Archives: Speakers

Emmanuel Haye 2021 Speaker

Emmanuel Haye Proparco

Mr. Emmanuel Haye serves as deputy head of the Financial Institutions Debt Group, covering Africa and Middle East, at Proparco, in Paris. Mr. Haye previously worked with PROPARCO and AFD in several African countries during 15 years. He started his career as Auditor with Deloitte. Mr. Haye holds a Master in Management Degree from EDHEC… Read more »

Benjamin Djoudalbaye 2021 Speaker

Benjamin Djoudalbaye

Dr. Djoudalbaye Benjamin, MD, MSc. MPH, Pg. Dipl. Infectious Diseases is Head of Policy and Health Diplomacy at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention with over 15 years of experience in Public Health in Africa. He has been appointed in May 2020 Executive Secretary of the African Union COVID-19 Response Fund. Before, he… Read more »

Obinna Onunkwo 2021 Speaker

Obinna Onunkwo

Mr Obinna Onunkwo currently has the following roles: MD/CEO Microfinance Development Company Ltd MD/CEO PurpleMoney Microfinance Bank Ltd D/CEO Purple Group Previous Roles: Chairman NAMB Technical Committee on Recapitalisation Vice Chairman NAMB Lagos Chapter Director Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc

Reemt Behrens 2021 Speaker

Reemt Behrens

Reemt Behrens has 10 years of experience in sustainable finance in the financial sector in Africa, having worked at KfW German Development Bank, Symbiotics Group and BlueOrchard Finance. Reemt has a particular focus on West Africa, but has been in charge of investments across the continent. As a senior investment professional, Reemt has worked with… Read more »

Laura Howlett 2021 Speaker

Laura Howlett

Experienced project manager and researcher with a particular enthusiasm for impact evaluation, Specialist in post-disaster shelter and settlements, including resilience building and area-based approaches.

Nigel Topping 2021 Speaker

Nigel Topping

Nigel Topping is the UN’s High-Level Climate Action Champion, appointed by the UK Prime Minister in January 2020. Nigel works alongside the Chilean High-Level Climate Action Champion, Gonzalo Muñoz. The role of the high-level champions is to strengthen collaboration and drive action from businesses, investors, organisations, cities, and regions on climate change, and coordinate this… Read more »

Dario Giuliani 2021 Speaker

Dario Giuliani

Dario is the founder and director of Briter Bridges, a leading research and business intelligence platform dedicated to underserved markets. Prior to Briter, Dario supported research efforts at the crossroads with technology, finance, and socio-economic development, working alongside names such as the GSMA, CDC Group plc, Oxford University, the IFC, and MEST. Dario mainly works… Read more »

Susie Scannelli Cook 2021 Speaker

Susie Scannelli Cook

Susie is based in London and oversees Empower’s investment process at the project and portfolio level. She is a seasoned specialist in all aspects of development finance, from debt structures and equity investments, to raising capital through bond issuances and investments funds. She has worked on complex projects across Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Balkans, Africa… Read more »

Manuel Batz 2021 Speaker

Manuel Batz

Director Middle East & Africa Bioprocessing within Life Science Division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, since 2016. Before that held various market development and regional management leadership roles in the Life Science sector with focus on emerging markets, namely Middle East & Africa as well as Latin America.

Chris Wehbe 2021 Speaker

Chris Wehbe

Chris Wehbé is the Chief Executive Officer of Lendable. Previously, he was a Partner of Arrowgrass Capital Partners where he served as Head of Relative Value globally for the multi-strategy firm, overseeing the Convertible Arbitrage, Volatility Arbitrage, and Capital Structure Arbitrage strategies. He also served as Chief Investment Officer for the firm’s tail-hedging product the… Read more »