London, England, United Kingdom
Financial sector experience, at a director level, in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, for 20 years, and in the government sector. CEO experience – FSD Africa, FinMark Trust (see below). Comprehensive understanding of policy environment and commercial trends in financial markets in developing countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Strong, current networks in donor and microfinance community, among policymakers and regulators in sub-Saharan Africa and in the consultancy profession. Strong conceptual thinker but results-orientated. Specialties: Broad financial sector expertise, especially in corporate finance. Programme management, policy-related advocacy, research.
From November 2012, I will be starting full time as Director of FSD Africa, based in Nairobi. This is a major new programme funded initially by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) which aims to build the capacity of financial service providers, supporting innovation, facilitating skills, knowledge and technology transfers and increasing coordination between markets. The end objective is to improve financial access by dealing with systemic capacity constraints. I will work closely with the other financial deepening trusts that DFID has helped to set up across Africa, especially those in East Africa,but also Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and elsewhere.
Engaged in a variety of consulting roles in financial sector development, once again focused on Africa and especially access to financial services. Current focus areas - SME banking, gender and finance, financial sector programme development. Also helping to develop a new institutional concept to support innovation systems development in East Africa: this aims to build the competitiveness of key industry sectors by helping companies access and use transformative technologies and innovative business approaches by companies.
Appointed to establish a new division within CDC to incubate new business approaches which will result in CDC exploring investment opportunities that are highly developmental in character but which are nevertheless both profitable and scalable. The division will be focussed on sectors that have clear developmental relevance (eg agri-business, SME) and will target geographies and markets where there is a clear financing gap. The division will look to collaborate with a variety of institutional types such as donor organisations and foundations, banks and private equity providers as well as commercial organisations not in the financial sector. Secured Board approval for a strategic plan that included a substantial budget for direct and indirect investments and for hiring a core investment team. Built pipeline of investment opportunities mainly in East and Central Africa. Led CDC team developing an impact investment fund of funds, a collaboration between DFID and CDC that aims to bring capital to funds investing in bottom-of-the-pyramid markets to achieve development impact at scale.
Independent consultant specialising in financial sector development, with a particular focus on Africa. Retained as a Senior Consultant by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). Projects included designing a financial sector programme in Nigeria for DFID Nigeria, leading a supply side study of financial inclusion for DFID Rwanda, facilitating a financial capability workshop for BMZ/GTZ, in-depth SME research in South Africa for the World Bank, agriculture finance-related research for the Gatsby Foundation in Tanzania and a toolkit for DFID on financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment. Appointed as Development Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, a post funded by DFID and Citigroup to promote the international development finance agenda within the City of London. Chairman of Investment Panel of the Financial Education Fund, a donor-funded initiative supporting financial literacy in Africa. Served as a Technical Advisory Board member for the World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion Indicators Project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
FinMark Trust is a non-profit organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its mission is "making financial markets work for the poor". Operating across Africa, it is primarily a research and advocacy based organisation which aims to improve access to financial services for the poor. It has a particularly strong reputation in the field of access measurement: its FinScope tool has now helped to catalyse financial product innovation and policy change in over 15 African countries. During my time at FinMark, we enjoyed strong and productive relationships with senior finance ministry and central bank officials in several African countries. We collaborated closely with bilateral and multilateral donors and private foundations. I was also responsible, as commissioning editor, for the book "Real Money, New Frontiers - Case studies of financial innovation in Africa', profiling successful examples of innovation by profit-seeking companies at the base of Africa's financial pyramid.