Speakers

Garreth Elston is the Chief Investment Officer of Reitway Global’s suite of global listed property funds. He is an investment management professional with over twenty years of international capital markets’ experience in South Africa, North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. Mr. Elston has a deep passion for real estate and has significant experience in listed and unlisted real estate investments, property development and real estate private equity. Mr. Elston holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, an MA
in International Relations, and a BCom in Banking Management.

James is recognised as one of the leading thought leaders on the future of the real estate market. He is the Co-Founder of Unissu, the global leader of PropTech data, information and resources,and has an unrivalled perspective on global PropTech trends. As a result, he is a much sought-after speaker on the future of the property industry both in terms of how people and companies in the sector should adapt to facilitate change.

Mr. Asamoah is an investment professional with over 25 years of experience originating and executing transactions in both developed and developing markets. He has personally led over US$4billion in transactions across the African continent. In April 2017, he was appointed the CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment (GIIF), an investment vehicle, initially capitalized at US$250 million, with a mandate to originate, structure and invest in infrastructure-related projects across Ghana. Between Oct – Dec 2016, he was advising the Federal Government of Nigeria on the implementation of their infrastructure program. Up until February 2016, he was the Vice President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration at the African Development Bank (AfDB), with responsibilities including the Bank's Power, Infrastructure, Private Sector Operations; Financial Institutions/Markets & Equity, including Private Equity Funds; NEPAD and Regional Projects. He was previously the Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), an International Organization
established and headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and initially capitalized in 2007 at over US$1 billion.

Immediately prior to this Mr. Asamoah was the Vice President for Private Sector and International Investments at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), based in Johannesburg. Mr. Asamoah was formerly the Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Managing Director of the World Bank based in Washington D.C., and later became a Principal Investment Officer at the IFC in Johannesburg, leading IFC's activities across Africa in the ICT sector. Prior to this, Mr. Asamoah was an investment banker in the City of London with HSBC Markets. He has a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College in London.

Geoffrey White, CEO of Agility Africa, is an expert on infrastructure development, retail supply chains, agri-business, and investment for African markets. Agility, a leading global provider of logistics and related infrastructure solutions for the oil and gas and FMCG markets, has over $5 billion in revenue, 24,000 employees, and offices in more than 100 countries. Mr White is a member of the Agility Strategic Advisory Board.

Mr. White joined Agility in 2014 after serving as CEO of Lonrho Plc for 8 years, where he developed product supply chains for some of the world’s largest retailers and developed essential infrastructure and logistics facilities for Africa’s burgeoning oil and gas industry. Mr. White’s career path has included Thomas Tilling Plc, BTR Plc, Asda Plc, Hilton, Ford PAG, and a leading Middle Eastern private investment office.

Mr. White has commented on Africa for the BBC, CNN, CNBC, Forbes, and at the World Economic Forum, AU, NEPAD, Royal Africa Society, Chatham House, the Africa Investor Index Series Summit, and The Economist East Africa Summit and many other important African debates. He is a regular author of editorials on Africa.

Mustapha Njie (TAF), is the man behind the success called TAF AFRICA GLOBAL LIMITED, a company registered in 8 African countries with dominance in Gambia and Nigeria. Mustapha has been involved in the development of the GIETAF Special Economic Zone in Gambia, the design and development of the RIVTAF Golf Estate, Port Harcourt in Nigeria as well as the design, development and furnishing of the the 52 A.U Presidential villas in Gambia. He was recently awarded the GBB Best Affordable Housing of the Year 2018 and the CNBC/AABLA Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 (West Africa). Mustapha has also taken part in a number of conferences including the Annual Africa Business Conference at Harvard Business School 2019 and 2003 (panellist), Africa CEO Forum 2019 (panellist) and the Wharton Business School 2004 (panellist).

Olumayowa Ogunwemimo is the Managing Director of FSDH Asset Management. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. She rose through the corporate ladder at FSDH Asset Management to become Managing Director having served in various units of FSDH Merchant Bank such as Risk Management, Research and FSDH Asset Management Ltd. She currently oversees the Fund Management of the UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, which was the first, and is currently the largest REIT in Nigeria.

Steven represents UK Export Finance in West Africa based out of Ghana. Having worked in Africa and Middle East for the past 30 years, he has experience in a variety of sectors including: construction, mining, logistics, trading and infrastructure. He is a founding board member of UK Ghana Chamber of Commerce and sits on the Advisory Board of GUBA, a member of the Global Scot network of entrepreneurial and inspirational business leaders, dedicated to supporting Scotland’s most ambitious companies.

Ifeoma Ezeokafor is a Principal Investment Officer at IFC, where she focuses on project and corporate finance in the property, tourism and retail sectors. She has been with IFC for 17 years and her investment experience during that period also includes the health, education and manufacturing sectors. Her geographical coverage originating and executing transactions has been in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.

Prior to IFC, Ifeoma was an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers and before that worked with SecTrust (now Afrinvest West Africa). She has an MBA, from INSEAD, France, a Master of Banking & Finance from University of Lagos, Nigeria and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1997.

Kunle is the Managing Director of Ecobank Capital, Nigeria and the Group Head of Real Estate for Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI). Prior to joining ETI in 2012, he spent most of his professional career in Jones Lang LaSalle in London where he was Chair of Lead Directors in Corporate Finance covering advisory, debt and structured finance. In addition, Kunle is responsible for all of ETI’s non-core and real estate investment assets’ related business across Africa. He has led numerous project teams, advised major institutions and corporations on financial transactions. Kunle holds a B.Sc (Hons) from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and has attended various management courses in INSEAD and Warwick University, UK.

Funke is a Director in the real estate team at Actis, based in Lagos. Funke joined the firm in 2007 where she is responsible for origination, execution and portfolio management in West Africa. Funke has over 15 years’ experience in private equity with the last 5 years focused on investing in Commercial Real Estate. Funke is a chartered accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and a Master in Finance from the London Business School.

Kofi Addo has had a considerable experience in international trade, public sector policy and management for a period of almost twenty years. His core expertise includes Policy Analysis, Trade Analysis, Business Development, Investment Appraisal etc. As Minister Counsellor and Head of Trade and Investment Section of the Ghana High Commission, UK, his primary responsibility is to advise the Government on matters relating to Trade and Investment promotion and to aggressively promote and protect Ghana’s commercial interest in United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland as well as the world at large.

In addition, he undertakes market intelligence activities to enhance bilateral trade between Ghana and especially UK and present policy documents of Government at various institutions. He has over the last four years made presentations at University of Turkey, Leicester University, Coventry University, Nottingham University, Imperial College, etc. on Industrialise Africa, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas, Infrastructure Development, etc. He has also made series of investment promotional presentations in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, and other cities in UK to attract potential investors to Ghana.

Kofi has previously served as the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s Counter-part Coordinator for the Ghana Government–IDDA (World Bank) Micro Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) Project (2005-2008).

Managing Director at Sankore Investments – Bio coming soon.

Dr. Andrew Nevin is Partner, Chief Economist and FS Advisory Leader for PwC Nigeria. He has almost 30 years’ professional experience and has lived in Asia, North America, and Europe. Andrew has extensive experience helping global companies enter and expand in Nigeria/Africa. He recently returned to become Global Leader of Project Blue, now focused on both envisioning and shaping the Future of Financial Services. He holds a PhD: Economics, an MA: Philosophy and Politics, and a BSc (Hon): Computer Science and Mathematics. He was named Strategy Consultant of the Year 2010 by the Management Consultants Association (UK).

Greg is the Founder & CEO of Africa Works, a pioneering and innovative workplace solution provider in Africa. Africa Works provides Design & Build services as well as Flexible Workplaces solutions to Global Corporates in 12+ countries through 9 offices on the continent. After 7 years in Kenya, Greg recently relocated back to his home-town – Paris. Greg is also the Co Founder of the French African Foundation as well as the French Chamber of Commerce in Kenya.