BANKING ON EMERGING MARKETS FORUM AND EUROKNOWLEDGE AWARD RECEPTION

Godwin Emefiele is the current governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a Nigerian Economist born on August 4, 1961, in Lagos State, Nigeria. He hails from Ika South, Agbor Region of Delta State, Nigeria.

Godwin Emefiele is the serving governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He came into the office for his first tenure on June 4, 2014, after which he was confirmed for a second tenure on Thursday, May 16, 2019. He is the first two-term governor of CBN since Nigeria returned to Democracy. 

So far in his tenure as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Emefiele has performed excellently. Some of his outstanding feats as the governor of CBN include:

• Maintained a strong and stable Naira despite the drop in crude oil price and Covid 19 pandemic
• The hugely successful Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP)
• The Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL)
• The National Food Security Programme (NFSP)
• The Paddy Aggregation Scheme (PAS)
• The Agri-Business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS);
• The Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS);
• Youth Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (YEDP);
• The Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF); and
• The Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF) and Export Development Facility (EDF)
• National Collateral Registry (NCR)
• Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI)

Experience in the Private Sector

Before joining the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele has had over 26 years of experience in commercial banking. During those years, he was a Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank PLC, a position he held from August 2010 to June 2014.

He also held the position of Deputy Managing Director at Zenith bank from 2001 to August 2010. Emefiele held other notable management positions during his time at Zenith Bank Plc, including the Bank’s Executive Director in Corporate Banking, Financial Control, and Strategic Planning.

His outstanding achievements at Zenith Bank Plc include: 

His leadership strengthened Zenith Bank’s position as a leading financial institution in Africa

His leadership made Zenith Bank become a recognized financial institution with substantial endorsements at home and abroad.

His leadership brought Zenith Bank to high-quality performance in key areas such as service delivery, corporate governance, and deployment of innovative ICT.

Mr. Godwin Emefiele also lectured Finance, Bank Management, and Insurance at the University of Nigeria and the University of Port Harcourt before starting his banking career.

Educational Background

Godwin Emefiele completed his primary education in 1973 at Ansa-U-Den Primary School, Igbosere (Now known as Government Primary School, Victoria Island), Lagos. After which, he attended Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Ikeja, Lagos, and graduated with a West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1978.

He proceeded to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to earn a B.Sc. Degree in Finance (1984) and an MBA in Finance (1986), respectively. Emefiele is also an alumnus of Executive Education at Stanford University, Harvard (2004), and Wharton School of Business (2005). 

Marie-France Malangu Kabedi Mbuyi is a Congolese economist (DRC), governor of the central bank of Congo since July 5, 2021. Appointed by the President of the Republic Felix Tshisekedi and officially accedes to her new position on July 19, 2021 during a handover and resumption with her predecessor

Kabedi-Mbuyi is the 13th person to occupy the seat of governor of the BCC. She is the first woman to head such an institution in Central Africa and continental French-speaking Africa. She joins an extremely small circle of women leaders who have ever held the position of central bank governor.

Born on February 1, 1958 in Kananga in the province of Kasaï-Occidental, Malangu Kabedi is the first woman to be appointed governor of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) since the creation of this institution. His predecessor Deogratias Mutombo Mwana Nyembo was appointed in 2013 by President Joseph Kabila8.

A graduate of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, before being appointed head of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC), Malangu Kabedi first worked for a year at the Centre for Applied Economics of the Université libre de Bruxelles, for two years at the Banque du Zaire (now BCC) in the Department of Studies.

She spent a very large part of her professional career at the IMF (International Monetary Fund) where for thirty-two years she held positions such as: Deputy Head of Division and Head of Mission for some five countries, Director of the IMF Regional Technical Assistance Center for West Africa, IMF Resident Representative in Benin and Cameroon , Assistant to the Director of the Africa Department, Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for French-speaking African Countries on the IMF Executive Board

Mrs. Vera Esperança dos Santos Daves de Sousa is the first woman to be appointed as Minister of Finance in Angola. Until the date of her appointment she was Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury. She has worked as finance technician at Sonangol ESSA, Director of the Products and Research Office in Banco Privado Atlântico, Lecturer of Financial Markets at the Executive MBA promoted by the Catholic Business School Alliance, Lecturer of Public Finance and Economic Integration at UCAN – Business School. From 2014 to 2016 she was the Executive Director of the Capital Market Commission and from September 2016 to October 2017 she was Chairman of the Capital Market Commission.

Dapo Olowe is Principal Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Aligniant Consulting LLC, a global strategic business-aligned cyber security and compliance solution provider based out of Washington, DC. Dapo Olowe founded Aligniant Consulting in 2016, and since its inception, his passion to help and serve U.S. businesses (and their third-party partners and CPA firms) navigate the complexities of their specific audit and security assessment needs to prevent cyber threats and reduce risk, turning their security into a competitive edge.

With over 15 years of experience, he has provided professional services in financial auditing and cyber security assessment, risk management and regulatory compliance for the US Government Agencies and Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries, including Banking & Finance, Insurance, Technology, Biopharmaceutical, Manufacturing, Aerospace, and Life-Sciences.

Dapo advises businesses and organizations on topics and issues relating to cyber defense, threats to operational technologies (OT), cyber security risks associated with mergers and acquisitions, FinTech Cybersecurity Risks and Challenges, and Cyber policy strategy.

Dapo has a master’s degree in Information Technology with a specialization in Information Assurance from the University of Maryland, University College. He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE).

Melissa Cook, Founder and Managing Director, African Sunrise Partners LLC Melissa Cook is a longtime proponent of investing and doing business in Africa. Since 2007, Ms. Cook has made more than 50 trips to 16 countries on the continent. She publishes thought-provoking, insightful research for subscribers, and offers advisory services to corporate clients. Her corporate work currently involves the rail sector, food manufacturing, and feasibility studies in the telecommunications and technology sectors. Melissa is particularly interested in countries undergoing significant political and economic change, and she provides candid, balanced views of the challenges and opportunities she sees on the continent. Ms. Cook has more than 30 years of global investment research and business experience. Before starting her work in Africa, she had a front-row seat watching the emergence of new economies in Eastern Europe and China. Ms. Cook covered several sectors as an equity analyst at Wall Street firms. These included

Olayinka Fayomi is a Foreign Direct Investment consultant and Group Chairman, Foreign Investment Network (FIN), producers of the foremost investment journal, FIN Magazine. Mrs. Fayomi holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, B.Sc. [Hons] in Economics and National Diploma in Business Computer Science.

Mrs. Fayomi is an accomplished professional with over 35 years of multisectoral experience cutting across public, private and not-for-profit , her global reach is not limited to Africa, Europe, and America. She is a pioneer and former Director of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, under the Presidency of Nigeria, among many awards, she was recently recognized as the leading FDI expert by the UNIPGC

In 2019, Olayinka, a philanthropist, business advisor to several African countries on FDI, joined the likes of Barack Obama, Sir Paul McCartney, Maya Angelou, Will Smith, David Beckham, David Cameron and hundreds of global figures who have added handwritten messages in the UK House of Commons book of Tribute Messages to a 20th Century Hero, Nelson Mandela.

FIN’s last event in November 2021 at Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, attracted the biggest global investors bringing in a pledge of 2 billion dollar investments to Africa and 1 Billion dollars to majestic coin, one of the event sponsors.

 Mrs. Fayomi founded the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Network in 2004, her capacity building activities with youth and women groups earned her a global recognition from the Financial Standard Newspaper and GC4W as the ‘Most Dynamic Nigerian Female in Diaspora’ in 2007 and ‘Global Women Champion for Leadership in Business and Entrepreneurship in America.

She also founded the African Youth & Women Empowerment Network in Liberia, an NGO dedicated to capacity building, entrepreneurship and empowerment of youth and women in Africa. Through her dedication and hard work, Foreign Investment Network (FIN) has about 20,000 members in her database with over 5,000 potential investors.

She is married to Ambassador Akin Fayomi and they are blessed with 4 children, they have together served in many countries including Brazil, South Korea, Liberia, Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, China, France and Monaco, she has visited over 88 countries

on.

Advisor to   Euroknowledge an international strategic communications consultancy and a trusted advisor to many of the world’s leading businesses, governments and financial institutions − often during critical stages in their development.

Andreas is also the Senior Vice President at Palladium Capital Group, LLC

High impact and creative executive with over 25+ years experience delivering results in investment selection, portfolio management, and client relations for multi-billion dollar organizations; with subject matter expertise in market, credit, operational, model, and cyber risk management. Intellectually agile strategist and problem solver with broad based business knowledge and a keen ability to see the tactical and the potential. Change agent able to communicate ideas, overcome resistance and influence key stake holders.

Demonstrated leadership skills, building teams, and enabling others to exceed potential. Possesses entrepreneurial drive and exceptional analytical and quantitative skills. Multi-lingual professional who has lived and worked in Chicago, Boston, New York, Zurich, Luxembourg, Vienna, Tokyo, and Singapore.

Hon Ken Ofori-Atta, assumed office as Ghana’s Finance Minister on January 27, 2017. He brings to the Ministry over 30 years’ experience in Ghanaian and international financial sector.

He was a Co-Founder and former Chairman of the Databank Group (an investment banking firm) in Ghana. He was the Executive Chairman from 1990 until his retirement on February 14, 2012.

Prior to co-founding Databank in 1990, the Hon Minister was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Salomon Brothers on Wall Street in New York.  He has other business interests in Insurance, Retail Banking, Private Equity, Micro finance, Pharmaceuticals and Real Estate.

Hon. Ofori-Atta was the first African to be honoured as a Donaldson Fellow at Yale University in 2010, a John Jay Fellow at Columbia University in 2011 and also a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. He is a Co-Founder of the Aspen African Leadership Initiative.

He was also the first African to testify at the US Congress Ways and Means Committee to support the AGOA law. He was twice honoured by PriceWaterHouse Ghana as one of the Top 5 Most Respected CEOs in Ghana.

He went to Achimota School in Accra, Ghana; received a BA in Economics from Columbia University in New York and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

He is married with four children

Hon Ken Ofori-Atta, assumed office as Ghana’s Finance Minister on January 27, 2017. He brings to the Ministry over 30 years’ experience in Ghanaian and international financial sector.

He was a Co-Founder and former Chairman of the Databank Group (an investment banking firm) in Ghana. He was the Executive Chairman from 1990 until his retirement on February 14, 2012.

Prior to co-founding Databank in 1990, the Hon Minister was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Salomon Brothers on Wall Street in New York.  He has other business interests in Insurance, Retail Banking, Private Equity, Micro finance, Pharmaceuticals and Real Estate.

Hon. Ofori-Atta was the first African to be honoured as a Donaldson Fellow at Yale University in 2010, a John Jay Fellow at Columbia University in 2011 and also a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. He is a Co-Founder of the Aspen African Leadership Initiative.

He was also the first African to testify at the US Congress Ways and Means Committee to support the AGOA law. He was twice honoured by PriceWaterHouse Ghana as one of the Top 5 Most Respected CEOs in Ghana.

He went to Achimota School in Accra, Ghana; received a BA in Economics from Columbia University in New York and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

He is married with four children

Minister Mario Joao holds a master’s degree in agrarian Economics from the Prague Agriculture University, and a PhD on African Studies from the Carlos University of Prague, both in Czeck Republic. 

Prior to his appointment as Minister of Economy of Planning, he was the Secretary of State for Economy.

Before his appointment as a member of the Angolan government, from 2016 to 2019, Minister Mario Joao was an Advisor of the Executive Director of the 25th Constituency at the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. His other previous work experience included Executive Director of the Angola Debt and Equity Stock Market, head of the Department for Macroeconomic Policy and Management at the ministry of finance and trade expert at the Southern African Development Community Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment Directorate based in Gaborone, Botswana

Governor of Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA) since October 2017

The Banco Nacional de Angola (National Bank of Angola) is the central bank of Angola. It is state-owned and the Government of Angola is the sole shareholder.

Considered one of the most respected bankers in Angola, José de Lima Massano, 47, born in Luanda, have a Masters in Accounting and Finance, from the City University – London, in 1996. Licensed in Accounting and Finance, from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, 1995.

He started his career in Sonangol EP, in 1997, in the Accounting Department, being integrated into the Board of Directors of Banco de Poupança e Crédito. In 2006 he became the Head of the Executive Committee of BAI, a function which he occupied until 2010, the year in which he was nominated Governor of the Angolan National Bank. He returned to BAI in January 2015 as Head of the Executive Committee and leave again the bank to became Governor of Banco Nacional de Angola in October 2017 after being appointed by Angola President João Lourenço.

José de Lima Massano substitute Valter Filipe that was exonerated by the president.

His knowledge of the banking sector and charismatic leadership helped turn BAI into Angola’s biggest private bank and one of the first financial institutions to expand abroad, with offices in Portugal, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Brazil and South Africa.

As President of the Association of Angolan Banks (ABANC) in 2009, Massano accused the central bank of hurting the banking system after it doubled the bank reserve requirement and reduced the sale of dollars to banks.

Mwamba also known as “Sol” is a true son of the African soil.

His drive and ambition in life is led by a strong desire to see Africa prosper economically, emotionally and spiritually. Mwamba has dedicated his life to bringing justice to the underserved in Africa.

With his extensive expertise in the business world, Mwamba has put together a robust team to lead the charge for a New Africa by implementing strategies for economic and infrastructural growth.

Solomon is the recent Forbes award recipient for Top Crypto innovator 2021, the Vertex 2022 Entrepreneur of the year, and Vertex 2022 Best Blockchain of the year.

Company Profile

• Founder of Majestic Coin.
• CEO of Royal House Investment Group.
• Owner of Royal House Fx (a global crypto and forex trading platform)
• Ceo of Royal House Consulting. (A top tier trade finance and project development

company).

• Founder of Zakai Filtrations. ( An international air and water filtration company

serving residents, companies, governments and various military branches).

• Ceo of Solomon Wealth Fund

Professional Experience.

• Private Platform Placement Consulting, Small Cap Private Bank Trading, Forex Trading, Trade Desk Creator.
• Crypto Currency and Token Generation. BlockChain expert.
• Project Development in Turn Key Energy Projects. Finntech advisor and Developer

of Smart Cities in 1st and 3rd world countries.

• Presidential Advisory, Philanthropy, Government Consulting and Services.
• Mining, Housing Development, Real Estate Developer and Construction

Manufacturing.

• Global Healthcare provider in PPE.
• Asset Management, Investment Planning, Trade Finance Advisory, Consulting,

Global Market Foray Strategies, Global Public Speaker.

• UN Consultant, Commodities Importer and Exporter

ion.

Dr. Ernest Kwamina Addison was appointed Governor of the Bank of Ghana by the President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in April 2017. Addison spent over 25 years working as a distinguished economist, mainly in the public sector, with international institutions and the Bank of Ghana with a focus on economic development issues, monetary policy formulation and implementation, as well as actively engaging in macroeconomic surveillance at the African Development Bank and the West African Monetary Institute. During the period, he was Director of Research at the Bank of Ghana, a position he held for over a decade, and where he gained considerable public sector experience with the deregulation of Ghana’s petroleum sector, redenomination of the currency, wage and civil service reforms and capital markets development.

He was recently elected Chairman of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group and also co-chair of the Financial Stability Board’s Regional Consultative Group for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Addison holds a degree in economics from the University of Ghana, a master’s degree in economics and politics from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD with specialization in monetary economics and economic development from McGill University in Canada

on.

Dr. Ernest Kwamina

Position: President, CrispMind

 Projects: Tectum, SoftNote, 3FA.

Twenty (20) years experience consulting in the merchant processing and POS industry, with 5 years in the crypto advisory space. Additional specialties include assisting companies with strategy, scalability, performance and brand marketing, retention, product management, ecommerce, martech, analytics, retail, restaurant and omnichannel growth.

Core competencies: Bridging merchant services with cryptocurrencies for mass adoption, strategic partnerships, and channel sales

Tara Peaches Enahoro, Esq.  is the Co-founder and COO at Unanimous Games, a full service eSports company bridging the gap between the eSports industry and the entertainment world. UG specializes in developing original branded content, sponsored activations, data analytics, mobile app development,eSports education and development, and eSports talent representation giving an amplified voice to an underrepresented community of gaming enthusiasts. She leads the UG education platform, where she has developed and oversees the commercialization of e-learning courses for emerging tech markets for international clients and partnered non profits.

The black and brown communities are widely unrepresented in the esports and gaming industry, so their goal is making sure that these communities are provided access,  opportunities and skills in bringing value to this industry. They are focused on developing authentic culturally rich video and mobile games; so, we as a community can move from solely consumers to having a voice in this industry. It’s UG’s mission to make sure these communities have an amplified voice where we are seen, heard and valued throughout the games and content we create and develop.

 As an attorney, she heads all the commercial agreements at the company, where her specialties include enforcing IP rights, registering copyrights and trademarks, protecting mobile apps from cloning, drafting licensing agreements, drafting supply agreements, drafting product agreements, drafting development agreements, defending the company against IP infringement, etc. At her private practice, TPC Enahoro Law Group, Tara’s full service practice specializes in corporate law, business/non-profit formation and organization, commercial agreement drafting and negotiating, intellectual property advising and registration, and business strategy.

In addition, she advises a lot of various startups and has been featured on different panels such as, “Women in Games: A Celebration!” by Playcrafting NYC, The Metropolitan Black Bar Association presents “#MBBALearns Webinar Representation Opportunities for Attorneys in Esports Post COVID 19”, #MBBALearns Webinar “The Business of Esports Fireside Chat with Tara Enahoro, “How a first Gen black woman attorney created her dream career in sports + Clubhouse and Afrotech” with Sabine The Purpose Lawyer, Government of Barbados “Tech Education Summit” and Road to Gamr, “Beyond Fun, Career Pathways in Esports.”

She is a first generation Nigerian, born and raised in Miami, Florida that graduated from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with a minor in Sociology. She also, graduated from the University of Buckingham with a first class LLB (Juris Doctorate) and a distinction Commercial and International Law LLM.

Away from her practice, she has established a NYC based nonprofit with two of her close friends; Sankofa: Rebuilding the West African Connection. Sankofa RWAC’s mission is to re-imagine traditional West African values while staying true to our roots through their focuses Business Entrepreneurship and  Development, Mental Health and Wellness, Future Planning Literacy and Education and Social Justoce; to promote a massive community rejuvenation to ensure generational wealth for the diaspora.

Most recently, she became a NBPA, FIBA and WNBA Certified Agent, which led to her starting a sports agency, Nks Sports Group, Inc. “Nks” has a double meaning, it’s short for one of her igbo names, Nkemakonam, which means “May I Not Lack My Own”; and is exactly as it sounds to ink a deal. Nks Sports Group, Inc.’s mission is to solve the issue of what’s African athletes value proposition to brands, what narrative are we telling brands about athletes of African decent, why are they relevant and how much money can they make? My agency will assist African athletes and talent in ancillary industries increase their marketability, build value driven partnerships and grow sustainable wealth for them and their communities

cutives. She is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Member of the Board of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security. Ms. Lewis received a J.D. from Emory University School of Law, an M.S.A.J. from American University, and a B.A. from the University of Georgia. She is a native of Statesboro, Georgia.

Jeffrey A. Wu is the CEO of Actionable Strategies which develops strategies, builds scalable operating and technology models, and executes impactful projects.  Recent work in emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Europe includes Smart Cities, Smart Energy, digital access, mobile payments, and telecommunications.

Mr. Wu has over 35 years of leadership experience including CEO of two software companies, head of global operations and technology at Thomson Financial, CTO at ADP, CIO of a real estate investment firm, and CEO of 4 consulting firms.  He graduated from the Wharton School of Finance with a double major in Finance and Management in 1985.  Mr. Wu has lectured and spoken extensively for organizations such as the Project Management Institute, New York University, Business Week, Gartner Group and Information Week.  His board service includes software, consulting, and not-for-profit sectors.

Ayo Ayeni is the Chief Operating Officer at Foreign Investment Network, he is also a columnist and editor with FIN Magazine.  He is an accomplished lawyer, writer, publisher, business analyst and a digital entrepreneur.

He is a World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) IP Global Academy certified IP law practitioner. He had his first shot as a columnist with ThisDay Lawyer; the pull-out law magazine insert in This Day Newspaper where he wrote the column ‘Intellectual Property Law and Business’.

He works from the FIN head office, London, UK.

International Development, Loudoun County

Licensed Attorney and Skilled Business Developer, with 15+ years experience of providing multimillion dollar, enterprise solutions in high tech industries, Defense and Civilian Agencies, State and Local Governments. Success in legal practice intertwined with knowledge of business tools and solutions. Strong customer and people focus. Looking to use this expertise to add value to a dynamic and visionary organization which is seeking to increase its market segment share and profitability