- 13:30 - 13:45pm
- Location
Opening Session | Welcome Speeches
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investinting
- 13:45 - 14:15pm
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investinting
Launch of Deal Source Africa
- 14:15 - 15:00pm
- Omanye 1
- Main Stage
Opening Plenary | Unlocking catalytic capital financing for SMEs in West Africa: challenges and opportunities.
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investinting
- Breakout Session
- 15:00 - 16:00pm
- Omanye 1
Anglophone Breakout Session | Financing Strategies for sustainable and secure agricultural value chains.
Amma Lartey
CEO of Impact Investinting
- Breakout Session
- 15:00 - 16:00pm
- Omanye 1