Archives: Speakers

Meg Faure, the founder and CEO of Sense-IT, is a serial entrepreneur, well-known expert in early childhood development and a celebrated author of several parenting books. With a background as an occupational therapist, Meg has dedicated her career to enhancing the parenting experience through innovative, evidence-based solutions. Meg launched the popular Baby Sense brand, which… Read more »

Medha Wilson is the Chief Executive Officer at MicroLoan Foundation. In her current role she oversees the activities of MicroLoan’s operations in Africa and is responsible for developing the overall strategy of the Group. She serves on the board of the three MicroLoan subsidiaries in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Medha has extensive experience in financial… Read more »

Mayur Patel is President & MD at M-KOPA, a leading fintech platform in Africa. Previously, he served as COO for Cassava Fintech, a provider of mobile wallet and payment solutions, and was CEO of the award-winning mobile streaming company, Kwesé iflix, which pioneered pay-as-you-watch live and on-demand video services on the continent.

Maxime Bouan is a seasoned investor in the African landscape, investing for nearly 15 years in the region across banking, fintech, education, energy, and agriculture. After managing BlueOrchard Finance’s African strategy for 8 years, he is co-founding Partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures and Investment committee member of the Africa Entreprise Challenge Fund.

Maxime is Catalyst Fund’s Operating Partner. Prior to this role, Maxime served as the Head of Venture Building & Lead Venture Partner at Catalyst Fund. Since joining the team in early 2021, he has made a remarkable impact on the organization, our portfolio, and the startup ecosystem. Maxime has successfully coordinated and led the sourcing… Read more »

Matt is the Portfolio Manager for Africa of the Challenger Trade Finance Fund. Additionally, he sits on the Investment and Risk Committee. As a Chartered Accountant and CFA, Matt brings extensive experience in private credit, with a particular focus on trade finance. He specializes in structuring and negotiating deals, capital raising and investor relations, and… Read more »

Matt has worked at British International Investment since 2016. His first role was as a Director in the Intermediated Equity team with a focus on working with other development finance institutions and the role of concessional finance. He then served as Chief of Staff and Head of Corporate Strategy, and oversaw the development of the… Read more »

Mary has over 19 years’ experience in capital markets development, regulation and legal practice. She is passionate about supporting transformative capital market initiatives that promote economic development in Africa. Mary currently manages several projects on policy and regulatory reform, demonstration transaction support and product development. She also coordinates FSD Africa’s support for the establishment of… Read more »

Martijn has over 17 years of infrastructure finance experience gained in various advisory, project, corporate and structured finance roles in both emerging and developed markets. He has been working with Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) since 2008. Prior to Ninety One (formerly Investec Asset Management), he worked at FMO’s Africa Infrastructure department, T-Mobile and Tebodin… Read more »

María Ángeles is co-founder and President of Global Social Impact Investments, an impact investment fund manager born from the belief that private investment and entrepreneurial talent can provide solutions to pressing social challenges while generating economic profitability. Through its two impact funds, GSIF Africa and GSIF Spain, GSII contributes to improving the livelihoods of people in vulnerable situations by investing in profitable companies… Read more »