Africa’s Business Growth – Grounded in Collaboration

Jay Naidoo

Political & Social Activist

Fatou Leigh

Economic Advisor, UNDP for South Africa and Lesotho

Fatou Leigh, Economic Advisor at UNDP for South Africa and Lesotho has held similar position for Kenya and Swaziland. In addition to public sector reform, policy formulation and strategic planning, she has extensive experience in development effectiveness and is supporting Governments in the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs 2030).

As Project Director of the World Bank funded Capacity Building for Economic Management Project, she played a pivotal role in statistical reforms and implementation of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) in The Gambia, thus promoting use of reliable data for decision making and accountability in the use of public resources.

Mark Kramer

Harvard Business School – USA
Senior Lecturer

Mark Kramer is a leading researcher, writer, speaker and consultant on strategies for social impact. He is best known as the co-author of seminal articles on Creating Shared Value in Harvard Business Review and Collective Impact in Stanford Social Innovation Review.

He has also written extensively on impact investing, systems change, and strategic evaluation. His most recent research is on moving beyond Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) by communicating the economic value of corporate social impact to investors.

Together with Professor Michael Porter, Mark co-founded FSG which supports three communities of practice: The Shared Value Initiative, the Collective Impact Forum and Talent Rewire.

He is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, a member of the Aspen Philanthropy Group, and serves on advisory boards for Nestle and Kimberly-Clark. Previously, Mark served as President of the private equity firm Kramer Capital Management. He holds a BA from Brandeis University, MBA from The Wharton School, and JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Anne Githuku-Shongwe

Representative, UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office

Anne Githuku-Shongwe is the Representative for UN Women’s South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), which is responsible for women’s empowerment and gender equality in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia as well as South Africa, where the office is based. She brings to her role 20 years of experience as a senior international development professional including with the United Nations Development Programme across Africa and managing US Scholarships for African Graduate Scholars.

Previously, Anne was an award-winning social entrepreneur and founder of Afroes, a digital & gamification learning enterprise and a thought leader on the future of learning. Anne and Afroes received multiple awards including the prestigious Schwab Foundation/World Economic Forum Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award and a National Award – the Order of the Grand Warrior from the President of Kenya. Other awards include the PeaceAPP award of the UN, MEFFYs Award, London UK and Netexplo Award, Paris to name a few.

Anne is a Board Member and Grand Juror of the World Summit Awards for the UN Information Society and a Global Ambassador of the Vital Voices Leadership Program. She has a Masters’ degree in International Development from The American University; a certificate in Social Innovation from the University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business, a certificate in The Art of Large Scale Systems Change for Social Entrepreneurship from Harvard University and a Management Certificate from Jones International University.

Dr Myriam Sidibe

Hygiene & Nutrition Social Mission Director, Unilever Africa

Dr Myriam Sidibe is one of the world’s leading experts of brands that drive health outcomes through behavioural change. From within Unilever, she has created a movement to change the handwashing behaviours of one billion people, the single biggest hygiene behavior change programme in the world, and conceived and established the UN recognized Global Handwashing Day – now celebrated in over 100 countries.

Myriam’s approach to pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo has been pivotal to leading a paradigm shift in the way public private partnerships for health are managed and funded. Her foresight in establishing Lifebuoy soaps co-branded school and neonatal handwashing have proven so effective they have received over €20 million in blended financing grants. The handwashing programs have now reached 426 million people in over 30 countries. They have also been replicated across Unilever as best practice examples for other brands looking to positively impact the world while driving market share.

As one of the world’s leading academic in the field of marketing for public health and behaviour change, Myriam represents Unilever with organizations such as Columbia University – Millennium Villages, the World Bank, PSI, WSUP, MCHIP and USAID to promote the importance of handwashing with soap, and create programmes that can help form healthy handwashing habits for life and over the past 3 years that drive scaling up nutrition programs in Africa.

For the last 18 years, she has worked in more than 20 countries for the public sector (including the International Rescue Committee, Consulting with Unicef, the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Programme) and the private sector arguing for a more transparent relationship between the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, advocating the need for businesses to gain growth and profits from engagement in social and health issues in order to build more sustainable, effective interventions, and is a regular commentator in the media on this. In addition, she is an honorary Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a trustee of WaterAid and a Lancet Commissioner.

Vusi Thembekwayo

Entrepreneur, Public Speaker & Venture Capitalist

Vusi Thembekwayo is a globally recognized authority, bestselling author, keynote speaker, and serial entrepreneur. Known for his disruptive business strategies, Vusi has successfully built a significant online following, making him a prominent figure in African social media.

By 25, Vusi was managing a major division of a multibillion-dollar corporation. He is currently the CEO of MyGrowthFund Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focusing on impact investments. Vusi also co-owns VUKA Capital, partners with Watermark Afrika Capital, and chairs Africa Growth Partners, exerting influence on several boards.

Through the VUKA Leadership Foundation, Vusi works towards creating opportunities for aspiring leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa, aiming to develop 1,000 high-impact leaders by 2030. He also discreetly supports the arts, keeping his contributions private.