Speaker Group: Business Leader

Kaylene Alvarez is a global, technical specialist in impact investing, access to finance for SME, gender lens investing and risk management with work experience in nearly 40 countries, spanning a 25+ year career. Her eclectic experience has spanned both private and public sectors, including: international non-profits; M&A for AIG’s Consumer Finance Group ($2B in earnings);… Read more »

John Lentaigne heads up the Tysers credit and political risk team, a development-financed focused broking outfit focused on de-risking investments into emerging and developing markets. Tysers clients include many of the largest commercial lenders active in financing cross-border investments into Africa, as well as a number of the key development finance institutions operating on the… Read more »

Head of Standard Bank’s international fiduciary service business, Jonathan Sprigg has worked in the international financial services industry for 25 years managing African connected clients and investment transactions connected to Africa. Currently based in Mauritius, Jonathan Sprigg has worked in Jersey, Isle of Man and London and has travelled regularly to East, West and South… Read more »

Chris Oyeniyi is an entrepreneur passionate about Africa and the SME sector, His passion for entrepreneurship started early at the age of 17 where he managed the family business for 4years before proceeding to study Chemistry but soon became a chartered accountant (A fellow of the ACCA) out of his love for numbers. He has… Read more »

Victor Basta is the CEO/Co-Head of DAI Magister, a boutique investment bank. Victor has advised on over 130 transactions across 30 years, and helped found and build three successful corporate finance firms in the process. His orientation has always been towards sell-side financings and M&A, where experience and creativity can yield real additional value to… Read more »

Shrivar Mohan is an Investment Principal at Edge Growth Ventures – a South African SME development specialist and impact investor. Shrivar has a special focus on early-stage, impact investments and also assists with driving new business development and capital raising for Edge Growth Ventures.

David Krivanek is the Impact Investing Institute’s Programme Manager for International Development. He leads the Institute’s international work, including the secretariat for the G7 Impact Taskforce, an independent, industry-led effort mandated by the UK Government under its G7 presidency in 2021. An economist by training, David Krivanek previously worked at the United Nations, where he… Read more »

Gavin Serkin has been a prominent commentator on frontier and emerging markets for over two decades. His book, Frontier: Exploring the Top Ten Emerging Markets of Tomorrow (Bloomberg/Wiley), was acclaimed as a “must read” by the Financial Times. His latest book, Chain Reaction – How Blockchain Will Transform the Developing World (Palgrave Macmillan), was described… Read more »

Mikir Shah is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Africa Specialty Risks, boasting over 25 years of experience in Africa. Prior to ASR, Mikir Shah was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AXA Africa Specialty Risks. A highly skilled practitioner with extensive financial experience, Mikir Shah has also previously held the position of Head of… Read more »

Michael Kowalski is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at ID, a Frankfurt-based specialized management consulting firm with 50+ experts on its payroll supporting bank and microfinance institutions and their investors in turnaround, performance enhancement and capacity building. Michael Kowalski has more than 20 years of experience in MSME banking, lending operations and credit risk management… Read more »