Vice-Chairperson: SiMODiSA
Matsi Modise
Matsi is Vice-Chairperson of SiMODiSA, an industry association whose mission is to accelerate entrepreneurship by collaborating with policy makers to enhance the success rate of high impact, high growth entrepreneurs. She is the founder of Furaha Afrika Holdings and sits on various boards including the Innovation Hub board and the Agrie-Vie Private Equity Fund Board of Advisory. Her experience ranges from Investment banking, enterprise development and building entrepreneurship ecosystems on the African continent.
Managing Director: Pivot Ventures
Mosidi Modise
Mosidi is the managing director of Pivot Ventures which owns Moop – an advisory firm specializing in sustainability strategies, project management and creative communication services, serving clients such as the World Bank and companies in the private equity industry. Her company is currently engaged with the World Bank, to look at innovative solutions to tackling youth unemployment in South Africa.
Managing Director: Endeavor South Africa
Alison Collier
Alison Collier is the Managing Director of Endeavor South Africa, bringing close to 20yrs of experience in Strategy & Business Development roles in Africa, Europe & Asia. Alison has first-hand experience in establishing global offices for multi-nationals, expanding start-ups from South Africa into the global markets and raising capital to finance this growth. Alison has worked at McKinsey and held global roles in Strategy and Procurement at SABMiller and Unilever respectively, based in UK, Switzerland and Singapore.
In 2015, Alison led the expansion of Cape Town based BOS ICE TEA (Endeavor Entrepreneur) to Europe, successfully setting up offices in Amsterdam and Paris. Prior to returning to SA in 2019, Alison led Digital Transformation of Unilever’s Global Procurement which included incorporating a number of start-ups into Unilever’s global supply chain. Alison holds a B.Bus.Sci degree with Honours Finance from UCT (2000) and an MBA from INSEAD(2004).
Group Executive - Investments and Corporate Finance: Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA)
Andile Keta
With over 19 years of experience in listed investments management, private equity, and investment banking, Andile is an experienced Investments Manager, and Board Member. With a track record of establishing strong corporate relationships, focused deal execution combined with prudent risk management, and achieving consistent revenue growth and returns by providing corporate financing solutions, implementing revenue growth initiatives, and introducing and managing the delivery of operational efficiencies in a variety of industries.
Andile is a Chartered Accountant, Investment Manager and Entrepreneur skilled in Listed Investments, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, LBOs, MBOs, Capital Raising, Deal Origination and Structuring, Due Diligence, Negotiations, Team Building and Management, with a strong focus on value creation, operational and corporate governance improvement in diverse sectors.
Co-Founder: Empowerment Capital
Anton Maumann
Anton is a Co-Founder of Empowerment Capital. He is a well-known expert in matters relating to transformation and BEE. Anton has led the legal department of ZTE Corporation where he structured and implemented a BEE Ownership transaction for the company.
After managing the National Empowerment Rating Agency as Managing Director for a period of 4 years he moved on to become a partner at Transcend Capital, a boutique corporate finance advisory firm specializing in Mergers & Acquisitions as well as BEE-related transactions for large listed South African and multinational corporates. He served as a Finance Director on the Board of the Association of BEE Professionals. He is a qualified lawyer and holds an MBA from the Berlin School of Economics.
Founder & CEO: PE Front Office
Anup Kumar Adlakha
Anup has more than 28 years of experience with providing solutions and consulting in IT services, 16 of which are with the Alternative Investment Management industry.
Anup co-founded PE Front Office in Feb 2013 and has led its global growth since inception. Prior to that, Anup worked as the Chief Technology Officer for a large Europe-based PE fund where he was responsible for streamlining the IT strategy and ensuring IT solutions & services for the global user base.
Head - Alternative Investments: Alexander Forbes Investments
David Moore
David’s career spans 13 years in the financial services industry. He is the head of alternative investments within Alexander Forbes Investments, tasked with building scalable, diversified and high-performing alternative asset portfolios in South Africa and Africa.
Before joining Alexander Forbes Investments, David was the regional investment officer at FMO (the Dutch Development Bank).
Prior to that, he was the senior manager in the Structured Transactions and Equity Risk division at Standard Bank, designing bespoke funding structures from conception to implementation.
At RisCura, David was integral in expanding their unlisted valuation and financial due diligence advisory services.
David also served at the University of Cape Town where he lectured and designed undergraduate and postgraduate finance courses.
Partner Alternatives Venture Capital: Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH
Doris Blasel
Doris Blasel joined the Siemens Fonds Invest Alternatives team in 1999 when it was still named Siemens Venture Capital. She leads Venture Capital Asset Management globally.
Doris has an extensive network across the venture capital industry in the U.S., across Europe, as well as in Israel and China.
Prior to Siemens, Doris held several positions in the public administration where she spent the initial 13 years of her professional career.
She holds a diploma in Business Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Constance and a diploma in Public Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Kehl.
General Partner: Kingson Capital
Gladwyn Leeuw
Gladwyn has multi-dimensional experience and expertise within the Finance & Investment sector having served in senior leadership and executive positions in both large corporates and SMEs, being a founder himself, a lecturer and an investor. He started his career as an Investment Manager at Anglo American’s Enterprise and Supplier Development arm, Zimele. He then joined the Senior Executive team of one of South Africa’s largest international BPO’s and later served as a non-executive board member of the Group.
Prior to Kingson, Gladwyn founded a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platform; simultaneously establishing an independent business consultancy that built and consulted on fund & banking administration systems, gig work technology platforms and various other skills development programmes in the ICT sector. In 2017, one of his projects received a Certificate of Recognition for noteworthy performance and on-going contribution to job creation from the National Treasury.
Lead Private Sector Specialist - Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice: World Bank Group
Ganesh Rasagam
Ganesh Rasagam is currently a Lead Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank, based in Pretoria, South Africa since February 2020. Prior to this, he was based at the World Bank HQ in Washington DC where he led both regional and global teams as Practice Manager for Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation for the East Asia and Pacific Region, Global Practice Manager for infoDev and Global Practice Manager for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice.
Ganesh, a Malaysian national, has over 35 years’ experience in both the public and private sector in finance and private sector development and competitiveness. His core areas of expertise are in innovation, entrepreneurship, competitiveness and enabling infrastructure and his work experience spans over 40 countries in East Asia, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
Prior to joining the World Bank in 2003, he was the Chief Executive Officer of an international consulting firm based in Penang, Malaysia that specialized in the design and implementation of national and sub-national competitiveness strategies with a focus on Special Economic Zones, Global Value Chains and SME development.
Ganesh holds degrees in civil engineering, geotechnical engineering and transportation planning/economics from University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.
Startup Business Development: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Henri Zietsman
Henri Zietsman is the Startup Community rep for Amazon Web Services (AWS) Startup Programs including #Angels, #Incubators, #Accelerators and #Venture/PE Firms in Africa. As a former startup founder and entrepreneur operating in the Agri-Fintech space, Henri brings a wealth of sector experience, alongside having held key leadership positions at global Telecom firms.
With over two decades of experience developing propositions for the African market, Henri’s all-round expertise covers everything from technical infrastructure and mobile banking best practices, to investment pitching and regional media strategies. He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree and is excited to be working with the next-generation of entrepreneurs.
CEO: SA SME
Ketso Gordhan
Ketso studied for a BA at University of Durban Westville and a Masters in Development Economics at Sussex University in England. Was formerly married, 2 adult daughters.
Spent many years in the 1980s as an anti-Apartheid Activist, working for the United Democratic Fund, later for the ANC and this phase culminated with the role of campaign manager of the ANC election campaign in 1994
Served as Director General of the Department of Transport in the Mandela Government and later as City Manager of Johannesburg.
Joined Rand Merchant Bank in 2001 and managed its Private Equity Business for 8 years. Have over the past decade, worked as CEO of cement company PPC, as head of Africa for the Commonwealth Development Corporation and been involved as an impact investor.
Currently CEO of the SA SME Fund, which will apply its R1.4bn to help create and grow small businesses with a focus on Black, African Entrepeneurs
Co-Founder and Managing Partner: Newtown Partners
Llew Claasen
Llew is a go-to-market strategist with almost two decades of senior management experience in crypto assets (since 2012), digital product management and digital marketing.
Founder and CEO: Legacy Impact Venture Enterprises Africa (LIVE Africa)
Mabinty Koroma-Moore
Mabinty Koroma-Moore possesses nearly 20 years of experience working with investors, corporates, DFIs, and fund managers in the U.S. and across Sub-Saharan Africa. On behalf of the United Nations Global Compact, Sustainable Finance team, Mabinty leads work conducting outreach and engagement across Africa and works in both the United States of America and Kenya. She founded and leads LIVE Africa to work with investors and entrepreneurs in improving their assess of impact using Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) practices. In addition, Mabinty developed the investment arm of LIVE Africa, a company called, Kuishi Afrika to drive more capital to African women-led business.
Chairperson - Investment Subcommittee: Mineworkers Provident Fund
Mathabo Zandile Makhaya
Mathabo is a 31-year-old finance professional (a qualified chartered accountant) with experience in various industries. She currently holds the position of Group Financial Manager – health at harmony Gold Mining Company.
Mathabo sits on the board of mine workers provident fund and various sub-committees thereof (Investment sub-committee and audit & risk sub-committee) with additional responsibilities as the chairperson of the Investment sub-committee at MWPF. Additionally, she serves on the SAICA (South African Institute of Charted Accountants) ethics committee.
Mathabo is an ambitious, exceptional young woman, challenging the status quo in a predominantly male industry. She is passionate about transformation, small business development and impact investing with a specific focus on gender equality and women empowerment.
Deputy Director-General: Technology Innovation (Department of Science and Innovation)
Mmboneni Muofhe
Mmboneni Muofhe is Deputy Director-General: Technology Innovation at the Department of Science and Technology.
Mmboneni was previously DDG for International Cooperation and Resources and has held several positions at the Department of Science and Technology, including being Chief Director: International Resources, Director: Strategic Partnerships and Director: Global Projects. During this period he oversaw South Africa’s growing participation in EU Research Funding programmes, lead the mobilization of Official Development Assistance funds to support South Africa science system and the Department’s partnership with Multinational Companies.
Mmboneni’s earlier working and post-graduate years were mainly on agronomy research, especially agricultural biotechnology. He was a UNESCO Biotechnology Fellow at the Agricultural Research Council in 1997.
Mmboneni has extensive experience in management of science, technology and innovation programmes which includes years of coordination, implementation and management of Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme (THRIP), the South African public-private partnership programme in research and development aimed at improving competitiveness of industry and while at DST, oversaw the implementation of the SA-Finland innovation partnership programmes.
Mmboneni’s academic achievements include a BSc from the University of Venda, Masters of Science from the University of Cape Town and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Pretoria. He is currently enrolled for PhD in Technology Commercialisation and Innovation Management at da Vinci Institute looking at the relevance and appropriateness of innovation policies and strategies in developed countries to developing countries.
Chief Investment Officer: Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC)
Nchaupe Khaole
Nchaupe joined MIC in 2012 after a stint with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) as a Senior Investment Officer. Nchaupe has in excess of 15 years' experience within private equity and corporate finance and has served as a director on the boards of a number of portfolio companies in his previous roles and continues to do so within MIC's portfolio of companies. Nchaupe's current role includes leading the MIC investment team and taking responsibility for the investment process (from screening to realisation) at MIC. His previous roles include the following:
Senior Investment Officer: Development Bank of Southern Africa
Private Equity and Corporate Finance Executive: Safika Holdings
Deputy MD: Tandem Capital (a private equity partnership between Safika Holdings and RMB Corvest)
Board Representation:
First National Bank (FNB), Peermont Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Universal Industries and DN Invest (DNI).
Manager - Special Projects: Tshikululu Social Investments
Sibonakaliso Mavuka
Sibonakaliso Mavuka heads up the Special Projects and Business Development team at Tshikululu Social Investments. He joined Tshikululu in August 2016 as a Social Investment Specialist. Prior to this, he was a Business Development Manager at Phakamani Impact Capital's Mining Communities Fund, where he was responsible for a Community Enterprise Development Fund, aimed at funding Black-owned SMEs within mining communities.
Sibonakaliso has also worked as an analyst in the Business in Development practice at one of Africa's leading economic consulting firms. He currently sits as a member of the investment committee of the Thrive Africa Fund, an impact fund investing in businesses working within financial inclusion, green economy and infrastructure sectors.
Acting Global Head, Disruptive Technologies and Venture Capital Investments: IFC
Wale Ayeni
Wale leads venture capital investments in emerging markets with a particular focus on Africa.
He has a global technology experience spanning several roles including Venture Capital, Investment Banking, Corporate Development, and Microprocessor & ASIC chip design.
Prior to the IFC, Wale led venture capital early-stage investments in disruptive startups across various technology sectors.
Wale started his finance career with J.P. Morgan’s Technology Investment Banking group in San Francisco.
Wale has an MBA from Dartmouth College, and his Bachelor’s degree with distinguished “Red diploma” from Moscow University. He is a Kauffman Venture Capital Fellow and a recipient of the top global 100 Rising Stars award in Corporate Venture.
Faculty: UCT Development Finance Centre | Trustee: UCTRF
Xolisa Dhlamini
Xolisa is a lecturer and researcher in sustainable responsible investing. He is faculty at the UCT Graduate School of Business’ Development Finance Centre. He holds the Chartered Development Finance Analyst (CDFA) designation and has over 14 years of professional experience in the institutional investment market. He is the lead researcher for the African Investing for Impact Barometer; analysing the spectrum of investing for impact strategies (IFI) implemented by public and private market fund managers in East, West and Southern Africa.
Xolisa is the former head of the Africa for the UN-Supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Prior to PRI, he held investment consulting roles at leading firms in South Africa advising institutional investors . He serves on the Board of trustees of the UCT Retirement Fund and is the acting chair of the Fund’s investment committee. Xolisa is also a non-executive director at Just Share, a civil society organisation which advances investor activism regarding ESG issues.