Andrew Chimphondah is Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African finance institution dealing exclusively with providing affordable housing finance and advisory solutions in
Africa. He is a CA, a member of SAICA and ICAZ. He holds an MBA in International Finance and is currently completing his PHD thesis on innovative housing finance solutions for the affordable housing market. He has more than 20 years’ Finance and Business executive leadership experience in real estate finance, retail and wholesale banking. He has hugely successful business turnarounds and fundraising initiatives in several housing finance corporations.

Ram leads transactions across Kasada’s target economies. He has over 15 years of experience in global real estate private equity and operations across North America, India and SSA. Prior to joining Kasada, Ram was based in Dar es Salaam where he was CEO of Village Supermarket, a regional Supermarket chain that he led and expanded over 4 years. He also spent 10 years in real estate and infrastructure investments, notably at the Xander Group in Singapore and Global Infrastructure Partners in New York. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was elected George F. Baker Scholar and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University obtained with First Class Honors.

Dennis Papa Odenyi Quansah is Program Lead for IFC EDGE Green Building Market Transformation Program in Ghana and Nigeria. He is an Urban Development professional with experience in the built environment in Ghana. His expertise includes Sustainable Real Estate Development, Real Estate Marketing and Agency, Real Estate Management, Real Estate Valuation and Business Development. He has also undertaken socio-economic surveys for voluntary relocation and other resettlement packages. He holds an MSc in Urban Policy and Development and an Undergraduate degree in Land Economy in Ghana. He is also a member of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors.

Geoffrey White, CEO of Agility Africa, is an expert on infrastructure development, retail supply chains, agri-business, and investment for African markets. Agility, a leading global provider of logistics and related infrastructure solutions for the oil and gas and FMCG markets, has over $5 billion in revenue, 24,000 employees, and offices in more than 100 countries. Mr White is a member of the Agility Strategic Advisory Board. Mr. White joined Agility in 2014 after serving as CEO of Lonrho Plc for 8 years, where he developed product supply chains for some of the world’s largest retailers and developed essential infrastructure and logistics facilities for Africa’s burgeoning oil and gas industry. Mr. White’s career path has included Thomas Tilling Plc, BTR Plc, Asda Plc, Hilton, Ford PAG, and a leading Middle Eastern private investment office. Mr. White has commented on Africa for the BBC, CNN, CNBC, Forbes, and at the World Economic Forum, AU, NEPAD, Royal Africa Society, Chatham House, the Africa Investor Index Series Summit, and The Economist East Africa Summit and many other important African debates. He is a regular author of editorials on Africa.

Ivan Cornet has more than twenty years of real estate experience in Europe and Africa as a lawyer, an investor and a financier. Ivan is Managing Partner – Real Estate and Infrastructure of Latitude Five, a pan-African investment and advisory firm. He assists international and local investors and operators with growth strategies, providing market intelligence, identifying off-market opportunities and structuring and implementing complex commercial and financial transactions. Ivan is a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (UK). Ivan holds senior executive positions with several African real estate companies.

Jonathan Halloran is co-founder and CEO of American Homebuilders of West Africa (AHWA), a residential developer. He is responsible for operations, strategy and day to day management of subsidiaries who develop, sell and construct single family homes in West Africa. He has held positions in the construction and related services industries. Prior to AHWA he served as EVP: Client Services at Textura Corporation. He holds an MBA, a BS: Civil Engineering and a BA: History. He is fluent in French and has worked in the Peace Corps in West Africa. He is a licensed civil engineer in Illinois.

Taslim Ngom is an executive specialized in identifying, optimizing, and realizing value creation opportunities through finance, strategy, and operations functions. He advised and delivered projects for global industry leaders and organizations as a Deloitte consultant, then worked in finance at Google before returning to Africa to help run his construction and real estate family business Sertem. Taslim holds a BBA (Computer Information Systems) from Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business, an MBA (Strategy and Decision Sciences) from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and is currently completing the Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Tola is an investment banker and has had various roles within corporate and investment banking with specializations in Real Estate Finance and Project & Structured Finance. He has over 15 years of in-country and regional work experience (including Nigeria, Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire) which spans across various asset classes (with an estimated portfolio size over US$1.5 billion) within the real estate sector. In addition, his project finance deal mandates include debt capital raising for major infrastructural projects in the oil & gas and industrial sectors. His early work experience include treasury operations and commercial banking roles in Fidelity Bank and Intercontinental Bank (now Access Bank) in Nigeria respectively. Tola has a first degree in Economics from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and master degree in International Money, Finance & Investments from Durham University, UK. He obtained a RICS Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management and MBA in Real Estate & Construction Management from the University College of Estate Management, Reading, UK. His research project themed “Africa – The Next Frontier?” focused on the impact of real estate funds on commercial real estate development in sub Saharan Africa. In addition, he has attended a number of dedicated real estate training and conferences both regionally and internationally. Tola has been actively involved in a number of real estate industry advocacy committees set up to engage key regulators to unblock constraints to catalyse the growth and development of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). He is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Youssouf Carius founded Pulsar Partners with a specific investment approach for Africa. He is an executive Director responsible for sourcing/executing real estate projects. He co-manages the local housing company and was the former VP/chief economist of Bloomfield Investment. He has an excellent knowledge of operational constraints/local threats for investment companies in Africa. He worked for some of the biggest consulting firms such as Accenture, BeringPoint and Information Resources. He was rewarded as the most promising young entrepreneur of Côte d’Ivoire by the “Association des Conseils en Lobbying et Affaires Publiques de Côte d’Ivoire”. He graduated specialising in Statistics and Econometrics.