Anup Singh leads MSC’s regional office in Anglophone Africa and heads the Helix Institute based in Nairobi, Kenya. With fourteen years of experience, his expertise includes digital transformation of financial institutions; fintech mapping, scoping, and policy design; digital readiness assessment of social protection programs; digital credit scoping, design and policy; and training programs. He has consulted over 100 institutions including governments, fintechs, financial institutions, investors, and multilateral organizations in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa in African continent, and India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Papua New Guinea in the Asian continent. He has also trained at the Boulder Institute of Microfinance, Italy in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

An alumni of IFMR B-School (Krea University), he is highly passionate and result oriented. His strong domain knowledge coupled with his phenomenal presentation skills enables him win the hearts of bankers worldwide.

Prior to joining MSC, he worked as an Associate with the Centre for Microfinance, based in Chennai, advising financial institutions such as Fullerton, Cashpor and Spandana on the design and implementation of enterprise financing and value chain lending products. He also worked with agricultural finance and livelihood services providers such as BAIF, BILT to develop and re-engineer value chains. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Forest Management, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India. He is fluent in English and Hindi.

Arun has always believed in continuous customer engagement for delivering customer delight as part of his job role. As Chief Business Officer of CARE Risk Solution, Arun is instrumental in driving Sales, Pre-Sales and Product functions of the organization. He has a strong domain experience in risk and finance and has spent almost 2 decades in the fintech industry. He has been responsible for the APAC markets as part of his role based at Singapore and he also has significant international experience in the Africa, Middle East and South East Asian markets. He has a strong flair for teaching/training and is associated with prominent B-schools in the banking and analytics space.

An alumni of IFMR B-School (Krea University), he is highly passionate and result oriented. His strong domain knowledge coupled with his phenomenal presentation skills enables him win the hearts of bankers worldwide.

Billy Owino is a performance driven sales and business development professional with extensive experience in the telecommunications industry working across several countries in Africa and Central Asia. He is a skilled strategic partnerships builder with ecosystem stakeholders.

His extensive network of high level contacts within the telecom industry in Africa and internationally spanning MNOs, regulators, device manufacturers (OEMs/ODMs) and the tech community carve him out to be a strong consultative and strategic account manager.

Beatrice is a Senior State Counsel at the Office of the Attorney General & Department of Justice deployed to the Office of the Official Receiver in Insolvency (Business Registration Service) since February 2014. She holds an LLB from University of Nairobi and a post Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She is admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya since 2011 and has over six years’ experience in Insolvency Law.

Currently, she serves as a member of the Technical Working Group on Insolvency Law Reform in Kenya.

She has also participated in the Secured Transactions Legislative Reform process in Kenya from 2015 that led to the enactment of the Movable Property Security Rights Act 2017, serving as a member of the Technical Working Group tasked with the reform process. Beatrice also sits on the Ease of Doing Business Transformation Team that has been responsible for the improvement of Kenya’s standing in the World Bank Ease of Doing Ranking.

Her efforts in Insolvency and Secured transactions Legislative Reform has led to her receiving a Head of State Commendation, Civilian Division Award in 2018.

Ms Betty Wilkinson is the Chief Executive Officer of FSD Zambia. With over 30 years of professional experience worldwide, Ms Wilkinson has been an entrepreneur, banker, leading multilateral bank manager, field researcher, policy advisor, developing country government senior official, and volunteer. She engages globally with ministers, central bank governors, industry representatives, and leaders of development agencies, NGOs, think tanks, and communities to facilitate evidence-based innovation and change.

Ms Wilkinson uses her knowledge, experience, and networks to enable pro-poor inclusive growth, using a participatory, innovative style to engage key champions of reform, develop and manage successful teams, and ensure sustainable results.

Collen is a season central banker with more than a decade experience in the credit infrastructure; financial sector policy formulation & implementation; financial reporting; bank and non-bank supervision. In this role he has been instrumental in the conception, implementation and running of the Credit Registry, an NPL asset management company among other initiatives. He also serves as the Secretariat to the Interagency Fintech Working Group and the National Fintech Steering Committee.

He is also a consultant for the Credit Infrastructure unit of the World Bank Group, focusing on credit information sharing; secured transactions and collateral registries. In this role he has led or been involved in the drafting of publications on credit reporting topical issues such alternative data, credit scoring, disruptive technologies and cybersecurity. He is currently part of the team piloting the use of alternative data for credit reporting in an African country.

Collen is also part of the Secretariat of International Committee on Credit Reporting (ICCR), the standard setting body for credit reporting.

Dan oversees Branch’s Kenyan market. Previously, he served as an advisor with PwC, focusing on financial services and telecommunications.

Dan oversees Branch’s Kenyan market. Prior to this, he had a ten-year, international career with PwC where he gained deep experience identifying and leveraging multimillion-dollar opportunities for top or bottom-line improvements across Fortune 100 corporations, private equity firms, startups, and multi-national conglomerates.

His industry experience includes serving organizations in oil and gas, renewable energy, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, financial services, media and entertainment.

Fidelis Muia is the Director, Technical Services at the Kenya Bankers Association. He has a wide knowledge of the Banking industry, having worked in the commercial Banking arena for a number of years. Fidelis comes from a technology background, starting his career as a computer systems developer, to support and finally to management.

He has participated in major banking industry developments from the automation of the Cheque clearing systems with the introduction of the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) project, the Foreign currency clearing and the Cheque Truncation projects, the Electronic Funds Transfer and Direct Debit projects in the 1990’s. these were followed by the Cheque Truncation project in 2010, and the roll-out of the Credit Information Sharing mechanism in the banking industry in 2012. As a member of several Industry committees, Fidelis has been involved in a number of initiatives and projects aimed at interoperability and Digitizing the Kenya Payments space.

Francis works as a financial sector policy specialist at Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD) Kenya. FSD was established in 2005 to support the development of an inclusive financial services sector in Kenya.

Francis manages FSD’s policy work, working with and through policy makers, regulators and other partners to strengthen the financial sector regulatory system in Kenya.

Gabriel is a Chartered Accountant. He passed his qualifying examination in 1987 and completed his articles with Ernst & Young in 1989. He has the following qualifications MA (Development Studies), Institute of Social Studies, The Hague (1992) Advanced Diploma in Banking (University of Johannesburg, 1997) Hons B.Compt, UNISA (1987) Hons B.Com (Economics), Potchefstroom University (1984) B.Com, Potchefstroom University (1983). Gabriel has 25 years professional experience, specialising in financial regulation, development finance and consumer credit.

He was part of the establishment team of a leading micro-enterprise lender in South Africa (Small Enterprise Foundation) in the position of Executive Director responsible for Finance and Development. In 1995 he moved to Deloitte & Touche and in 1998 became a Patrner. Financial Institutions Team. His experience at Deloitte included financial regulation, governance & reporting, financial analysis & due diligence reviews and financial sector strategy development in the areas of banking, insurance, collective investment schemes, securitization, housing finance and credit.

Key clients included the World Bank, SA Reserve Bank, FSB, National Housing Finance Corporation and Khula Guarantee Fund. Gabriel was responsible for the establishment of the Micro Finance Regulatory Council and joined the MFRC in 2000 as CEO. In June 2006 Gabriel became the first CEO of the National Credit Regulator and had overall strategic and operational responsibility for all areas of the establishment of the NCR and implementation of the National Credit Act. The NCR is responsible for credit regulation in South Africa, with a mandate including banks, NBFIs, credit bureaus and debt counsellors. Gabriel played a leading role in the development of the National Credit Act, serving as Policy Advisor to the Department of Trade & Industry. He served on various government committees, including the Policy Board for Financial Regulation, Report, and the generation of a report on SME Finance, an assessment of Core and Narrow Banking and a report on Consolidated Supervision.

In January 2011 Gabriel left the NCR and is doing consulting and advisory projects in financial regulation and development finance. Gabriel has been engaged in consulting and advisory assignments for public and private sector clients in different countries in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, and the Caribbean Islands. He also has extensive experience in credit insurance for SME lending. His clients include the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, international donor organisations, central banks, private sector credit bureaus and banks. He was engaged on a long term contract as Programme Director for FSDA for the implementation of a Credit Market Development Programme across different countries in Africa. Gabriel currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lloyd is an Inspector and team leader under the Zambia Collateral Registry System. He holds a Practical Advanced Certificate in Public Prosecution and a Higher Diplomal in Management of Information System.

Lloyd has been working for The Patents and Companies Registration Agency for the past nineteen (19) years.

The mandate of the Patents and Companies Registration Agency which is a Statutory Body under the Zambia Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry is to provide for Registration of Security Interests in Movable property, administer the Movable Property (Security Interest) Act No. 3 of 2016, and manage the Collateral Registry among others.

He is interested in Secured Transactions Laws. In 2017, in collaboration with Mr. Christopher Mapani, he wrote a book entitled;“The Zambian Movable Property (Security Interest) Act No. 3 of 2016: A Step-by-Step Explanatory Guide to the Act”.

Lloyd actively participated in drafting of the Movable Property (Security Interest) Act No. 3 of 2016 and implementing regulations. He coordinated the collection of User Requirements for development of the Zambia Collateral Registry System. As a team leader, he also coordinated the process of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and trained members of staff from Financial Service Providers on the management and usage of the Zambia Collateral Registry System.

Since 2016, Zambia has hosted delegations from over six 6 countries within Africa. The purpose of the study visits was to familiarise delegates with the Movable Property Collateral Registry and understand the process Zambia went through in the successful implementation of the registry.

Elaine is currently a Global Specialist on the Secured Transactions and Asset Based Lending (ST/ABL) team for WBG’s financial infrastructure secured lending product based in Washington, DC. Elaine works with WBG clients in the Asia and Africa regions extensively and contributes regularly to the ongoing Financial Inclusion development agenda of ASEAN and APEC Financial Infrastructure Development Network (FIDN) working groups, as well as the UNCITRAL (Asia Chapter). Elaine has over twenty years of public and private sector experience in legislative reform projects, specifically in the area of public policy development and movable property registry implementation.

Elaine was a former Registrar of both Land Titles (immoveable) and Personal Property (moveable) in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has participated in the design, development and implementation of secured transaction reform projects and registry systems in Canada, Caribbean, South East Asia and Africa regions under Common, Civil and Islamic law regimes. She has extensive experience in legislative and institutional reform projects involving various alternative operational and governance models. She actively monitors the global developments of secured transaction laws and operational frameworks as a means to support access to finance for the mSME sector.

Innocent Africa is an expert in Risk and Compliance in Rwanda, where he has worked for several banks and occupied the position of Chief Risk officer, his expertise to banks goes beyond the last ten years. He has extensive experience in Enterprises Risk Management and Compliance and banking Operations in general. His recent position is chief Risk and Compliance in KCB Bank Rwanda PLC include consultancy, professional training with public and private companies, he is as well a certified and member of G3100 THE GLOBAL RISK MANAGEMENT STANDARD, member of Technical Standard Committee that approves the standards in Rwanda known as Rwanda Standards Board under TC14, and finally he is a professional trainer at Rwanda Bank’s Association Academy known as RAF (Rwanda Academy of Finance).

He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Management from Mount Kenya University, bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Kigali Independent University. Innocent previously worked as Manager Non-Financial risk at KCB Bank Rwanda Plc and as the Compliance team lead at Access Bank Plc. Prior to join banking career he worked in Telecommunication Company (Business communication solutions) as senior supervision of North and Western region.

Innocent is a Certified Risk Management Professional with over 10 years’ experience in Enterprise risk management.

Innocent is a frequent speaker at different conference and trainer of Enterprise Risk Management, Anti Money Laundering and Combating Financial Terrorism, Anti-fraud and Bribery, Ethics, Regulatory Risk, Regulatory technology (RegTech) and Fintec, Customer Service and Communication, Leadership and Management, Coaching and Mentorship, Corporate Governance etc. He lives in Rwanda, Kigali.

Innocent Africa is interested in Soccer (Football) game he loves Liverpool FC and is a founder of Liverpool fan club in Rwanda.

Jameelah is an international professional that brings multi-faceted experience in business, technical and people management. A Thought Leader and business champion, she has over 20 years’ experience in defining strategy, developing organizational structure, building diverse winning teams and delivering results.

She is co-founder of CreditRegistry Corporation, a software technology company headquartered in Washington State, USA. From 2014-2016, she was appointed substantive MD/CEO of CreditRegistry Nigeria and successfully grew the company to profitability by 858%. Prior to this, she served as the Executive Vice President, Business Development, implementing growth strategies that ultimately accelerated subscription to 100% of commercial banking space.

From 2002-2008 Jameelah worked with Microsoft Corporation as Global Program Manager, Shanghai PRC, and she also served as Technical Program Manager, Redmond Washington, USA overseeing identity management and online services. A professional with a passion for excellence, she had a rewarding career with General Motors in North America, South America and Europe from 1991-2001.

Jameelah received the highest presidential honor, the Stryker Award, from Illinois Institute of Technology where she received a BSc in Electrical Engineering. She is an active member of the Institute of Directors and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She is a Dale Carnegie graduate and a graduate of Stanford Seed Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, Stanford Graduate School of Business 2017.

In recognition of her philanthropic efforts, she was nominated for the Jefferson Award for Extraordinary Public Service for Washington State, USA. She is on the board of several enterprises and non-profit organizations and is the former President-elect and 1st Ambassador of the American Women’s Club in Nigeria.

Joshua Obengele is the Risk Manager at African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (AGF). A Kenyan National by birth, Mr. Joshua Onyango Obengele has over 17 years of experience in Risk Management. Prior to joining African Guarantee Fund, Mr. Obengele worked at Stanbic Bank Kenya as the Head of Business Banking Credit Evaluation and as Credit Evaluation Manager for Corporate and Investment Banking for three years and a half. Mr. Obengele in his career has also held Senior Managerial positions as Corporate Credit Manager for Corporate and Financial Institutions and as an Assistant Business Support & Recoveries Manager at the Barclays Bank of Kenya.

He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Management from Daystar University and Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics from Moi University, Eldoret.

Kevin Mutiso, is currently the CEO and co-founder of Alternative Circle. The company developed a Kenyan Mobile based app “SHIKA”, that enables individuals with little or no credit history to access affordable micro loans through their mobile phones. The app also provides financial institutions a platform they can use to lend to users, since these institutions lack the infrastructure to disburse micro loans. Kevin helped raise a seed capital of 1.1 Million USD for the company in 2017.

Previously, Kevin was the CEO of a leading Micro Finance Institution a company that offers loans to small and medium enterprises. During his tenure, about 5 million USD was lent out. He served in this position for 5 years before departing to start Alternative Circle. He has also worked at a Senior Relationship Manager and as an Investment Manager in the past.

Kevin has completed a number of programs at the Strathmore Business School including Owner Management Program, Entrepreneur studies, and the Master Negotiator Program. He has also been nominated for the Business Daily Top 40 Under 40.

Luz Maria Salamina is a Lead Financial Sector Specialist for Credit Infrastructure at the World Bank Group, working on Credit Information; Secured Transactions and Collateral Registries; and Insolvency and Debt resolution.

She joined the WBG in April 2014 to work in Sub Saharan Africa promoting reforms on Credit information and support the financial industry resolve challenges and gaps in data related issues. She was the General Manager of the Credit Bureau “APC Buro, S.A.” and Vice President at HSBC and Chase Manhattan Bank in Retail Banking in Panama.

Luz Maria represented ALACRED (the Credit Reporting Association of Latin America) at the International Consumer Credit (ICCR) task force led by the World Bank from 2009 to 2013.

A transformational financial education and financial inclusion specialist with vast experience in developing and disseminating financial education and awareness programs targeting various audiences, specifically low income and other groups of people with limited access to finance such as small and medium enterprises, women, the youth.

She has economically empowered the lives of many low income and other vulnerable groups of people with limited access to finance such as micro, small and medium sized enterprises, rural women, the youth through financial education programs focusing on four core financial literacy messages - financial planning, saving, investing/entrepreneurship, using consumer credit and the value of a clean personal/business credit report.

She led the development of Malawi’s National Financial Literacy Strategy, integration of financial education in the National School Curriculum, introduction of rural community financial education program, annual credit awareness week. Madalitso’s work also focusses on ensuring that existing and prospective financial consumers are treated fairly by financial service providers by putting in place the necessary financial consumer protection legal and regulatory frameworks. She led the development of Malawi’s transparency and disclosure regulatory requirements for basic consumer credit, saving, insurance and investment products; complaints resolution framework and fair treatment of financial consumers regulatory requirements.

She heads the Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy Division at the Reserve Bank of Malawi where she has been working since 2012. She holds a Masters’ Degree in Education Policy Development and Management from University of Cape Town, South Africa and worked with Malawi’s Ministry of Education before joining the central bank.

Magauta Mphahlele is the Part Time Ombudsman for the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud Office. The CGSO is a Government approved Alternative Dispute Resolution Scheme for the Consumer Goods and Services Industry. The CGSO mediates disputes between suppliers of goods and services and their customers.

Magauta is also the founder and CEO of Ithuseng Credit Solutions (ICS) which is a 100% female owned private company that is a registered Alternative Dispute Resolution Agent under the National Credit Act. ICS mediates disputes between credit providers and consumers. ICS is responsible for managing the credit health of more than 30 000 mineworkers across 15 mining sites.

Magauta is also an accredited Court Annexed Mediator and registered Debt Counsellor. Her extensive experience in credit and general consumer protection spans more than 18 years.

The Consumer Protection Act and National Credit Act were conceptualized, consulted on and passed into law under her leadership as the Consumer Law Reform Project Manager at the Department of Trade and Industry.

She recently completed the International Executive Development Program in Developmental Finance offered by Wits University. The IEDP included study tours to Brazil, Ghana and Tanzania to study best practices in financial inclusion.

Her passion is to ensure a healthy and fair credit and consumer protection market in South Africa through influencing policy and legislation as well as empowering consumers with information about their rights, obligations and options when they are experiencing financial difficulties. She a respected speaker and commentator on credit and general consumer protection issues.

Manie has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Pretoria, with 30 years professional experience.

He is the Executive Director of the Southern Africa Fraud Prevention Services, with a track record of serving the financial industry for over 25 years. Having served as the Credit Ombudsman for 11 years he has extensive knowledge of the industry, relevant legislation, and the unique challenges of the financial industry. He has established a reputation as a thought leader in the industry, both locally and internationally, with a network of relationships across industries and countries.

Mike has developed a unique skill working as a credit bureau industry specialist over the past twenty-four years. He has worked in both commercial and consumer credit bureaus where he has had the opportunity to obtain insight and knowledge into many different organization’s credit, fraud and risk policies, using credit bureau solutions to assist lenders in overall risk reduction and risk-controlled growth.

In 2019 Mike was elected as Chairman of the Africa Credit Information Sharing Association (ACISA). ACISA is a collaborative effort of all Credit Bureau companies in Africa in partnership with the IFC and World Bank to achieve best practice, to drive transparency in standards and policy in managing credit bureau data. In this role he engages with and leads over 30 country credit bureau operators to a common goal of advancing credit information in Africa.

Mike lives in Johannesburg, South Africa with his wife and two sons. He is passionate about all forms of sport fishing, and proudly supports both his sons in national and international pool and open water swimming events.

Patrick Walker is Director of Research at PERC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think-tank based in Durham, North Carolina. PERC conducts original research and analysis in a variety of areas related to information policy and information economics. In the US, PERC has examined the FCRA, the value of alternative credit information (such as utility payment data) to both consumers and small businesses, and the potential uses of financial and other information in disaster recovery. PERC’s aim is to increase credit inclusion and access to affordable mainstream credit via information solutions. International work includes the examination of information sharing structures and the impacts of credit reporting regimes with a focus on credit inclusion.

While at PERC, Walker has helped spearhead much of its analysis and has carried out credit access research in the US and internationally, including the development of credit scoring models. Walker has co-authored numerous reports on credit access and presented findings both overseas and in the US, including presentations for the Federal Reserve Board, the OCC, and the World Bank. Walker’s concentration is econometrics, statistical methods, and microeconomics.

He received his M.A. in economics from Duke University and has taught both undergraduate microeconomics and econometrics at Duke University.

Pauline Delay is a Financial Sector Analyst for the International Finance Corporation, where she primarily works on financial education and consumer awareness for the products developed by IFC and its partners to increase access to finance and financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely credit bureaus, secured transactions and collateral registries, index insurance, and finance leasing. Pauline has a degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, USA and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Peter Warutere, a Kenyan national, is a Development Economist who has specialized in governance, strategic communications and stakeholder management throughout his career. He is an accomplished writer and analyst on economic issues and has gained solid experience working for the Government of Kenya, the World Bank, private sector and non-state actors.

He is the team leader of a consultancy to Design and Execute a Financial Literacy and Public Awareness Campaign to Promote the Use of Credit Reporting System in Kenya—which is being implemented by the National Treasury with support from the World Bank.

He has worked for leading media institutions in Kenya, the World Bank Group, Government of Kenya, private sector and international development agencies.

Academic Qualifications
Warutere holds a Master of Philosophy degree in Business Administration from Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands, a Master of Arts degree in Economics and Social Studies specializing in Development Economics from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor’s degree in Education specializing in Business Studies and Economics from the University of Nairobi.

He is a PhD student in logistics management at Limburg Graduate School of Business in the Netherlands.

Passion
Family, sports, social networking, coaching and mentoring.

Sam Omukoko is the Group Managing Director and CEO of Metropol Corporation whose subsidiaries include Metropol Credit Reference Bureau (Kenya and Uganda), Metropol Collection Management Services, Comprehensive Business Media (Metropol TV) and Metropol Institute of Credit Management.

He has been involved in many interventions in financial services and capital markets; credit training; development of credit curricular and credit reporting in a wide range of sectors. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) - UK and a Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Bankers (KIB). He serves as the current Chairman, Banking and Finance Committee at KNCCI.

Sam holds a BSc Math and Statistics and MSc Finance both from the University of Nairobi and CPA (2) Accounting certificate.

Shezaad Sunderji, CFA is a financial services expert with track record in providing strategic advisory services across Sub-Saharan Africa in the areas of banking strategy, capital market development, financial regulation and policy, and financial inclusion. A Manager in the Financial Services Strategy practice at Genesis Analytics, Shezaad has consulted widely to clients in the financial sector, including banks, insurers, fund managers, financial market infrastructures (exchanges, central securities depositories and payments service providers), industry associations, financial regulators, policymakers and donors. He has consulted to Capital Markets Authority of Kenya, Central Bank of Kenya, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Banking Association of South Africa, Stanbic, Diamond Trust Bank, Standard Bank of South Africa and others.

Some of the projects Shezaad has completed include developing the strategic plan for the CMA in Kenya, supporting the business registration services improve the functioning of the electronic movable collateral registry in Kenya, supporting the Central Bank of Kenya to develop its National Payment Strategy and supported various private sector FSP improve their business models.

Prior to Genesis, Shezaad was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte focusing on providing strategic advisory to financial sector clients on strategy, operations and opportunity assessment.

Shezaad is a CFA Charterholder and a registered member of the Institute of Certified Investment and Financial Analysts (ICIFA) Kenya. He holds an Honours degree in Economics and a Bachelor's Degree in Economics & Finance from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is currently pursuing an MBA from the University of Warwick, UK.

Kamau Kunyiha is the Regional Manager East and Southern Africa at Creditinfo Group. Mr. Kunyiha has amassed wealth of experience in credit risk management for more than 15 years.

He has over 11 years’ experience in credit information, risk management and information management services. During this time he has worked on the establishment of fully operational credit bureaus in 5 countries in Africa, namely Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi and Botswana.

Suleiman Asman is the Innovations for Poverty Action Regional Director for East Africa supporting countries in Eastern and Southern Africa since April 2018; this is after serving as the IPA’s Kenya Country Director since May 2014. Asman has over twelve years of experience with IPA, starting as a Senior Evaluation Coordinator in 2007, and working as a Research Manager overseeing numerous evaluations since 2012.

Since joining IPA, he has managed research with professors from the most prestigious universities in the world and led policy-relevant partnerships with some of IPA Kenya's seminal studies, including the mobile money study and the Multiple Use Water Systems study.

Asman came to IPA from a research analyst background with numerous Kenyan organizations working in agriculture. He holds a Bachelor of Agribusiness Management degree from Egerton University in Kenya and currently finalizing a Master of Public Policy and Management at Strathmore University.

Wachira is a credit risk professional with over twenty years experience.

Of particular note, Wachira was instrumental in the development of credit referencing systems in Kenya having been the pioneer CEO of the first licensed CRB in Kenya, CRBAfrica.

Wachira is currently involved in the development and adoption of corporate credit ratings for corporate debt raising in the capital markets and risk pricing in the banking sector.

Professional Qualifications and Memberships:
Wachira is an Economist by qualification and a member of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA).

Yusuf Dalhatu is a Sierra Leonean who holds double Master Degrees in Economics and Business Administration from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone and Njala University respectively, after obtaining a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in Economics from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

Yusuf began his working career in 2004 as a Research Assistant at the Public Policy Research Institute in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He later joined Transparency International-Sierra Leone (formerly National Accountability Group), a local Non-Governmental Organisation as a Program Officer. He joined the Bank of Sierra Leone as a Banking Officer in the Banking Supervision Department in 2007 and was promoted to Senior Banking Officer and currently Assistant Manager. He was appointed Acting Registrar of the Sierra Leone Collateral Registry Unit in 2016, a position he still holds.