Simba Marekera 2019 Speaker

Head of Investment Solutions

Brightlight Group

Biography

Simba is a seasoned impact investment executive focuses on financing businesses that empower underserved and financially excluded communities and individuals. Simba has more 12 years’ experience in financial services, including 5 years managing an Australian pension fund’s alternatives, fixed income and impact investment portfolios. He has extensive experience in researching and carrying out due diligence on a broad range of impact investment deals across asset classes including infrastructure real estate private equity and credit/private debt, both in developed and developing markets.

A distinguished Yale University graduate, Simba has a Masters of Applied Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He is also the co-founder and Chair of Ignition Impact: an angel investor network focused on facilitating small private equity and debt investments in SMEs and Social Enterprises in key growth sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa.