Region: Africa
Babatunde Omilola
Babatunde Omilola manages the African Development Bank’s multi-billion-dollar response to the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives and livelihoods throughout Africa and to help African countries strengthen their health systems, stabilize their economies, and alleviate the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. A global development leader, Babatunde served as Head of Development Planning with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York and led the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on the monitoring and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally. He also co-chaired the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Task Force on Global Food and Nutrition Security Technical Team. Babatunde was UNDP’s Regional Practice Leader for poverty…
More Information
Wanjiru Mukoma
Wanjiru Mukoma has spent most of her career working to improve health and wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in HIV prevention and care, and cross-cutting issues of human rights, sexual, and gender-based violence. She was formerly Executive Director of LVCT Health, a Kenyan NGO and one of the country’s leading implementers of HIV and gender-based violence programs. A researcher, program implementer, and advocate, she has worked in academia and the non-profit sector for the past 15 years. Wanjiru is as comfortable working at the grassroots community level as she is in policy advocacy, championing the rights of the vulnerable and marginalized, especially children, adolescents, young women, and sexual minorities. She…
More Information
Xolani Zitha
Xolani Zitha is National Advisor at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Zimbabwe where he focuses on managing projects focused on building the institutional capacity of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) and Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission (ZACC). Previously, Xolani was Director of the Office of the Speaker for the Parliament of Zimbabwe and an independent governance consultant. He also previously served as Chief of Staff to Lovemore Moyo, the Speaker of the House of Assembly in Zimbabwe from January 2009 to June 2013. He advised the Speaker on efforts to modernize Zimbabwe’s Parliament and strengthen its policy functions. Xolani previously directed the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an…
More Information
Beatrice Mategwa
Beatrice Mategwa is a broadcast journalist with Pan-African experience currently covering South Sudan, a country where a sudden eruption of conflict in mid-December 2013 cast a shadow on the potential for positive growth. In her job at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, where she heads an Audio Visual team of videographers and photographers, her expertise lies in how conflict impacts communities. Beatrice previously worked in Sudan, covering the North-South Peace deal, before a referendum led to the split of the country and the formation of South Sudan. She was Producer and Head of Television for the United Nations Mission in Sudan from 2005 to mid-2011. In this capacity,…
More Information
'Tokunboh Ishmael
'Tokunboh Ishmael is an impact investor with over 20 years' experience spanning investment banking, private equity investing, technology, and new business development in Africa, Europe, and the North America. She is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Alitheia Capital, a Nigeria-based investment management and advisory firm focused on channelling private equity investments into small and medium sized businesses in West Africa. In 2015, she co-founded Alitheia Identity to scale investing in women-led SMEs across Sub-Saharan. 'Tokunboh is a CFA Charter-holder, corporate financier and M&A banker, having worked on over $5.6 billion transactions in the UK, USA, and Africa. She is now focussed on investing in and building sustainable growth businesses across…
More Information
Idayat Hassan
Idayat Hassan is Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an Abuja based policy advocacy and research organization with a focus on deepening democracy and development in West Africa. Her interests span democracy, peace and security, transitional justice, and ICT4D in West Africa. As the Director of the CDD, she oversaw CDD's rise from not being ranked in 2013 to 16th out of 94 think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the 2019 University of Pennsylvania Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. Under her leadership, CDD became a mover in the civic tech space. She has subsequently strengthened CDD's position as a civic tech leader with a…
More Information
Siobhan Cleary
Siobhan Cleary is Director of Capital Markets Engagement for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the pre-eminent international sustainability standards setter. In this role she is responsible for driving adoption of the GRI Standards by capital market actors and reinforcing the significance of ESG disclosure in capital markets. She is also an independent non-executive director of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Previously she worked as Head of Research and Public Policy at the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and as Director of Strategy and Public Policy at the JSE. Her areas of expertise include capital market development and sustainability. She has written on this topic for—amongst others—the UNEP FI Inquiry into…
More Information
Emelia Arthur
Emelia Arthur is a consultant and former Advisor to the President of Ghana from 2013 to 2017 where she assisted presidential appointees in aligning manifesto objectives with presidential objectives and specific sector policy goals. She took up this appointment after working as the Deputy Regional Minister for Ghana's Western Region responsible for coordinating development. A member of the Balaton Group, Emelia now focuses on working collaboratively to strengthen communities’ autonomous and sustainable capacities for development and influence. Emelia previously worked as the District Chief Executive of the Shama District in the Western Region of Ghana. In the past, she has engaged in consulting and advocacy work in natural resource governance…
More Information
Abdouramane Diallo
Abdouramane Diallo is Head of Targeted Interventions at the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), an affiliate of the Islamic Development Bank Group. He oversees ITFC’s efforts to strengthen intra-African exchanges, allowing 27 countries to expand trade with one another while affording vulnerable communities access to basic goods. In his role, he leads program delivery, manages cross-institutional expert teams, and forges alliances with key development partners. Devoted to reducing economic inequalities, he believes that entrepreneurial freedom allows for the greatest social impact. To this end, he co-founded Agrobiotech in 2016 and Paygas in 2017. Agrobiotech specializes in plant cloning in Mali and exports low-cost plantlets in Africa. Paygas utilizes proprietary technology…
More Information
Imane Rtabi
Imane Rtabi is a Moroccan information technology entrepreneur and has been instrumental in leading and developing the country's information technology infrastructure through her company, Maghrebnet. Initially founded to bring internet access to homes and businesses in Morocco, Imane restructured Maghrebnet to focus on the integration of communications solutions within large infrastructures, including network installations, perimeter security, electricity and green energy, establishing the company as a major solutions integrator in Morocco while expanding to neighboring countries. Imane co-founded and co-chairs INC Group, an investment company involved in renewable energies, light steel construction, and electrical panel building and distribution. She formerly served as vice president of AFEM in charge of International Relations (The Association…
More Information