Founder
Rele Gallery and Arts Foundation

Adenrele Sonariwo is the Founder of Rele Gallery, Lagos and Los Angeles; and the Rele Arts Foundation. As a pioneer in the contemporary African art scene, she has conceived and executed numerous prominent exhibitions in art hubs all over the world, most notably steering the inaugural Nigerian pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. The gallery under her leadership exhibits contemporary artists from Africa while the foundation empowers artists via grants, mentorship, and residency opportunities. She sits on the Advisory Council of SOUTH SOUTH art and the Expert Council of African Women on Board and often advises state governments, private and public institutions. Accolades include The Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts, Apollo’s 40 under 40 list, and New African’s 100 most influential Africans of 2022 list.

Academic and professional credentials:

MA in Multi-Media Communications, Academy of Art University, San Francisco
Certificate in Curating Contemporary Art, University of the Arts, London
BA Honors in Business Administration, Howard University, Washington DC

Founder & CEO
ReelFruit

Affiong Williams' ReelFruit has more than 182 full time employees, with 60% of management, and 55% of employee base female. She is the CEO and Founder of ReelFruit, Nigeria’s largest fruit processing, packaging and marketing company. The company, which was founded in 2012, retails a range of dried fruit and nut snacks through a variety of channels, including more than a thousand supermarkets in 20+ states in Nigeria. Previously, she worked for Endeavor Global, a global non-profit that catalyzes economic development by supporting small to medium enterprises in developing markets. She co-founded the Small Business Network of Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic, leading strategy and partnerships, including obtaining support from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Academic and professional credentials: 

Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies graduate program
University of the Witwatersrand - Post Graduate Diploma in Management
BSc in Physiology and Psychology

Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer
Brimore

Ahmed Sheikha is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Brimore, the largest African social commerce and distribution platform. Ahmed leads Brimore's strategy, fundraising, and digital product roadmap, enabling emerging brand owners to access a network of over 60,000 individual sellers who market and sell their products using social media. Ahmed has helped Brimore grow more than 350 times in three years, transforming the traditional supply chain in Egypt to be more consumercentric and emerging-brand-friendly. Ahmed is passionate about empowering women, especially in rural areas, to start and scale their own commerce businesses without leaving their homes. He was selected as a Global Shaper in the Alexandria Hub by WEF from 2017-2022; and has led a partnership with UNDP for an economic empowerment project. He was cofounder of the Step Up Youth Initiative in Alexandria from 2010-2012 and President for the last two years.

Academic and professional credentials:

Stanford University - Graduate School of Business, Endeavor Innovation and Growth Course
MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Partner
Novastar Ventures

Brian Odhiambo is a Partner at Novastar Ventures, one of the biggest and most experienced global VC fund managers in Africa. He built and leads Novastar’s West Africa practice.The firm has a decade’s track record of investing on the continent, over $200m of AUM and 24 portfolio companies. With offices in Lagos, London, and Nairobi, Novastar partners with transformative businesses that create lasting financial, social and environmental value and good for the many, not just the few and for people and planet.  Brian is a serial entrepreneur having built several ventures across Africa including being in the founding team that built Jumia, the largest e-commerce platform in Africa. He also cofounded Afrisolar, a last-mile solar distribution company in Zambia.

Academic and professional credentials:

BA - Yale University
BA(Hons) Political Science and African Studies – Yale University

Minister of Information and Civic Education
Government of Sierra Leone

Chernor A Bah serves as the Minister of Information and Civic Education for Sierra Leone, overseeing civic engagement initiatives and acting as the chief government spokesperson.  An unwavering women's rights and global activist, Chernor has notably co-founded and led Purposeful, a prominent Africa-rooted global feminism hub that champions the rights of girls and young people, impacting over 150 countries. Before his ministerial appointment, he worked to transform the global development landscape, advocating for its decolonisation and fostering a more inclusive space for girls’ rights, global education and youth empowerment. Appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General on several occasions, his expertise has informed high-level panels on global education, girls’ rights, and youth peace and security.

Academic and professional credentials:

MA in International Peace Studies - University of Notre Dame
BSc in Political Science - Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone

South Africa & West East Central Africa Market Lead
PepsiCo Foundation

Devendri Adari is the South Africa and West East Central Africa (WECA) Market Lead for the PepsiCo Foundation. She leads PepsiCo Foundation programs across South Africa and West East Central Africa, with 13,000 employees, 45 production facilities, and 70 distribution and warehouse facilities. It procures more than 1.5 million tonnes of local maize, raisins, wheat, oats and potatoes annually, with a footprint in 12 countries in this region. In her role she oversees grant strategy, management, partner relations and execution of all PepsiCo Foundation programs in this region.  She previously occupied the role of Group Sustainability Manager, taking care of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBB-EE) National Schools Breakfast Programme, as well as the environmental sustainability portfolio.

Academic and professional credentials:

BSc Honours in Environmental and geographical sciences
University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership graduate
University of Stellenbosch Business School post graduate certificate
University of California, Berkeley Environmental Leadership programme

Managing Partner
Jengo, Sam & Partners Law Firm

Emmanuel AM Sam is a lawyer and the Managing Partner of Jengo, Sam, and Partners Law Firm. Emmanuel was born during the tumultuous years leading up to Sierra Leone's civil war and in the midst of that, rallied other children to form the Children's Forum Network, which later became the first Children's Parliament in Sierra Leone. He has traveled extensively throughout Africa to advocate for women's and children's rights and youth empowerment.  In 2017, he founded the Multimedia Group of Companies, focusing on Sierra Leone's youth empowerment, and in 2022, he established the Macpherson Foundation, the first autism foundation in Sierra Leone dedicated to helping children with mental and intellectual disabilities.  In 2021, he won the African Peace Award in Nigeria. Emmanuel's law firm primarily focuses on human rights and public interest litigation, and he has argued cases at both the ECOWAS Court and the African Court of Human Rights.

Academic and professional credentials:

BA - Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone
Bachelor of Laws (LLB) - Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone
Utter Barrister - Council of Legal Education, Sierra Leone
Master of Laws (LLM) in Human Rights Law - Northeastern University of Law, USA
MS in Applied Behavior Analysis - Simmons University, USA

Head of Development
Good Work Foundation

Gemma Thomson is the Head of Development at the Good Work Foundation (GWF). GWF is a non-profit education organisation that has pioneered a unique ecosystem of learning and working on the edge of rural Bushbuckridge, one of South Africa’s largest informal economies. The GWF ecosystem delivers experiential learning programmes to children and adults in six locally-managed digital learning campuses. Gemma was originally headhunted for a position at Ogilvy in Cape Town before going on to Ogilvy in London to join the global Unilever brand team. After a few years, she returned to South Africa to manage Ogilvy's Unilever brands. With 12 years of experience under her belt, she decided to switch gears to work in the philanthropic non-profit space, joining GWF as their Senior Communications Manager before going on to manage their fundraising and communications as Head of Development.

Academic and professional credentials:

BA in Industrial Psychology at Stellenbosch University
Post-Graduate Diploma in Advertising & Marketing Communications

Ministerial Adviser
Ministry of Commerce, Industry and promotion of SMEs

Hafou Toure is a finance professional with who has advised and provided financing to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) working with the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank and within the Ivorian government. Prior to moving back to Côte d’Ivoire, she previously was responsible for multi-billion dollar transactions in New York while at Deloitte. She founded HTS Partners, a financial advisory firm based in Abidjan, working on access to financing for SMEs with a focus on women owned enterprises. Hafou was also the Deputy Director of Cabinet for the Minister in charge of promoting SME of Côte d’Ivoire, before becoming his technical advisor. She is on the board of several institutions such as MTN Foundation, Claron Health, the Africa Fintech Forum, Leaders de Demain etc.

Academic and professional credentials:

BA in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and Business Management - Stony Brook University, USA
BSc Honors in Finance - Stony Brook University, USA
Business Administration in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management - The Wharton School, USA
MBA - The Harvard Kennedy School, USA

Chief Executive Officer
Guaro Farms

Kidist Amedie is the Chief Executive Officer of Guaro Farms, an award-winning initiative for food processing. Guaro Farms processes food directly at the farm gate using micro-factories in shipping containers that it calls 'first mile' processing. By processing spices immediately, it helps smallholder farmers - many of whom are women - comply with international requirements and eliminate contamination and food fraud adulteration. She also started and managed a sustainable, integrated urban farm pilot that operates with zero waste, actively sequesters carbon, and consistently yields bountiful produce with minimal resource input. Kidist is an architect and product designer addressing rural poverty and advancing sustainable development. She volunteers her architectural expertise and organizational skills to support their mission of enhancing the lives of children with disabilities and their communities in Ethiopia.

Academic and professional credentials:

Ethiopian Institute of Architecture and Building Construction (EIABC) degree

Head of Delivery
AfCFTA Secretariat

Klenam is a communication and international development specialist, serving as Head of Delivery at the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. AfCFTA is a Flagship project of Agenda2063. As the world's largest trading bloc, it aims to accelerate intra-African trade and boost Africa's trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa in global trade negotiations by bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union and eight Regional Economic Communities. At AfCFTA, she crafts speeches for the Secretary-General and has provided policy framework and gap analysis within the AfCFTA Agreement. Previously, she served as the Communication Adviser to the former Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission. She also helped to develop the "Read Ghana" social franchise scheme that touched the lives of more than 20,000 children.

Academic and professional credentials:

MA from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK
BA Information Studies from the University of Ghana

Attorney at Law
Al Tamimi & Company

Laureen Ampurire Fredah is an attorney practicing in United Arab Emirates at Al Tamimi & Company, the largest and leading law firm in Middle East and North Africa. She is qualified to practice law in New York and on the path to qualification in England and Wales and Uganda. She has worked in multiple departments in the firm assisting clients in dispute resolution, transport and insurance matters, and corporate commercial transactions. At her firm, Laureen is a pivotal member of the company's Africa Working Group (AWG), a multijurisdictional team dedicated to enhancing its work and growing the business' footprint in Africa. Laureen has worked with under-privileged persons both in Uganda and UAE by providing coaching guidance on self-representation in court, as well as legal advice and is an advocate for the education of girls, specifically those facing forced displacement in Africa.

Academic and professional credentials:

Bachelor of Laws (LLB) - Middlesex University, London
Legal Practice Certificate - University of Law, London
New York Bar Certification - New York
Master of Business Administration - Coventry University, London

Chief People Officer
Deloitte Africa

Lungile is an executive at Deloitte with 18 years of consulting experience. Before being appointed as Chief People Officer, Lungile was Chief of Staff to the previous Deloitte Chief Executive and led the Deloitte Africa Strategy Unit, which she established. In that role, she oversaw the Africa Investment Fund (AIF), a $100m investment in capability, skills and infrastructure. She was responsible for defining a strategic framework to align priorities across the Africa Member Firm and oversaw the AIF collaboration with the Francophone and Lusophone Deloitte Member Firms.  Her consulting experience covers strategy design, business model design, organisation design and implementation, project management, and strategic change management in sectors that include financial services, healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications and the public sector. Lungile is a member of the board of Enke, a non-profit leadership development organisation that generates and incubates youth-led social impact projects.

Academic and professional credentials:

Bachelor of Science (Computer Science, Information Systems) - Rhodes University
Post Graduate Diploma in Management - Wits Business School
Executive Master of Business Administration - IE Business School
Master of Science, Business Analytics - NYU Stern School of Business

Group Company Secretary and Head of Tax
Equity Group Holding PLC

Lydia is the Group Company Secretary and Head of Tax for Equity Group Holding PLC (EGH), a financial services conglomerate headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with a presence in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia. As the Group Head of Tax, Lydia provides tax solutions geared towards the identification and proactive management and mitigation of tax risks. As the Group Company Secretary, she oversees governance, regulatory and legal compliance in all 13 subsidiaries within the Group and advises on corporate governance, mergers and acquisition, capital markets and regulatory compliance. She is a member and an accredited trainer for tax and regulatory matters for the Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), the Institute of Certified Secretaries of Kenya (ICS), and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). She serves as the Vice Chair of the Kenya Bankers Association Tax Committee.  Lydia is a passionate advocate for women's empowerment and education, and she serves as a board member at the Murua Girl Child Education Program.

Academic and professional credentials:

Master of Laws (LLM) – Public Finance with Tax specialization, University of Nairobi
Postgraduate Diploma (Law), Kenya School of Law
Bachelor of Laws (LLB) – University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
Governance and leadership – Harvard University 2021 and 2022
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Certified Secretary (CS)
Certified Securities Investment Analyst (CSIA

Principal Water & Infrastructure Finance
African Development Bank Group

Michel N’guessan is a Principal in the African Development Bank's Water Department. He has had an inspiring career progression within the bank's ranks, going from a Water and Sanitation Specialist to his present position. Prior to that, he was a Program Director for Habitat for Humanity International in the EMEA region. He also worked for the German international trade and development agency, GIZ. He helps implement a key bank priority of improving the quality of life for the people of Africa in multiple countries, related to investment in the water sector to enable change. Growing up in low-income areas of Abidjan, Michel has first-hand experience of the impact of degraded electricity and water services, transport and health infrastructure on local communities.

Academic and professional credentials:

Post Graduate Certificate in Development strategy and Governance from Bradford University School of Social Studies 2020
Executive Programme Infrastructure in Market Economy Public Private Partnerships from Harvard University Kennedy School, USA, 2016
Msc in Finance from Kedge Business School, France 2014
MSc in Water and Environment Engineering from the International Institute for Water and Environment (2iE), Burkina Faso 2011
BSc from the International Institute for Water and Environment (2iE), Burkina Faso 2009
BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science from University Felix Houphouet Boigny (Cocody) 2008;
Steering Complex program certificate from Cambridge University

Artist
The Artist's Algorithm

Modupeola Fadugba is a multimedia artist working in painting, drawing, and socially-engaged installations. Her works explore cultural identity, social justice and game theory within the African landscape. She founded The Artist's Algorithm - a game installation that fosters debate about how to improve Nigeria's education system. It was awarded El Anatsui's Outstanding Production Prize and a 2016 Dakar Biennale Grand Prize from Senegal's Minister of Communication. She says that it asks: how can individual artists organize their ideas to impact communities and even nations at scale? Her most recent exhibition, Dream from the Deep End, depicts swimmers against the bleak backdrop of America's racialized - and often tragic - swimming history. In 2016, she started a mentorship program called Dear Young Artist, mentoring emerging artists with a focus on the importance of long-term strategy, as well as finance and relationship management, two things that artists often shy away from.

Academic and professional credentials:

University of Delaware (2003-8), Chemical Engineering, Bachelor of Engineering
University of Delaware (2008-10), Economics, Master of Arts
Harvard Graduate School of Education (2012-3), Master of Education

Executive Director
Value Capital Partners

Monde is an Executive Director of Value Capital Partners (VCP), a leading activist investment firm in South Africa. He is also a non-executive director of several private and public companies, including Lesaka, which is a financial technology business listed on the Nasdaq; and ADvTECH, a private education business listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Prior to joining VCP in 2017, Monde was a Senior Associate on the investment team of San Francisco-based FFL Partners, and a management consultant at Bain & Company. Monde also serves on the advisory board of the Centre for Development and Enterprise, a policy research and advocacy organization focused on economic growth, employment and democracy in South Africa. 

Academic and professional credentials:

Bachelor of Business Science with Honours in Finance from the University of Cape Town
Master of Arts in Education from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education
MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business

Co-Founder and CEO
Copper Rose Zambia

Natasha Salifyanji Kaoma is the Co-Founder and CEO of Copper Rose Zambia (CRZ). She is an award-winning global reproductive health champion, medical doctor and epidemiologist. She co-founded CRZ at 23, while at university. The organisation seeks to build a conducive environment for young people to thrive, and is the largest youth-led NGO in Zambia. Through CRZ, she has created a movement of young advocates with a youth-serving platform of close to 50 full-time staff and 150+ volunteers working in 83 districts and over 400 communities nationwide. It has reached over 300,000 beneficiaries and impacted four million Zambians. Before joining Copper Rose full-time, Natasha worked with the Ministry of Health at the University Teaching Hospitals as a Senior Resident Medical Doctor.

Academic and professional credentials:

MSc. in Biotechnology of Assisted Reproduction and Embryology - University of Valencia, Spain
MSc Epidemiology - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery(MBChB) - University of Zambia
BSc. Human Biology - University of Zambia

Member of Parliament
Parliament of the Republic of South Africa

Nompendulo Thobile Mkhatshwa is a South African politician serving as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the African National Congress (ANC) and as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation in Parliament. In 2019, she was elected to the National Assembly for the ANC national list, becoming one of the youngest ANC MPs elected. Nompendulo became involved in student politics while at the University of the Witwatersrand and was one of the leaders of the #FeesMustFall movement at Wits, which became a national movement and a national shutdown of South African universities. This led to the government providing fee-free tertiary education to students from households earning below R350 000.

Academic and professional credentials:

Bachelor of Science in Geography - Wits University, South Africa
Post Graduate Certificate in Education - University of South Africa
Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Management in Leadership - Regent Business School, South Africa 

Manager Internal Audit
Oryx Energies

Sandra is the Manager Internal Audit in the Group Internal Audit section of a Suisse multinational oil and gas company, Oryx Energies. She has more than a decade of experience in managing strategic and operations management system projects in manufacturing and engineering firms. In this role, she provides assurance on the effectiveness of the Group’s governance framework. Sandra is also the founding executive director for Taungana Africa, a regional youth leadership movement empowering rural high school girls through access and exposure to to entrepreneurial science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) education and careers. It has impacted thousands of rural high schoolers since 2014 and been active in four Southern African countries, reaching more than 25 provinces and 30 rural high school communities.

Academic and professional credentials:

Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Corporate Strategy, Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), South Africa.
Diploma, Executive Transition Program General Management, ESMT Berlin, Germany
BSc. Hons. Technology Management, University of Pretoria, South Africa
BSc. Food Science & Technology, University of Zimbabwe

Founder and CEO
RecoMed

Sheraan Amod is a serial technology entrepreneur. He founded several high-impact technology companies, including Personera, Springlab, and RecoMed, of which he is the CEO.  RecoMed is South Africa's largest and fastest growing online healthcare marketplace and booking platform, with over one million users and adoption from industry leaders such as Discovery Health, Mediclinic, and Dis-Chem. Sheraan has also worked with global NGOs. He is a member of the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, a US-based business network for leading African entrepreneurs.

Academic and professional credentials:

BSc from the University of Cape Town
BSc Hons in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Cape Town

Regional Head of Banking
Investec

Stephen Jadrijevich is the Head of Banking for Investec Pretoria, a position he has held since 2015, having joined Investec in 2010. In this role, he is responsible for the private banking businesses across various geographies including North Gauteng, the Free state and Mpumalanga.  Prior to 2010, Stephen spent five years in the construction and material handling industry.
Stephen also serves on the Group Employment equity forum and currently chairs the Private bank transformation forum.
 
Academic and professional credentials:

Bachelor of Commerce, University of Pretoria
Scenarios Programme, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Head of Trading South Africa
Ninety One

Yanela Songca is Head of Trading South Africa in Ninety One’s Trading team. He heads a team with a focus on trade execution, covering a wide range of listed instruments on the multi-asset trading desk. He has many years of broad trading experience covering listed Equities, Bonds, FX and Derivatives. Throughout his time in financial markets, he has actively traded derivative products like FX, stock & bond options and recently interest rate swaps.  Before joining the firm he was a fund accountant at Kleinwort Benson.  Yanela is a founding member of the ABSIP Young Professionals.
 
Academic and professional credentials:

Bachelor of Commerce in Economics and Finance from UCT
Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management from UCT

Founder
Africa Foresight Group

Yasmin Kumi is a founder of Africa Foresight Group (AFG), a tech talent company she started in 2016. When she founded the organisation, she set out to create a disruptive business model in which it would become the Uber of consultants in Africa. AFG brings top, flexible teams of African management consultants and skilled freelancers to companies through an in-house-built software platform. It has been active in more than 15 African markets with a pool of more than 250 management consultants contracting in more than 200 projects across Africa. AFG supports small and mid-sized businesses in their expansions and keeps consulting revenue in Africa, reducing the practice of jetting in foreign consultants. The German-raised, Ghanian-native is a Gold Room Award holder of the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance. Prior to founding AFG, Yasmin worked at McKinsey & Company.

Academic and professional credentials:

Undergraduate degree - Seoul National University, South Korea
MSc in African Studies - University of Oxford, UK
MBA - University of Oxford, Said Business School, UK