Stella Kilonzo MBS, is the Founder of Astute Capital, an advisory company specializing in capital markets development, strategic policy, research & regulatory advice and infrastructure finance. Stella is a Senior Advisor, Policy and Regulatory, for Africa Exchange Holdings Ltd, a private-­‐ sector partnership that seeks to transform Africa’s capital markets and that launched the East Africa Exchange, a commodity exchange in Rwanda.

Stella currently serves on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Global Financial System that explores how to build a more stable global economic system. She serves on the Boards as Non-­‐Executive Director of the following publicly listed companies: Athi River Mining Ltd, Liberty Holdings Kenya Ltd and UBA Capital Plc.

Stella is the former Chief Executive, Capital Markets Authority Kenya where she implemented various key reforms thus igniting vibrancy in the Kenyan and East African capital markets and creating an enabling environment for capital raising and investment. Stella was the Chairperson of the East African Securities Regulators (EASRA) from 2008 to 2010. She has previously worked for FINRA in USA, the largest independent regulator, and PwC Kenya in Corporate Finance Advisory.

Stella has served as Non-Executive Director in several boards notably Kenya’s National Economic and Social Council of Kenya (NESC), Kenya’s top advisory body to the Government; Kenya’s Vision 2030 Delivery Board; and the WEF Global Agenda Council on Banking & Capital Markets.

Stella is a Fellow of Africa Leadership Initiative East Africa & Aspen Global Leadership Network, USA from 2010. Stella has an MBA, Corporate Finance, Loyola University Chicago & First Class Honors Bachelor of Commerce, Catholic University of Eastern Africa and is a CPA (USA).

Stella has received recognition as follows:

• 2012 International Alliance for Women 2012 World of Difference 100 Award;
• 2010 Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) decorated by the President of Kenya for contributing to national economic development and being a role model for the youth;
• 2011 Forbes 20 Youngest Powerful Women in Africa; •
• 100 most influential people in Africa (New African June 2011); •
• 2011 Crans Montana Forum New Leader for Tomorrow.

Dr. Laila Macharia 39, is principal of Scion Real, a Nairobi-based advisory and investment firm focused on real estate and infrastructure.  In addition to her rich background in investment services, Dr. Macharia has wide experience managing international projects and transactions including at the New York office of Clifford Chance, a leading global law firm, and at Kaplan & Stratton in Nairobi.

She also has a strong track record leading constructive change in the private and public sectors. At USAID’s regional mission in East Africa, for instance, she led an effort to restructure, regionalize and regulate the freight industry along the Northern Corridor.

She is currently the Chairman of the Kenya Private Developers Association, a Trustee and Former Chairman of the Lollipop Project, the Vice Chairman of the Republican Club of Kenya and a director of several private companies.

Dr. Macharia is a corporate finance lawyer admitted to practice in Kenya as well as in New York and Maryland (USA). She holds a B.A in Planning and several law degrees including a doctorate in law from Stanford University (USA).

The Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat is responsible for spearheading the implementation of the Vision 2030 - A national blueprint and strategy aimed at making Kenya a newly industrialized, middle income country capable of providing a high quality of life for all its citizens by the year 2030.

As the Founder of Miliki Ventures (a strategy execution firm), Mugo has a strong track record in business leadership and change management. Most recently, as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of East African Cables, he transformed a small Kenyan company into a regional blue chip firm with presence in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. In less than 4 years, he drove the company’s market share value from US$8 million to US$150 million.

Past experience includes marketing and engineering roles at Lucent Technologies in the US, Bamburi Cement (Lafarge Coppee) and Kenya Petroleum Refineries (Shell Petroleum) in Mombasa, Kenya. In addition to several corporate board positions, Mugo was until recently the National Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Kenya Employers, a Director of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, an Alternate Director of the East African Business Council and a Director of the apex private sector body – the Kenya Private Sector Alliance.  Mugo is also the Vice Chairman of the newly chartered Mombasa Polytechnic University Council.

Mugo has a B.Tech, Electrical Engineering from Moi University, a Masters degree in Technology Management from MIT, an MBA (Business Finance) from the George Washington University and studied European Union Economics at Oxford University. Mugo is a Member of the Bretton Woods Committee as well as one of the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum.

Winnie is Managing Director of Lattice Consulting Limited, a Kenyan corporate finance, project finance and strategy advisory firm.  Winnie is co-founder of this consultancy practice, which has gained a regional reputation for technical excellence.  As the lead consultant, Winnie works mainly as a valuation specialist and as a strategy adviser.  Winnie also runs training courses for senior executives in strategy, corporate finance and financial analysis, and works with a prestigious portfolio of clients in the region.

Previously, Winnie worked at First Africa Capital (a boutique investment bank) where her assignments included valuation and corporate restructuring.  She worked for three years as an Associate Director at Standard & Poor’s carrying out credit ratings on major insurance companies in North America.

She holds an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management as well as a B Comm. (Hons) from the University of Nairobi.  She has successfully completed the examinations required for registration as a Certified Public Accountant (Kenya).

The ATMs Foundation  is one of two entities of the ATMS Project of United Nations Development Program which was set up to assist African Enterprises become globally competitive, and sustainable and profitable.  The Foundation oversees the grant award administration to deserving enterprises on a cost sharing basis in support of their management and capacity building interventions, whilst the other entity of the Project – AMSCO handles the implementation. 

Prior to joining the ATMS Project, worked in the private sector in Uganda with Bankom – an ICT company dealing with bank interconnectivity.  While at Bankom, Pauline helped in the expansion and growth of the business through creation of partnerships with banks and this was greatly enhanced through her past experience in Kenya working with the first e-commerce company – African Lakes Technologies where she again rose from head of Business Development to being the General Manager of the Kenya office.

Pauline has also worked with the United Nation Industrial Development Programme in Kenya with oversight in several countries and also the United Nations Development Programme in programme management.  One of the Project’s Pauline Managed whilst with UNIDO was the Africa recipient of UNIDO’s Sustainable Industrial Development Award in 1995.

Pauline holds an MBA in Strategy and International Business, a Bachelors in Business Education, and a Marketing Diploma amongst other qualifications and is currently passionate about leadership development and contributing to society in a significant way

As Managing Director, Jeremy is responsible for governance and growing the banks brand and franchise across Tanzania. The Bank is the largest international bank in the country and is a fully fledged commercial bank offering retail banking as well as Wholesale banking and Treasury services. In the last 2 years the bank has grown substantially delivering record revenues and profits and expanding its operations. Jeremy joined Standard Chartered Bank Group in Kenya in1997 and prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of SCBTL he has worked in several senior positions in the bank including being Regional Sales Director, Middle East, South Asia and Africa (23 countries), Head of Consumer Banking, United Arab Emirates, Board Director (Standard Chartered Bank Kenya) and Head of Consumer Banking East Africa. Whilst with the bank he has participated in a number of interesting assignments including due diligence cases and been an Integration Lead Executive for an acquisition in Pakistan (acquired Union Bank). More recently he is working on the acquisition and integration of Barclays Custody business in Tanzania. Whilst in his various roles he has launched and grown many new products and brands in multiple markets.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered Group he worked as a consultant in Strategy, Business Management and Finance in Canada, and before that he worked in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK.  He thrives in an entrepreneurial environment and has experience in settling up and running a number of businesses in Kenya and the UK.

He is married with three children. 

Academically he qualified as a pharmacist at Manchester University, United Kingdom and then later on completed an MBA (Finance and International Business) from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 

Richard Mugisha, 40, is the Managing partner of Trust Law Chambers based in Kigali- Rwanda which he founded in February 2004. The firm specializes in Commercial work and has been involved in most major commercial transactions in the country.

Prior to establishing the firm, he was the Director, Procurement Policy and Legal affairs at the Rwanda National Tender Board for a period of five years. During this period, he also doubled as a State attorney and an alternate member of the Privatization Commission. 

While in Private Legal Practice, Richard was appointed to serve on several committees by the Government of Rwanda. From September 2005 to December 2007, he served as the Chairman of the Commercial Law Reform Task Force which over saw the drafting of 14 new commercial laws including the Companies Act, the establishment of a Specialized Commercial Court system and a Commercial Registration Services Agency. In June 2005, Richard was appointed as a member of the National Regional Integration Committee where he was very instrumental in the negotiations which led to Rwanda’s accession to the East African Community.  In January 2007, Richard also served as a member of the Financial Sector Development Steering Committee.

In the academic domain, he has taught and conducted tutorials at the National University of Rwanda and Kigali Institute of Management, Science and Technology. He is a member of the Governing Council of the Rwanda Bar Association and the Disciplinary Committee of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Rwanda. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Banque Commerciale du Rwanda.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA), a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) from the National University of Lesotho and a Master of Laws (LLM) from New York University.

Leslie is based in Kenya, with accountability for the BAT Group’s results in 15 markets. He was previously Regional Head of Information Technology – Africa and the Middle East with BAT at the Company’s London, United Kingdom Headquarters, since July 2007. During that time he also took responsibility for co-coordinating the improvement of the Company’s regional Supply Chain under a new business model. Preceding this, he served for three years on the board of BAT South Africa, as Director Corporate Strategy and Planning and in 2005 as Chief Information Officer also.

Prior to BAT, he worked for Anglo American, a leading global resources company, where he held several management positions in Information Technology. These were in its Operations in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Leslie was educated in Zimbabwe, holds a Diploma in Information Processing from the Christian College of Southern Africa and has participated in numerous leadership development programmes.

He is a past Executive Committee member of the Communications Users Association of South Africa (2001), and of the South African Institute of Directors (IOD) Western Cape Committee (2005).

Andrew Rugege, a veteran of 24 years in the Information Technology field is currently the Chief Operating Officer of MTN Rwanda. Responsible for company revenues and subscriber growth, he also has Marketing, Customer Care, Sales and Distribution, Data Services and Interconnect portfolios under his watch. MTN Rwanda is part of the 21 operations of the MTN Group in Africa and Middle-East.

Prior to MTN, Andrew held other leadership positions including CEO of Artel Communications, a VSAT-based Rural Telecommunications services provider also in Rwanda, Director of International Business Development at ABSinteractive in Washington D.C. and Global IT Services Coordinator for the United Bible Societies, Reading, England.

Andrew believes that through public/ private partnerships, MTN can lead other service providers in Africa and Middle-East to reach areas not yet explored with affordable and sustainable telecommunications and other ICT solutions.

Andrew is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Office of Public Transport. He is also the immediate past Chairman of both the Board of Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority and the Rwanda ICT Association. Andrew’s formal training is in Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science & Business Administration, for which he holds Masters Degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen in Scotland and Marist College in New York respectively.

Rosette has been actively involved in Travel and Tourism for the past 16 years beginning with Euro Star, and then British Airways before returning to her native Rwanda to spearhead a revitalization of the Tourism Industry as Director General of Rwanda Tourism (ORTPN) and later as Deputy CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB). During her seven years at ORTPN and RDB, she oversaw the transformation of Rwanda Tourism from a primarily single-product industry attracting 13,000 visitors annually into a multifaceted one drawing over 790,000. As a result, Rwanda is now one of the most sought after destinations and tourism is now the leading foreign exchange earner for the country.

One notable achievement was the role she played in the establishment of the Transboundary agreement with Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo which outlines the transboundary management of the Mountain Gorilla population, utilization of revenue earned and the establishment of the Greater Virunga Transboundary Secretariat.

Rosette’s other responsibilities  included being chairperson of Prime Holdings, Board member Rwanda  Tourism board and Rwanda Investment authority. Currently she serves on the board of Akagera Management Company and member of African Leadership in conservation.

Rosette established Songa Africa in March 2010 as vehicle she could use to take her knowledge, share her experience and determined energy across Africa in pursuit of responsible Tourism and conservation of our natural resources.

Rosette holds a Bachelor’s   degree in Political science and French from Makerere University, Uganda .She is married to Henry with three children, Matthew 21, Henrietta 19 and Zachary 7.

Equip is an advisory firm which assists clients to manage business risks, improve efficiency and drive disciplined performance. Equip does business in various countries in Africa with offices in Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam. Prior to starting Equip in 2006, Dave was Senior Audit Manager at Absa Group Limited (a member of Barclays Group), which is one of the largest financial services group in South Africa. While at Absa, Dave was responsible for to audit of information systems and Information Technology Strategic Projects. He was closely involved with Absa / Barclays integration in 2005. Prior to that, he was working with KPMG. He was involved in audits of large and medium-sized organisations before being appointed to establish the Information Risk Management Department (IRM). From March 1998 to 2004, he rose from Junior Consultant to Manager.

Dave is a prominent speaker at the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA) conferences and workshops internationally and locally. He was a member of King III Committee for Corporate Governance (South Africa) – IT Governance Work stream.

He holds a B.Com (Hons) from University of Dar es Salaam, is a Certified Information System Auditor (CISA), member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) – Southern Africa, Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Information Systems Audit & Control (ISACA) and Project Management Institute (PMI).

Lawrence Mafuru, 38, a Certified Chartered Banker from the Chartered Institute of Bankers London and a Certified Treasury Dealer by ACI Financial Markets International, Lawrence started his career at  Standard Chartered 1998 as bank clerk in International Trade Finance before moving to Corporate Banking Department as Corporate Service Officer in 2000 and he was one of the pioneers of Cash Management (Transactional Banking) Services in Standard Chartered Tanzania and worked in various capacities in that area up to the level of  as Business Development Manager- Cash Management focusing on Product Sales and client acquisition in 2003. In September 2003 he worked in the bank’s Global Markets (Treasury) as a Corporate Sales Dealer where he was involved in global Treasury products sales. Lawrence was promoted to the post Head of Sales- Rates and Foreign Exchange in 2005.He was the first Treasury Dealer in Tanzania to trade in the first TZS denominated currency option in Tanzania thus making the Tanzania shilling the 3rd African currency to be traded in global options. He was also instrumental in the development of the derivatives markets in Tanzania since he was actively involved in the introduction of the first interest rate derivatives in this market. His in-depth knowledge of the local and global financial market is very instrumental to his success.

Lawrence was appointed the Head of Treasury for NBC in August 2007, the position he held until 1st June 2010 when he was appointed the Managing Director of NBC. Lawrence is married to Noela and they are blessed with two daughters.

As Vice President and Managing Director, my roles are two fold, on the one hand, I am responsible for governing our commercial undertakings across Sub-Sahara Africa ensuring that we secure profitable business; equally my role as Managing Director is to provide the business focus in terms of strategic business direction in the Telecommunications Sector in South Africa; by identifying key drivers for the business growth and driving new services and verticals; Ericsson today, boast a global market share of about 45% in the telecommunications infrastructure and services and a similar market share in our Region.

Prior to my taking on my current role, I was the Key account Director for MTN Region West, responsible for our Business with MTN in West Africa, primarily in Nigeria, Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville for a period of about five years; during my tenure I oversaw the expansive growth of telecommunications services in Nigeria, especially with MTN Nigeria growing from 5 million subscribers in 2005 to 35 million subscribers by 2010.

Magnus earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Reading and has acquired extensive business and managerial knowledge during his working life.

Awel Uwihanganye is a serial Social entrepreneur with a passion for championing positive change projects. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of LéO Africa Forum, an initiative championing the realization of the 21st century African opportunity. He is also the Founder of the Young Achievers Awards, a platform recognizing and rewarding outstanding contribution of young entrepreneurs and leaders.

In the recent past he served as the Chief Executive Officer Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the largest private sector body representing interests of business and industry sectors.

Previously, he worked as Founder, & Director Operations, Concordia Volunteer Abroad program (CVAP), an international internship program focused on bridging cultural divides between the West and Africa.

He spends part of his time reading on leadership and contemporary global politics, and is working on his first literal project with the working title, “Learning to lead; lessons from ALI”.

He has had the privilege of serving as a Board member of the Board of Directors, Capital Markets Authority, National Planning Authority, and serves as Founding Chairman Concordia Volunteer Abroad program Uganda.

Awel’s accomplishments are recognized through numerous awards including the Forces Avenir Award, as a 2013 TEDx Speaker on Youth and the African promise. He is considered among a category of emerging generation of leaders in Africa, of highly successful, entrepreneurial individuals, from business, government and civil society, through of the Aspen Institute/African leadership Initiative, as a fellow. 

David has over ten years of professional Experience in legal advisory and consulting in East Africa. He acts as the Departmental Head, Finance, Banking and Corporate Practice. He also is in charge of the firm’s finance and administration department.

Prior to joining KAA, David was Legal Services Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Uganda. In this role he provided tax and legal advisory services to PricewaterhouseCoopers and its clients.

David also worked with Dfcu Group as a Senior Legal Executive, deputizing the Group Head of Legal Services and Corporation Board Secretary. David’s work goes beyond borders with his extensive experience in the region, especially in Tanzania and Kenya, in corporate practice, financial services and banking.

He currently plays well respected roles as to the operation of well established highly regarded companies in the banking sector where he has acted as engagement leader for several syndicated facilities for some of the top banks and other corporate. He is a member of The Uganda Law Society (ULS), East African Society (EALS) and The Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda (ICGU)

Frederick has 20 years experience in corporate finance.  He is a co-founder and Director of Finance of Quality Chemicals Ltd, Uganda’s leading distributor of life science products.  He is also co-founder, Chief Finance Officer and Director of Quality Chemical Industries Ltd, the first pharmaceutical manufacturing facility to receive WHO pre-qualification for good manufacturing practices in Sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa. He has been involved in a number of other ground breaking transactions, the most recent of which is the successful implementation of this pioneering Pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Africa.

Frederick’s ambition is to start pioneering businesses that have a strong social impact. His next project is to build a world class University in Uganda to cater for the ever growing number of high school leavers in Africa.  He believes that the only way to get Africa out of backwardness and poverty is through education, investment and trade. Frederick is a graduate of the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom where he studied his B.Com in Accounting and Financial Management.

Rehmah is an entrepreneur running her own business Century Marketing, a marketing agency which was established in 1998. She started an Organization CEDA International which supports leadership, entrepreneurship, personal and business development. She is a Marketer and a certified Enterprise Development Consultant with International Trade Center (ITC) Geneva supporting competitiveness and sustainability through business management systems. She is a Writer in newspaper focusing on personal and business development.

She is a trained Mentor with a passion for career planning, leadership and social entrepreneurship as one of the ways of empowering girls and women through the Women Mentoring Women program. Rehmah possess a wealth of experience in Strategic Planning, Brand Management and Marketing, Business and Entrepreneur development, Communication and Public Relations, Motivational Speaking and Business Management having worked with local and international businesses as a Strategic Manager and Business Counselor.

She was the National Consultant that spearheaded the designing of the National Export Strategy – Gender Dimension, a government initiative that supports women to enter the export sector. She is the first Ugandan Alumni of the Fortune/US State Global Mentoring Program 2009 which she attended in Washington Dc and New York. Rehmah has been chosen to represent Uganda in the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship Summit in Washington DC in April 2010. She serves on a number of Boards and is a member of various national and international associations and networks