SAVCA PE Conference 2024 Speakers
The 2024 lineup will feature key thought leaders in Southern Africa that will explore this year's theme.
Bame Pule
Bame Pule
Founded in 2012, Africa Lighthouse Capital manages a sector-agnostic private equity fund in Botswana whose capital has been raised wholly from local institutional investors. The firm invests in Botswana and throughout Sub Saharan Africa. Africa Lighthouse Capital is comfortable taking either majority or minority equity stakes, and it invests anywhere from growth capital in growing and profitable companies to buyouts of mature companies. A key aspect of Africa Lighthouse Capital’s approach is partnership with and incentivization of management. The firm seeks not only to provide capital but also to create significant value for portfolio companies.
Bame has a private equity track record dating back to 2002 and an investment track record dating back to 1998. Prior to founding Africa Lighthouse Capital, Bame spent over six years working in the private equity team at Actis in South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt. His investments included deals in industrials and logistics. Before that, Bame began his private equity career at ShoreView Capital in the United States, where his investments were largely in industrials. Prior to that Bame worked at Goldman Sachs in New York, where his clients were largely in financial services and his deals ranged from mergers and acquisitions, to listings, to debt capital raisings. Bame began his investment career at Citigroup in Los Angeles creating public equity portfolios, and he also worked at Credit Suisse in New York making infrastructure investments. Bame has bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science (double major) from Pomona College in Claremont, California and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Brendan Mullen
Brendan Mullen
Secha Capital is a growth capital impact fund in Southern Africa employing an Operator-Investor value-add model and investing in traditional industries making the green economy, tech-enabled transition.
Brendan was previously a consultant with Bain & Company. Previous to Bain, Brendan worked at SJF Ventures. He began his career as a bond analyst at Putnam Investments. He holds an MBA from Duke University.
Brett Commaille
Brett Commaille
Brett Commaille is a distinguished figure in the world of venture capital, known for his unwavering commitment to fostering high-growth businesses in emerging markets. As a Director and Partner at Hlayisani Capital, a pioneering venture capital fund manager based in South Africa, Brett spearheads initiatives that facilitate the global expansion of promising enterprises.
With an extensive background in finance, Brett's journey began as a Chartered Accountant, honing his skills at industry giants Deloitte and PWC in South Africa and the Middle East. His foray into merchant banking at Standard Corporate Merchant Bank further enriched his financial acumen. He entered Venture capital as the first CEO of Remgro’s venture Capital arm but his entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found AngelHub Ventures, South Africa's inaugural angel investment group, which he successfully elevated into one of the nation's most influential venture capital funds.
Drawing from a wealth of experience, Brett's greatest insights have emerged from the dynamic landscape of start-ups and young businesses. He is a fervent advocate for recognizing the pivotal role these enterprises play in driving authentic economic growth, especially in burgeoning markets. His advocacy extends to championing the critical support that both these businesses and the venture capital sector require from governmental bodies, businesses, and the broader investment industry.
Brett serves as a trusted director and advisor to numerous young businesses at varying stages of global expansion. His multifaceted expertise and dedication aim to inspire and shape the trajectory of emerging enterprises, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of venture capital.
Daniel Silke
Analyst
Daniel Silke
Daniel Silke is a prominent figure in South Africa, renowned for his industry-leading expertise as a political economy analyst and his dynamic keynote speaking engagements. His unique approach involves seamlessly weaving economic and political insights into engaging and accessible physical and virtual presentations.
As the Director of Political Futures Consultancy, headquartered in Cape Town, Silke has established himself as a sought-after speaker for major global blue-chip companies, delivering exceptional keynotes, webinars, and workshops tailored to the conference and events industries. With a career spanning over 20 years, he has consistently delivered flagship presentations on Global, African, and South African political and economic trends, providing invaluable strategic foresight to businesses of all sizes.
Silke's academic background includes a Master’s degree in South African and International Politics from the University of Cape Town. During his tenure at the University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy, he engaged in teaching within the broader Department of Political Studies.
His dedication to public service led him to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, where he served as an elected Member of the Legislature after a stint as a City Councillor in the City of Cape Town. Notably, he held key positions such as party whip and Portfolio Committee Chair for economic development. Following the launch of his consultancy, Silke swiftly gained recognition on both the corporate speaking circuit and in media, garnering attention both in his home country and abroad.
Dolores Mashishi
Dolores Mashishi
An HR management consulting firm focussing on people solutions and advisory as well as transition coaching for organisations and professionals across different industries.
Dolores’s experience spans over 30 years working as an HR executive and in C-suite roles She is a former Group HR executive of Altron, having previously held senior positions at Brait Group, Investec, Absa, Standard bank, and the public institution sector at the DBSA.
Dolores has successfully executed people strategies in the financial services and Information technology sectors both in South Africa and globally. She has implemented numerous HR mergers and acquisitions integration processes, executed people turnaround strategies, and led Transformation and Culture integration projects across different industries. She added Leadership and coaching to the plethora of skills she uses with her clients.
She has written articles and participated in seminars speaking on the role of culture in organisations, the evolving role of HR leadership in a disrupted environment, and the workforce of the future.
Duane Vermeulen
Duane Vermeulen
Duane Vermeulen is a rugby veteran who blazes the trail and is known to. charge fearlessly into the opposition to carve a way for his teammates.
Before we all came to know him by his gallant reputation, the Springbok No.8 earned his lot through crushing tackles and leading charges for a number of South African franchises. No surprise that his reputation is well garnered. Although the former Springbok captain’s rugged appearance can be intimidating, he is a soft-spoken family man. His wife, Ezel Vermeulen, and his two sons are never far from his thoughts. Daniel Johannes Vermeulen, born on the 3rd of July 1986, started his unofficial rugby career at school level. The then-young Springbok moved homes constantly. He found that he assimilated quicker into his new schools through playing rugby, making friends as quickly as he left them.
He finally settled down and attended Hoerskool Nelspruit. A decision that would lead him down the path of playing for his first regional squad. Duane Vermeulen’s professional journey started at the Pumas’ youth academy before progressing to the senior squad in the Currie Cup, where he spent the first two years of his career. He left them in 2007 to join the Cheetahs, then followed his former coach Rassie Erasmus to join the Stormers in Cape Town. He managed to secure the Currie Cup in the colours of both teams, 2007 for the Cheetahs, and 2012 for Western Province. The rugged Springbok also carried the Stormers to the final and semi-finals of the Super Rugby competition. Despite putting in solid performances early on during his stay at the Stormers, the towering figure only cemented his place in the Springbok squad in 2012, at the age of 26. Since then, however, the loose forward has received numerous accolades, the 2014 IRB Player of the Year award being one of them.
After exploring local franchises for almost 10 years, Duane Vermeulen set his sights abroad and joined Toulon in France in 2015. He also had a bout at the Kubota Spears in Japan from 2018 - 2020. He made 68 and 13 appearances during his time abroad, respectively. Perhaps his most notable award is winning the World Cup in 2019, putting in a Man of the Match performance for that auspicious fixture.
Dustin Graham
Dustin Graham
Dustin initiated a career in corporate finance and M&A advisory in 2006, concluding various high-profile transactions before relocating to London, New York and later Sydney where he managed a diverse range of engagements in the forensic, fraud and M&A space with leading international advisory firms.
In 2009 he returned to South Africa to acquire a significant shareholding in a local industrial group of companies servicing the materials handling industry and spent four years in maturing the group and driving its organic and acquisition growth strategies. He has since sold the group allowing him to return to the M&A environment and has aligned with Benchmark International in their expansion into South Africa.
Having been a key driver in the development of his own group of companies, and heading Benchmark’s national transactions teams, he is well positioned to advise both technically and through experience in all aspects of a corporate transaction.
Edmund Higenbottam
Edmund Higenbottam
Edmund worked at global investment banks Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley in a career starting in 2001 before moving to the African continent in 2008. Edmund has broad expertise in financial inclusion, including traditional microfinance and fintech. Edmund is responsible for the Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund. Edmund is a graduate of Economics from the University of Cambridge.
Emile du Toit
Emile du Toit
Emile is the Managing Director (Fund Raising and Liabilities Management) at Harith General Partners. Emile has over 20 years of experience in African Infrastructure investment. Prior to joining Harith, he was a Divisional Executive (Investment Banking) at the Development Bank of Southern Africa in South Africa. He has extensive Corporate Finance experience, having initially joined the DBSA as an Investment Officer. Emile has been involved in many high-profile transactions and currently serves as a director and trustee in the governing boards of several institutions. He is a Chartered Accountant (CA (SA)) and holds a CFA Charter (Chartered Financial Analyst).
Fulufhelo Makwetla
Fulufhelo Makwetla
Fulu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Third Way Investment Partners, a specialist investment firm focusing on private markets investing providing seamless access to investment opportunities for small and large institutional investors alike.
She was previously at the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) – the largest pension fund in Africa, where she served on the Investment Committee of the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund and represented the GEPF on several advisory boards of Private Equity Funds. Fulu was also an Executive at RisCura, consulting to Pension Funds, Insurance Companies and Medical schemes in Southern Africa, as well as being a trustee of the RisCura Provident Fund.
She currently serves as a Non executive director of Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association ( SAVCA); All Weather Capital, a specialist asset management firm; as well as RH Bophelo, a JSE and Rwanda listed health care company.
Fulu is an MSc Global Finance candidate at Bayes Business School, City of London, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) in Economics and a Bachelor of Commerce in Econometrics from the University of Pretoria.
Gergana Ivanova
Gergana Ivanova
Gergana leads client technology for Strategy and Transaction in Africa. She has had various roles in data and technology over the years including digital and data analytics lead for Transaction Diligence in Africa, digital tool adoption in the EMEIA region such as NLG and AI-backed tools, as well as digital product development and implementation.
Gergana is an experienced professional in transaction support. She has extensive cross-industry transaction experience in the sub-Saharan context. Gergana works primarily with private equity GPs supporting across the transaction lifecycle on a range of M&A and capital market transactions. She primarily focuses on financial performance of private equity portfolio companies, especially in when and how they can harness technology and data to support their equity stories.
Gergana has worked with SAVCA on a number of events and initiatives including the SAVCA PE survey for Southern Africa, the Exits Masterclass and the SAVCA PE foundation program at GIBS.
Grace Chauke
Grace Chauke
Grace has more than 19 years financial services experience. She has a Bsc Degree in Mathematical Statistics obtained from the University of Pretoria and she’s a CFA level 3 candidate. She started her career at Alexander Forbes as an Actuarial Assistant and then worked for companies such as NMG Actuaries and Consultants, RMBAM and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa where she was an Investment Specialist before joining TSRF as an Investment Officer.
James Westgate
James Westgate
James is a partner in the Bowman’s private equity team. He is an expert negotiator and skilled problem-solver with a talent for finding solutions that recognise the interests of all parties in complex domestic and cross-border private equity transactions.
He brings together the different streams of advice that go into private equity transactions, from tax and finance to competition and regulatory, and solidifies these into a pragmatic advice so that clients can make informed decisions about the key legal risks that face them.
He has acted for major local and international private equity sponsors across a variety of industries in South Africa and the rest of the continent and has been recognised by Chambers and IFLR 1000 as an expert in his field.
Khurshid Fazel
Khurshid Fazel
Khurshid specialises in banking and finance transactions with a particular focus on preference share funding transactions as well as restructurings and general finance transactions including acquisition finance, leveraged finance, fund financing, real estate financing and hybrid debt instruments. The lenders that she represents are mainly South African banks and financial institutions and the borrowers that she represents include South African corporates and private equity funds. She also advises international banks in respect of funding transactions to South African corporates.
Khurshid is frequently sought out by clients for her commercial acumen in the restructuring context - she acts for both lenders and borrowers in distressed debt negotiations, helping them navigate the complex factors that funders consider with defaulting borrowers. She has been recognised by the international research organisations including Chambers Global, IFLR1000, Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Who's Who Legal and Thomson Reuters as an outstanding Lawyer. Khurshid has LLM (Corporate and Tax), LLB and B.Proc degrees from the University of Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand and University of the Free State.
Kgomotso Ramokala
Kgomotso Ramokala
Kgomotso commenced his career at Alexander Forbes Financial Services as an Employee Benefits Consultant in 2008, his responsibilities as an employee benefits consultant included a portfolio of blue-chip clients such as HP, Tiger Wheel and Tyre, Foskor Provident Fund and Sanofi Aventis etc. In 2011, he Joined Anglo American Platinum as the Principal Executive Officer of the Amplats Group Provident Fund with total asset size of R7 billion with +/-40 000 members. In 2014 his role and responsibilities were increased to include them management of Anglo American Platinum retirement Funds with a total asset under his responsibility of R13 billion with +/-50 000 members across the various funds. In 2016 he joined Telkom Retirement Fund as its Principal Executive Officer, the TRF has asset size of R38 billion and 9 000 active members and 15 000 pensioners. In July 2017 he was appointed as a Director of Batseta Council of Retirement Fund of South Africa. In 2023 he completed his Chartered Principal Executive Officer qualification
Lebo Thubisi
Lebo Thubisi
Lebo is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Alex Forbes, managing team of six researchers across traditional and alternative asset classes, he drives the investment research efforts of the business. Lebo ensures that all investment strategies, including hedge fund and private market strategies, across Alexander Forbes Investments are well researched. He sees to it that portfolio performance meets clients’ objectives and is competitive.
Prior to this, Lebo joined Investment Solutions in August 2011 as a manager research analyst, during which time Investment Solutions was rebranded to Alexander Forbes Investments. In this role he presented to clients about investment and manager research processes, compiling quarterly commentary and articles on various investment topics. He has 14 years’ financial services experience, focusing on manager research.
Lebo spent three years at Brait Ltd, initially as a risk analyst and later as a research analyst focused on hedge funds. He started his career in 2006 as a graduate trainee at JP Morgan in Cape Town where he spent over two years in different roles. Lebo is a member of the Alexander Forbes Investments investment committee, Caveo investment committee, private markets governance committee, operational due diligence committee as well as the investment team management committee.
Hardin Ratshisusu
Hardin Ratshisusu
Hardin Ratshisusu is Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Commission of South Africa appointed by the Minister of Economic Development in 2016, prior to that he held various senior roles at the Competition Commission and in the private sector.
In his role as Deputy Commissioner, he is responsible for oversight over the Commission’s investigative and enforcement activities. He also actively participates in international fora such as the OECD, BRICS, UNCTAD and ACF, and has also occasionally published papers in recognised academic journals.
He holds a BCom (Honours-Economics) from the University of Venda, MCom (Economics) from the University of Witwatersrand and a Master of Business Leadership from the University of South Africa. He has completed the PURC/ World Bank Training Program on Utility Regulation and Strategy with the University of Florida as well as the Senor Executive Program for Africa with the Harvard Business School.
Lerato Mbele
Mantuka Maisela
Lerato is a well-known international broadcaster, journalist, TV personality & media consultant, with a passion for Africa and it’s development. In recognition of her achievements on the African Continent, she was awarded the 2023 Charlotte Maxeke Women in Media Award in April this year.
Lerato currently hosts the daily talk show and podcast titled “PowerTalk with Lerato Mbele” at PowerFM987, the influential business channel owned by the MSG Afrika Group.
Having presented the Africa Business Report on BBC World News television for 9 years, as host of its Africa-focused business shows “Talking Business Africa”, “In Business Africa” and “Africa Business Report”, and international documentaries such as “Follow the Food” Lerato’s brand is synonymous with business and opportunities in Africa.
Lydia Shadrach-Razzino
Lydia Shadrach-Razzino
Lydia Shadrach-Razzino is a partner in global law firm Baker McKenzie's Corporate M&A Practice Group in Johannesburg. Lydia focuses on public and private M&A and private equity transactions (across various industries, including telecommunications, retail, consumer, financial services, healthcare and mining). Lydia also advises on empowerment transactions, corporate governance, equity capital market transactions and general corporate finance. Her experience expands beyond South Africa, having advised on numerous cross-border transactions.
Mantuka Maisela
Mantuka Maisela
Japhtaline Mantuka Maisela is a respected Pension Fund Trustee and Human Resources Professional, who has contributed extensively in transformation within SA businesses as well as Pension Funds. She has served as a Trustee and Specialist Adviser at the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (the between 2003 and 2016 (the second largest fund in SA). Since 2017 Mantuka has been the Chairman of the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund, where she was also a member of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee as well as the Strategic Investment Committee.
During her tenure as a Chairman, she was instrumental in the transformation of the Fund in terms of Black owned Asset managers, especially women owned Asset Management Companies. 64,8% of Assets are being managed by Black Asset Managers. She is currently raising Funds for 10 Emerging Female Fund Managers and is proud to have raised $85 MILLION for the impact Fund launched at the UN in September 2022.
Her strong points as a Chair is to ensure that all Trustees understand their oversight role and are kept abreast with all legislation governing the fund as well as apply the rules of the Fund with honesty and integrity. Her skills as a Human Capital Professionals comes in handy in ensuring that there is stability amongst Trustees and clear delegation of Authority between the role of management and their Fiduciary Responsibility.
Marlon Parker
Marlon Parker
Marlon Parker is deeply committed to community, technology, and innovation, which has shaped his career and led to the creation of RLabs, a social enterprise that has reached over 60 million people in 24 countries. Recognised by Quartz as a leading African Innovator and named among the 100 World Class South Africans, Parker has also earned accolades as an honorary faculty member at the International School of Digital Transformation, an adjunct faculty at the UCT Graduate School of Business, a non-resident fellow at New York University, and a member of the GITEX Impact Council. His contributions to social entrepreneurship have garnered him prestigious titles such as a WEF Young Global Leader, a Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Fellow, a Dangote Fellow, and an Ashoka Fellow. Most recently, Parker has launched RLabs Capital, which focuses on investing in and managing a portfolio of scalable technology and impact-driven companies founded by underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Martine Botha
Martine Botha
Martine has worked across the not-for-profit, government and corporate sectors. She has experience working in various international markets including Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and South Africa. Martine is currently the Global Financial Services ESG Executive, reporting to the Global Head of Financial Services. Martine has been responsible for the development and execution of KPMG’s Go-To-Market strategy for ESG in Banking, Insurance, Private Equity and Asset Management. She has presented on ESG at various external events as well s the boards of several leading South African Banks.
Meta Mhlarhi
Meta Mhlarhi CA (SA)
Meta is an accomplished Chartered Accountant with a wealth of experience spanning over two decades. Meta is the Co-Founder of Mahlako Financial Services and Fund Principal for the R2 billion Mahlako Energy Fund, which targets investments in green hydrogen, gas, renewable energy and energy services. Her involvement in executing transactions and developing projects totalling over 500 MW demonstrates her instrumental role in driving growth and innovation within the energy sector.
Under her leadership, Mahlako has achieved remarkable success, with investments exceeding R20 billion since 2008 and advisory mandates totalling over R760 billion.
The Mahlako Energy Fund, has garnered significant recognition, including the prestigious ABSIP Best ESG Strategy Award and the NASP Africa Private Equity Award. Moreover, achieving Clear Glass Tier 1 status for two consecutive half-year periods, highlighting our commitment to excellence and sustainability in investment practices.
Furthermore, Meta's contributions extend beyond business success to include significant involvement in shaping policy and industry development. Her appointment to the Green Hydrogen Panel by the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition underscores her expertise and influence in driving sustainable energy initiatives at a national level. Additionally, Meta's entrepreneurial journey has been recognized through prestigious accolades, such as the Entrepreneur of the Year award by the African Women Chartered Accountants and her selection as a Woman of Fortitude, reflecting her commitment to excellence and leadership.
Notably, Meta is also a trailblazer in promoting diversity and inclusivity within the energy sector. As the Co-founder and Chairperson of the Black Energy Professionals Association (BEPA), she plays a vital role in advocating for the interests of black professionals and fostering radical economic transformation within the industry in South Africa. Through her leadership and initiatives like BEPA, Meta continues to drive positive change and empower underrepresented communities in the energy sector.
Morula Digoamaye
Morula Digoamaye
Morula Digoamaye serves as the Unlisted Investments Manager at the Government Employees Pension Fund ("GEPF"), where he has been entrusted with overseeing the implementation of the organisation's unlisted investments strategy. This includes managing the internally managed private equity portfolio of funds (Fund of Funds) and the portfolio of funds managed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) (Direct Unlisted Investments).
With nearly ten years of experience in financial services, Morula has garnered expertise in investment banking, investment management, and fund research. He commenced his career at Standard Chartered Bank in Johannesburg, where he was a transactor in the Africa-focused Leverage Finance team. Subsequently, he assumed a credit analyst role, covering financial institutions in the Southern Africa region.
Morula later joined Alex Forbes Investments as the lead fund research analyst, where he extensively covered alternative/unlisted investments and South Africa fixed-income fund strategies. His alternative investment coverage spanned sub-Saharan African private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and unlisted property investment strategies.
Nomvuyo Guma
Nomvuyo Guma
Nomvuyo Guma is the Chief Director for Microeconomic Policy at the National Treasury responsible for sectoral policy analysis and structural reforms and the Co-head of Operation Vulindlela (OV). OV is a joint initiative between the Presidency and the National Treasury to accelerate the implementation of priority structural reforms.
Ms. Guma is an economist with over 16 years of experience in economics, applied microeconomics, strategy, and policy development in both the public and private sectors and holds a Master’s degree in Economic Development and Policy Issues from the University of Johannesburg.
Since joining the National Treasury as a Director, she has helped to develop National Treasury policy positions on key policy issues and led work on Treasury’s economic reform paper titled Economic transformation, inclusive growth, and competitiveness: a contribution towards a growth agenda for the South African economy, as well as on government’s Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Programme (ERRP). Ms. Guma also represents the National Treasury on the board of the Youth Employment Service (YES) initiative as well as the Trade and industrial Strategies (TIPS) organisation.
Ofentse Pelle
Ofentse Pelle
Ofentse joined Sanari as one of the team’s senior investment executives in 2020, bringing a combination of entrepreneurial and corporate experience. With more than a decade in investment banking, private equity and venture capital in South Africa, Ofentse managed a boutique private equity firm, Frontier Impact Fund, before joining Sanari. Ofentse previously worked at Investec as a financial engineering consultant on the Equity Structuring team. Ofentse is a CFA Charterholder. He holds an MBA from INSEAD where his areas of interest were strategy, business model innovation and entrepreneurship.
Preshan Govinder
Preshan Govinder
Preshan Govinder is an experienced fintech & financial markets professional.
His career has spans several years at Refinitiv (an LSEG company) and Fidelity Information Services (FIS) were he led their Private Equity business across Sub Saharan Africa and Israel.
In his current role at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, he leads the Sales and Business Development function for their newly formed subsidiary, JSE Private Placements (JPP), a marketplace that aims to bring transparency and efficiency to Private Capital Markets by facilitating capital formation and liquidity.
The vision of JSE Private Placements business is to be the most effective way for private companies to raise and manage investments on the African continent.
Puleng Pitso
Puleng Pitso
Puleng is an investment specialist in Ninety One’s Emerging Market Alternative Credit team. She works primarily on the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and is responsible for, among others, credit analysis and due diligences, managing finance transactions, credit applications and reviews project and loan documentation, and origination of transactions.
Prior to joining the firm, Puleng was an associate transactor in Energy & Infrastructure Corporate Financing Solutions, Corporate Investment Banking at The Standard Bank of South Africa. Before that she was a manager in Power & Infrastructure financing, Deal Advisory at KPMG (SA); after completing her articles programme and being a senior accountant in the Consumer Markets and Technology, Audit division. She was also an investment analyst at Futuregrowth.
Puleng holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Economics and Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting from University of Cape Town and is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa).
Rory Ord
Rory Ord
Rory manages the 27four Black Business Growth Fund, the first and only fund of private equity funds focused on black owned and managed South African private equity funds. Rory also oversees all unlisted investments for 27four, a black, women owned multi-manager, with R60 billion under management and advice. Rory is acknowledged as an expert in the field of unlisted investments and has trained corporate and public sector investors on the nuances of unlisted investments across several countries. In 2010 he initiated industry wide performance reporting for the South African private equity industry in collaboration with SAVCA, and in 2012 he created and was lead author on the series of Bright Africa reports on African investment markets.
Dr Roy Havemann
Dr Roy Havemann
Roy leads Krutham’s financial sector policy and public economics practice in South Africa, specialising in public policy development, banking strategy and general economics. Roy has over twenty years of experience in the public and private sectors, with a 15-year career with National Treasury, spanning macroeconomic policy and financial sector policy, latterly as chief director of financial markets and stability. While at Treasury, he played a key role in several post-global financial crisis reforms, including introducing Twin Peaks, Basel III, the Financial Markets Act and the new recovery and resolution regime. Before that, he was at Deloitte with clients including Eskom, Transnet, Sanral and Sasol.
Most recently, Roy has worked on projects related to South Africa's just energy transition financing mechanism, developing a disaster risk financing framework for the South African government and developing regulatory guidelines for Rwanda's issuance of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSS+) bonds.
Roy obtained his PhD from Stellenbosch University and a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Sesethu Simelela
Sesethu Simelela
Sesethu Simelela is a portfolio manager at Thuso Incubation Partners. He is an experienced investment professional within the South African fund-of-funds industry and has served on the advisory boards of several private equity and infrastructure funds. Sesethu has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities available to managers raising first time private markets funds in South Africa. He is passionate about driving change in the industry and creating a more investor-friendly environment.
Setebe Hamilton Maponya
Setebe Hamilton Maponya
Setebe Hamilton Maponya is a Chartered Accountant with over a decade of experience since obtaining his qualification. He has gained substantial expertise in Private Equity and Venture Capital during his tenure at IDF Capital. Currently, he serves as the Investment Manager for the Alitheia IDF Fund, a $100 million Private Equity Fund that stands as the inaugural dedicated gender lens investing fund in Africa.
Shayne Krige
Shayne Krige
Shayne Krige is the Head of the Investment Funds practice area He also forms part of the Private Equity, Corporate Mergers Acquisitions and Technology Innovation practice areas Shayne specialises in investment funds private equity and international transactions His expertise covers the range of investment fund types from hedge funds, pension funds to private equity and venture capital funds extending to corporate/mergers acquisitions as well as corporate structuring Shayne has acted for investment funds fund managers and investors as well as major corporations seeking to invest into and out of South Africa and practised in Europe for 12 years.
Solly Matheba
Solly Matheba
Solly Matheba is a Trustee and Chairperson of the Tshwane Municipal Provident Fund (TMPF), having served as a member elected Trustee since 2009. During his tenure he has occupied various roles within the Fund and also completed various retirement industry courses through Batseta, ASISA, SAVCA, etc. Solly led the TMPF team through the implementation of its transformation strategy in 2019. He started his career as a Human Resource Management Practitioner where he moved through the ranks and gained experience in areas such as recruitment and selection, training and development, labour relations, labour law and Employment Equity. Solly later moved into strategic support roles where he focused in business planning, strategy development, risk management and corporate governance and organizational performance management.
Solly still remains passionate about people management, leadership, transformation and empowerment of others through training facilitation.
He has qualifications in Psychology (BA – Unisa and BA Hons - UP), Human Resource Management and Labour Law (PgD HRM - UJ and PgD Labour – UJ) and Business Leadership (Master of Business Leadership (MBL) – Unisa SBL).
Sydney Mhlarhi
Sydney Mhlarhi
Sydney Mhlarhi is a Partner of Tamela Capital Partners and a founded Tamela Holdings in 2008. He leads the firm’s mezzanine investment activities across sectors and is a member of the firm’s investment committee. Prior to Tamela he was Chief Investment Officer of Makalani Holdings Limited and a divisional director at Standard Bank. Tamela Capital Partners is one of the few credit-oriented alternative asset managers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on delivering attractive risk adjusted returns and capital preservation to its investors. The Tamela Mezzanine Debt Fund has assets under management of circa R1 billion. The Fund provides mezzanine and “quasi” equity investments for the financing of BEE transactions, infrastructure, leveraged and management buyouts and expansion/growth capital.
Tanya Goncalves
Warren van der Merwe
Tanya Goncalves (nee van Lill) joined Metier Investment and Advisory Services as Head of Investor Relations and Impact, after a rewarding career as the CEO of the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA). At Metier, Tanya focuses on building lasting relationships with current and future investors, and leading the ESG/Impact mandate for Metier to ensure the right frameworks and resources are in place to meet the firm’s impact objectives.
During her tenure at SAVCA her focus was on shaping the ongoing growth and success of Southern Africa’s private equity and venture capital sector, with a focus on supporting the diversity and transformation efforts of the sector.
Prior to SAVCA, Tanya fulfilled various roles at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), with her last role being that of Director of Academic Programmes. At GIBS, her speciality was learning design, focusing on management and leadership development across a wide range of sectors.
She holds a BCom Informatics and Honours in Business Management degrees from UNISA as well as a post-graduate diploma and MBA from GIBS. Her thesis was dedicated to the methodology behind developing a global mindset. As a strategic and creative thinker, Tanya’s interests lie in both human and organisational development, with the aim of shaping the ongoing growth and success of Southern Africa’s private equity sector. She is passionate about making a difference.
Tanya is a motor and fitness enthusiast, and has represented South Africa at the World Powerlifting Championships. She is a wife, and the mother of a stunning young man and two very rambunctious Australian Shepherds.
Tracey Austin
Tracey Austin
Tracey is please to collaborate and support the SAVCA 24 event - she has over 25 years of experience in banking and investing across Africa/other emerging markets. Having worked/partnered with a range of financial institutions, including British Investment International, Barclays, hedge fund BlueCrest Capital LLC, numerous Arab investment banks and The Omidyar Network – she has an appreciation of challenges across the African ecosystem. She leads the financial services Africa strategy for the UK’s Department for Business &Trade (Africa), leveraging the UK’s financial services and investment to support the mobilisation of capital into Africa.
You will find her between her native Cape Town and London, or in any one of the numerous African markets she covers, engaging with key investors, corporates, regulators and policy makers (amongst others) to address the pace of change and associated challenges with mobilising investment into Africa.
Tsepo Mandlazi
Tsepo Mandlazi
Tsepo Mandlazi is an Associate Principal within the Multi Management Private Markets team at the PIC.
He joined the PIC in 2022 and has over 12 years investment experience specialising in Multi-management within Private and Listed Markets, Manager Research as well as Portfolio Modelling, Construction and Management
Vuyo Ntoi
Vuyo Ntoi
Vuyo was appointed Co-Managing Director of AIIM in August 2020.Prior to moving into this role, Vuyo was the Co-Portfolio Manager of the R15-billion IDEAS Managed Fund, which primarily focuses on infrastructure investment and development assets in the SADC region. Vuyo holds several directorships, including positions on the boards of some of AIIM’s portfolio companies. He is also a Trustee of the Africa Infrastructure Developers Association (AFiDA). Vuyo holds degrees from UCT, Oxford University and IESE Business School. He has also completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and is and part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Warren van der Merwe
Warren van der Merwe
Warren is Managing Partner at Vantage Capital. He joined Vantage in 2007 as Chief Financial Officer, before moving into the Chief Operating Officer role and then into his current position as Managing Partner.
Warren is a qualified Chartered Accountant who served a year of academic articles at the University of Witwatersrand and then completed his articles at Arthur Andersen. He embarked on a banking career with Standard Bank in 2001 where he worked as Account Executive in the Corporate Banking division, a transactor in a new business development team and finally as a transactor in the bank’s acquisition finance team, before joining Vantage in 2007. He holds undergraduate, Honours and master’s degrees in commerce from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Yvonne Maitin
Yvone Maitin
Yvonne has Broad management, directorship, leadership and technical transaction execution experience gained over 20 years’ in financial services including 15 years’ in private equity and debt investment management working for various Pan-African and Global institutions including Actis Private Equity, Credit Suisse, Standard Bank, and the Liberty Group. She also has strong technical knowledge and deep experience in financial modelling, investment appraisal, deal structuring and execution across equity, debt and derivative instruments having held various positions across different divisions in Fund/Asset Management, Insurance, Investment Banking and Global Markets which included deal origination, company valuations, investment and financial analysis, strategic planning, derivatives structuring, private equity fund set-up, regulatory compliance, fundraising and Client Relationship Management (CRM) at an executive level engaging with CEOs, CFOs and Board of Directors of private and public sector, extensive travel across 10 African countries focusing on deal origination and new business development including presenting seminars and workshops to Pan-African Corporates and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) on derivatives structuring in the context of Asset and Liability Management (ALM) using interest and currency risk management instruments.
Yvonne led, structured and executed the first long-dated Cross-Currency Interest Rate Swap (CCIRS) transaction in the Ugandan market, recognized as ‘The Deal of the Year 2005’ across Standard Bank’s African operations for its innovation, profitability and success. She has a solid understanding of the SA macro-economic and socio-political landscape supported by a strong foundation formed in an Economic research environment, encompassing Economic analysis and Econometric Modelling.