Archives: Speakers

Amanda Cotterman
Amanda Cotterman Head of SME Ventures and Start-up Catalyst Programs IFC Amanda is an experienced investor and operator of emerging markets businesses. She currently leads the International Finance Corporation’s private equity and venture capital business in frontier markets heading the SME Ventures and Start-up Catalyst Programs, a joint US$520M investment platform across Central America, Africa,...
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Jit Bhattacharya
Jit Bhattacharya Founder & CEO BasiGo Jit has been a leader in electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery technology for the past 15 years starting. He served as CEO of Mission Motors, a Silicon Valley company developing high-performance EV technology. He later served as a senior manager in the Special Projects Group at Apple. In 2017,...
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Riki Yamauchi
Riki Yamauchi Director, Strategic Investments and Partnerships Novastar Ventures Riki is Director, Strategic Investments and Partnerships at Novastar Ventures East Africa Advisors Limited, Nairobi. Riki is a Japanese-American, born and raised in Los Angeles who brings 10 years of experience in investment banks, such as Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan, where he covered Japan equity...
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Heritier Ngoie
Heritier Ngoie Founder & CEO UUZU Heritier Ngoie is a young Congolese entrepreneur passionate about new technologies, innovation, and youth empowerment in Africa. With a strong belief that technology can unlock economic opportunity, he has dedicated his career to building digital solutions that address real market challenges while creating impact at scale. He began his...
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Henrique Mukanda
Henrique Mukanda Co-Founder ITot Henrique is an entrepreneur, trainer, and university lecturer based in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is the Co-Founder and COO of ITot Africa, where he works to empower young people and create employment opportunities through digital skills. Passionate about digital marketing, e-commerce, and online business, he develops hands-on training...
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Adewale Afolabi
Adewale Afolabi CTO & Co-Founder Pesa Wale leads Pesa’s product and engineering teams, focusing on secure, scalable financial solutions. With nearly a decade of experience at companies like Splash, CrowdRiff, and AcuityAds, he’s shaped Pesa’s multicurrency platform and ecosystem to deliver speed, trust, and reliability. His work sits at the intersection of fintech, infrastructure, and...
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Billy Kabongo Badibanga
Billy Kabongo Badibanga Co-founder GENIETECH GROUP Billy Kabongo Badibanga is a multidisciplinary project engineer specializing in information technology and industrial construction, based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Born on May 9, 1992, he is the co-founder of GENIETECH GROUP and represents a new generation of African technology entrepreneurs transforming local challenges into opportunities...
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Martin Kanku
Martin Kanku Co-Founder Africa Digital Comms Martin Kanku is a professional in strategic communication and marketing, specializing in brand positioning, digital influence, and image management. He supports companies, public figures, and organizations in structuring their visibility and driving measurable results. As the founder of AFRICA DIGITAL COMMS, he has developed a pragmatic, performance-driven approach, positioning...
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Elizabeth Odima
Elizabeth Odima Growth Catalyst & Program Lead Viktoria Ventures Elizabeth is a program management and ecosystem development expert on financing and scaling impact-driven startups. She works across venture building, growth acceleration, and innovation program delivery, translating strategy into execution for founders, funders, and partners. Her experience spans climate innovation, circular economy, youth livelihoods, and research...
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Joe Kinvi
Joe Kinvi Founder & CEO Borderless Joe Kinvi, Founder & CEO of Borderless, the all-in-one platform that enables community managers to launch, engage, and scale global communities, from co-investment groups to professional networks, and head of HoaQ, an investor collective with over 100 early-stage bets across Africa and its diaspora, providing founders with strategic capital...
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