We are bracing for a brave new world. As we continue to live through an unprecedented situation in our lifetimes, how do we navigate through the uncertainty of the impact that COVID-19 has created in our lives? Emerging is a set of “new rules”, where the principles of impact investing are going to be more important than ever.

To navigate through this economic uncertainty, Uhusiano Capital is bringing together a panel of experts in Impact Investing and Entrepreneurship to uncover how impact investors, private sector and governments are viewing this crisis in Africa. We will provide useful and practical Impact Investing and ESG tools for entrepreneurs and fund managers that are relevant now more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 16th of April 2020, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa highlighted that anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million African lives could be lost. Commodity prices plummeted for more than 67% of Africa’s exports, during the severity of the pandemic. Petroleum oils, which account for 40% of Africa’s export and about 7.4% of the continent’s GDP, crashed by more than 50% to its lowest levels since 2003. UN ECA estimates that in the best-case scenario Africa’s average GDP growth for 2020 will fall 1.4% from 3.2% to 1.8%. In the worst case, Africa’s economy can contract up to 2.6%. Up to 19 million jobs can be lost, while 29 million people can be pushed into the extreme poverty line of USD 1.90 per day.

Some key questions that we’ll be discussing with our panel include:

• How do we navigate? How do we mitigate our risks?
• What are the perspectives of impact investors during this period of time?
• How have certain African countries managed to handle this period successfully?
• Often during some of the greatest challenges, emerges the greatest opportunities – what could these be?
• Impact Investment principles will be more important than ever before. How do I, as an entrepreneur, ensure my business is in-line with this principles during this time? As a fund manager, is this something that I should be further exploring?

The Panel & Agenda:

Perspectives from the Impact Investors on Africa

• Christelle Kupa, CEO & Founder of Uhusiano Capital
• Rana Modarres, Impact Investment Director, Oxfam
• Tara Sabre Collier, Social Entrepreneur in Residence, Oxford University
• Mariana Graça, Impact Investment Expert, MG Advisory

Tools to Naviage through the “new rules of engagement”: Impact Investing & ESG – Opting into the Rules for both Fund Managers, Business Leaders and Entrepreurs.

• Tendai Mabikacheche, Head of Impact & ESG, Uhusiano Capital
• Rubelyn (Ruby) Alcantara, Advisor & Head of Entrepreneurship, Uhusiano Capital

Moderated by: Fabio Scala, Founder, Further Africa

The Speakers:

Christelle Kupa, CEO of Uhusiano Capital

Christelle Kupa is a sustainable finance expert and global impact investor with experience spanning international finance & banking, sustainable investing and cross-border innovation scale-up. Christelle is the Founder and Chief Executive of Uhusiano Capital. She founded the company in 2016 as a catalyst to facilitate better business in the African impact investing sector, with a particular interest in agriculture and women economic empowerment.

Rana Modarres, Impact Investment Director, Oxfam

Rana Modarres has fifteen years of experience working between international NGOs and the private sector. Rana leads the Small Enterprise Impact Investing Fund at Oxfam GB, which is an investment fund supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in low income economies. At Oxfam, she chairs a global inter-affiliate working group on innovative financing programs, largely focused on supporting small enterprises.

Tara Sabre Collier, Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Oxford University

Tara Sabre Collier is a social entrepreneur in residence at Said Business School, Oxford University, as well as Interim Gender Lead at Shell Foundation. She is a global strategist advising impact investors and social enterprises, with a focus on emerging markets. She has over a decade of international experience across impact investment, international development and management consulting industries.

Mariana Graça, Impact Investment Professional, MG Advisory Ltd.

Mariana Graça is an investment professional with experience in commercial deal negotiation, structuring and execution (debt and equity), business development and portfolio management in a Sub-Saharan African context, in both East and West Africa.

Rubelyn (Ruby) Alcantara, Advisor & Head of Entrepreneurship, Uhusiano Capital

Ruby Alcantara is seasoned entrepreneur and executive business consultant focused on Africa’s growth across a variety of sectors including renewable energy, agriculture, fin-tech, and media/publishing. She’s held roles as Managing Director, CEO, COO and CMO, living and working across the continent including Tanzania, Nigeria, Madagascar, South Africa, Cameroon, Uganda, Egypt, and Kenya.

Tendai Mabikacheche, Head of ESG and Impact, Uhusiano Capital

Tendai Mabikacheche is Uhusiano Capital’s head of Impact and ESG, and the Founder and Managing Director of iSustain Global, an impact investing and ESG positioning company focused on developing impact investing and sustainability strategies for African companies to access global finance. She has supported both African Fund managers, Asset owners and businesses in shaping and redefining their impact and ESG strategies in order to fully position and measure their sustainable finance approaches.

Moderated by Fabio Scala, Founder, Further Africa

Fabio Scala is the founder of Further Markets, a UK consultancy firm advising investors in their Southern Africa market entry and market strategies as well as Governments looking to attract Foreign Investment.