MEET. INVEST. BUILD.
27th – 28th of May 2020,
Lagos Continental Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria
Industry leaders with diverse expertise who guide us to bring forth the best of AHIS
Our partners, play a crucial role in the future of affordable housing in Africa.
Global Business to Business’ or GBB, is a vision that has been transformed into an organization. We are a human-centered, business-driven, value-focused organization, whose aim is to be the global leaders and facilitators in inter-business and inter-market professional solutions.
E-mail: ahis@gbbventure.com
Ph: +44 20 3868 2202
Affordable Housing Consultant
MD & CEO
NISH Affordable Housing Ltd
Mr Adelakun is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NISH Affordable Housing Ltd, Executive Chairman, Nigeria Integrated Social Housing Cooperative Society Ltd, Managing Consultant, Skytech Institute Ltd, President, Housing Finance and Investment Network, and the Convener of the Nigeria Housing Finance Conference and Affordable Housing Fair.
He is a Chartered Manager, and a Fellow of Chartered Management Institute, United Kingdom, Fellow of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, and Fellow of Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. He earned BSc and MBA Degrees from Florida Atlantic University, USA (1988-1990)
He recently retired from the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria as Permanent Secretary
(Common Services Office) in the Office of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. He also served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation, and Federal Civil Service Commission.
He was Chairman, Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, Chairman, Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) Programme and Board Member, Pension Commission of Nigeria.
He supervised implementation of Group Life Insurance for Federal Civil Servants, Federal Digital Service Centre, IPPIS Human Resource Module, and Digital Identification and Database for federal civil servants In the Office of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Nigeria.
He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1983 -2007) including Diplomatic Missions of Nigeria in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Singapore, Singapore. He also served as Head of Internal Audit Unit in the Office of Surveyor General of the Federation (2007-2013) and as Director Treasury Inspectorate in the office of Accountant General of the Federation (2012-2013).
housing finance professional
Femi Adewole is a housing finance professional with over 25 years experience
leading housing initiatives across Sub Sahara Africa and the United Kingdom.
Before his appointment as the Managing Director of Family Homes Funds, he
was Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, the Nairobi-based pan-African housing
company.
He has served in various capacities in some of the largest housing companies
around the globe such as First World Communities Ltd, Watford Community
Housing Trust, Notting Hill Housing Group, and Lagos HABITAT 2011 Project
amongst others.
Mr Adewole is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School and Warwick Business
School. He is a chartered architect as well as a planning and development
professional with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
UN – Habitat
Head – Capacity Building, Senior Housing Expert
Claudio Acioly is an architect and urban planner, a development practitioner with more than 35 years of experience. He has worked in more than 30 countries. Acioly was a senior housing and land expert, a programme manager, associated with the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies-IHS for 15 years before he joined UN-Habitat in 2008 as chief Housing Policy, coordinator of the United Nations Housing Rights Program and the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat – AGFE. At IHS, he worked internationally in several housing and slum upgrading programmes. As head of Housing Policy of UN-Habitat (2008-2012), Acioly led the housing policy work of UN-Habitat in countries such as Cuba, Ghana, Malawi, El-Salvador, Uganda, Vietnam, Nepal and Ecuador and was directly involved in housing policy planning and implementation as well as slum upgrading. He is the principal author of UN-Habitat’s Housing Profile Methodology and the Street-led Citywide Slum Upgrading Strategy amongst many other publications. He is currently the head of Capacity Building of UN-Habitat leading global programs and initiatives linking capacity building, institutional development and policy change. Acioly has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, UNECE, UNDP, the Dutch Development Cooperation and several international organizations. He has published books and articles in international journals on issues such as urban density, inner city revitalization, housing, slum upgrading and participatory budgeting.
Managing Director, Shelter Afrique
Mr Andrew Chimphondah is the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African Housing organisation dealing exclusively with affordable housing in Africa.
Mr Chimphondah, a Zimbabwean national holds an MBA with a focus on International Finance from the Durham University Business School (UK). He is a Chartered Accountant and is currently writing a dissertation for a PhD.
Mr Chimphondah has more than 20 years Finance and Business executive leadership experience spanning real estate finance, banking, and FMCG. He joins Shelter Afrique from Housing Investment Partners (PTY) Limited, South Africa where he was serving as Chief Executive Officer. He has also worked as Managing Executive for National Housing Finance Corporation, South Africa; Managing Executive for Home Front Finance; General Manager for ABSA Home loans, South Africa; Chief Operating Officer, Standard Insurance Limited, South Africa; Director Home Loans, South Africa; Managing Director of Innscore – Zambia and Kenya. On the Finance side, he has worked as Group Financial Controller for Innscore, Africa; and Financial Manager for Unilever South East Africa;
He has led the successful business turnaround and fundraising initiatives in the various housing finance corporations he has worked for.
The new Managing Director joins Shelter Afrique at a crucial time and will be responsible for executing the 2018-2023 strategy. Speaking on his appointment, he noted “I am very keen to begin the work of returning Shelter Afrique to the centre of the affordable housing debate; we have undergone a period of transition, but we believe we are better placed now, to assist our shareholders and partners deliver their affordable housing plans. The Board has approved an effective strategy, which takes us back to our original mandate of large-scale affordable housing projects.
I look forward to joining forces to bring all these plans to fruition“.
Chief Of Party, Liberia Country Program – Habitat For Humanity
Mr. Ndote is a proven development expert. He possesses a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit combined with a deep passion to serve the world with innovative business acumen. His ample background, curiosity and fascination about what is important for poor people has shaped his determination to create a high-performance country program that makes a difference in lives of communities Habitat exists to serve. During his tenure, Habitat launched operations of its branded urban development program – ‘Increasing access to affordable Housing through Inclusive Markets’ in Liberia and designed a portfolio of additional projects impacting on lives of communities in one of the world’s largest, urban city slums of Monrovia marred by array of complex political, socio-economic, environmental challenges and devastating poverty. His tenacity and drive for program success is anchored on his gravitational ability to create strong partnerships and alliances, systems integration and effective coordination as the key to influence desired ‘better world to live in’. He provides oversight to Habitats projects focused on community level interventions, private sector-led innovations and public sector delivery and policy guidelines, incremental slum upgrading, affordable housing for low income households through meaningful private sector led-housing solutions that impact on communities.
Prior to joining Habitat, he served at ACDI VOCA bringing to a smooth close one of the fast-moving USAID/OFDA-funded post-Ebola Economic Recovery and Cash Transfer program assisting over 30,000 households rebuild their livelihoods and safety nets. He was the program Manager at Mercy Corps for eight years where he successfully coordinated the largest Ebola Community Action Platform countrywide implemented through consortia of 76 local and international partners, reaching 2 million people with life-saving messages and emergency assistance. His passion to serve vulnerable communities, youth and women empowerment are demonstrated from tact in coordination and formation of youth alliances, bringing a GDA match of up to US$10 million to USAID/Advancing Youth Program and impacting on livelihoods of 12,000 ‘out-of-school’ youth through enabling access to alternative education, livelihood and employment opportunities. He designed project guidelines and the ‘Grow Your Business’ curriculum. As Director of Programs at Mercy Corp’s (MC Scotland) in North Sudan, he led a consortium of 5 International Organizations on USAID/BRIDGE, a governance and livelihoods recovery program implemented in a complex conflict context. He initiated several emergency and livelihoods recovery projects including EU-funded Sudan Recovery Fund Program for Action Africa Help International in South Sudan during a critical post-conflict emergency phase and supported formation of the Government of South Sudan’s technical sectors. He is known for his contribution in the development of policy framework for agriculture and health sectors. His career has deep roots in microfinance sector and micro-enterprise development. He is a founding Director of Aim Global agribusiness company and Aim Global fitness Centers in Kenya and South Sudan.
Mathew is a graduate of Egerton University. He ties together 18-years of international development experience and a wide scope of skills ranging from humanitarian program portfolio management, Coordination, planning, budgetary control, donor compliance, project tracking systems and team building.
MUSTAPHA NJIE (TAF), is the man behind the success story called TAF AFRICA GLOBAL LIMITED. Born in The Gambia, he has over 40 years of hands on experience across all levels of the construction and real estate business. TAF AFRICA GLOBAL, which is registered in 8 African countries with dominance in The Gambia and Nigeria, was birthed in 1990. Its success can be attributed to TAF’s vision for the company which is to develop 1 Million homes over the next 20 years. TAF’s expertise, vision and passion have seen him traverse continents sharing his vast experiences as a renowned developer on various platforms as a presenter, a keynote speaker and a panellist. Some of such platforms include the Annual Africa Business Conference at the Harvard Business School in 2003 and 2019 as a panellist; and the Annual Africa Business Conference at The Wharton Business School in 2004 also as a panellist.
Recent Projects:
1. Designed, built and furnished the 52 A.U Presidential villas in The Gambia in a record time of 4 months.
2. Constructed 210-units low income housing estate in Yundum, The Gambia.
3. Constructed 600 units of middle & high income earners in Brufut Gardens.
4. Designed and built the RIVTAF Golf Estate, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 1,000 Residential Units & Shopping Mall.
5. Developing GIETAF Special Economic Zone, Gambia – 160 Hectares.
Recent Awards:
• GBB Best Affordable Housing of the Year 2018.
• CNBC/AABLA Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 (West Africa).
• European Council for Global Business Award for Quality 1998.
• ECOWAS Honourable Businessman of the Year 2011.
• Gambia Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Businessman of the Year 1993, 2004 & 2006.
Affiliations:
Served as Chair and Member of many Boards including Trust Bank Gambia Limited,
National Training Authority, Gambia Telecommunications Co., Gambia Ports
Authority etc.
Chair of the Confederation of International Accreditation Commission- CIAC, Global Board, serving as President of CIAC-Global since Dec 2009. GD is the Founder & Managing Director for Unified Brainz Group Holdings Inc. Prior to his entrepreneurial venture with UBGHI, a dynamic personality infused with entrepreneurial spirit GD has been actively playing role in leading the Top Management & board of advisory as a Management Consultant to Leading Companies in India & Abroad; His far-sighted vision and keen business acumen provide the necessary leadership and impetus to the group activities. He has around a decade plus experience in Human Resource & Management Consulting. GD is actively involved with the Confederation of Indian Healthcare Foundation (CIHF) and held important posts including Board Trustee & Secretary. Besides, GD serves as Founder & President for INDIAN MANAGEMENT ACADEMY, He also serves on councils of various other academic & industry related forums and he has widely travelled to different countries around the world for several times to attend seminars & conferences conducted by the various universities & councils. He was conferred a full Ph.D degree from KEISIE Graduate School, KEISIE International University, South Korea in Management on his dissertation & Thesis work on “A Study of Marketing India as Medical Tourism Destination & Building International Trade” in the year 2009. Further to this in the year 2009 he was bestowed with an honorary degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” in education (Honoris Causa) by NWMD International University, South Africa for his contribution to industry and society as an academician. Since then he has been actively working as Adjunct Professor with TUA, Suriname as Academician and professor in management. Also was Awarded his second Ph.D in Management Studies from School for Doctoral Studies, IIU, European Union in the year 2011 for his outstanding work in management research with thesis work on “A Management Research On Corporate Employees to Check their Resistance, Influence & Response towards Changing Organisational Culture” Besides, he has also won many accolades and awards including the recent Distinguished Medal of Honour Award by the IIU, European Union. Board Advisory Member of IFMS –Institute of Financial & Management Studies (IFMS, USA), Chief Advisor – International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research Academy (IJMRA), USA, Reviewer, International Journal of Business and Management (IJBM) – Canadian Center of Science and Education, Canada, Member Editorial Board – IJSTR, International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research (IJSTR) – Paris, France, Certified Manager – Cambridge Association of Managers, England, Certified Doctor of Business Administration – The Oxford Association of Management, Oxford, England, Honorary fellow Member – Institute of Company & Commrcial Accounts, Nigeria (ICCA). He has served of many Executive Advisory Boards of International Universities across the globe some of his recent assignment is with Azteca, Univerisity – Mexico as Asian- African Representative and is actively looking the university academic development in Asian & African region & other part of the world globally. On the recent front he has been Awareded Full Professorship from Azteca University of the Mexico, South America and looking after the Academic tieup and collaborations for the university with his global connect apart from playing a role of an academcian. Very recently he has been invited to join in as the Board Member of Serbian Royal Academy of Science and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia. Apart from his business consulting profile Dr. G.D Singh is an eminent inspiring motivational speaker and corporate trainer on leadership, entrepreneurship, motivation, communication, personal excellence & various allied fields & subjects. He has conducted training programs for the Corporate Sector and Student Community all over India and abroad. So far almost trained close to over 36,000 employees of various MNCs & leading corporate houses across the globe in INDIA & South East Asia. His seminars and workshops are well known for their high quality content backed by his unique and entertaining style of delivery. His programs are insightful and inspire action, building personal excellence and unleashing innate energies.
Chief Executive of the Millard Fuller Foundation.
Sam Odia is Chief Executive of the Millard Fuller Foundation. He is an architect
by profession and has been involved for more than 20 years in housing
initiatives for the lower end of the pyramid. His experience spans Habitat for
Humanity International (www.habitat.org) & The Fuller Center for Housing
(fullercenter.org) where he led the Nigeria country program of each
organization.
He has worked through exciting partnerships with global organizations such as
Selavip International (www.selavip.org) and more recently with REALL UK –
formerly Homeless International (www.reall.net) through which he has
acquired a vast amount of hands-on, practical experience in providing low-
income housing.
He has more recently been involved in affordable housing advocacy & policy
formulation. His dream is to see every Nigerian living in a simple, decent &
affordable home.
Founder/CEO of
Eximia Realty Co Ltd
Mr. Hakeem Ogunniran is the Founder/CEO of Eximia Realty Co Ltd, developers of the MaestroVille, and Fiona-Lawton Apartments, Lekki, and joint promoters of Lake City, LAGOS. His company is also the exclusive franchise of Plovercrest Capital Property for the West African territory.
He recently retired from Uac of NIGERIA Plc having served as the Managing Director of UACN Property Development Co Plc (Updc) from 2010 – 2018 and Managing Director of MDS Logistics (Division of UAC of Nigeria PLC)between 2000 -2010. Prior to 2000, he was at various times a Law Lecturer, Company Secretary/Legal Adviser,Sales/Marketing Manager and Corporate Planning Manager.
Mr. Ogunniran is also a past President an Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Arbitrators of Nigeria, Council and EXCO Member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry and frequent speaker at international conferences including the Annual African Property Investment Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was the Lead Speaker for Africa at the 1st International Conference on Corporate Governance at Shanghai in May, 2010.
In the past 8 years, Mr Ogunniran has changed the narrative of the real estate industry, leading his team to deliver landmark and iconic projects in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and birthingprojects in other cities including Asaba and Calabar. In the area of project funding, he led his company to float bonds, CPs and a DOT based Real Estate Investment Trust in 2013.
He is a recipient of many awards including the Federal Government’s Scholarship for High Academic Standing (1981 – 1984), Fulbright Scholarship to Yale School, USA (1991/1992), Joint Best Individual Performance in Management Accounting in ICSA Final Examinations; Osun State Government of Nigeria’s Merit Award, 2007, ICSAN’s Special Award for Exemplary Service (2009); Kwame Nkrumah Award For Corporate Governance Excellence 2009, Distinguished Chartered Secretary of the Year, 2010; Association of Professional Bodies in Nigeria’s Award for Professional Excellence, 2011 and Global Home Nigeria Property Award’s Property CEO of the Year 2011,Real Estate Unite Person of the Year,2013, the Odua Business Ambassador Awards and named one of the top 20 CEOs of the Listed Companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for 2013.
Mr. Ogunniran holds LL.B (Hons) LL.M and MBA degrees from the University of LAGOS. A former Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Yale Law School, USA, he has attended several high level management training programmes including the Unilever (IMS), U.K, General Management Programme (GMP) of Ashridge Management College, U.K., Strategic Leadership Programme of Cranfield University, U.K., REAL Estate Management Program of Harvard Business School, USA and Senior Financial Management program of the London Business School.
Founding Director,
Amazon Consultants Ltd.
David Matole is an architect, environmental design consultant and an Accredited Green Star SA Professional with the Green Building Council of South Africa and the Kenya Green Building Society. He has practiced as a registered architect for 20 years and is a co-operate member of the Architectural Association of Kenya’s Architects and Environmental Design Consultants Chapters. He is also a founding director and former secretary of the Kenya Green Building Society.
He is a Director of Green Arch Ltd, an architecture and sustainability firm. He is also a lecturer in Architecture and Environmental Design at the Technical University of Kenya where he teaches architectural studio, architectural acoustics and building sustainable design.
Lookman Oshodi, Commonwealth Professional Fellow is the Project Director of Arctic Infrastructure (AI), a multi-disciplinary private organization with broad focus on infrastructure delivery, urban development and the environment. Lookman Oshodi is an infrastructure, urban development and city system strategist. He, alongside other 10 global experts, was a member of the Technical Committee for 2018 Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (4th Guangzhou Award for Urban Innovation) and was appointed in May 2018 as one of the four International Jury Members by the Metropolis, world association of the major metropolises, based in Barcelona, Spain. He joined three other global experts from Canada, the Netherlands and Argentina to assessed and selected 6 pilot projects from all the projects submitted by governments of major metropolises across the world as part of the 2nd edition of the Metropolis Pilot Projects 2018 – 2020.
Lookman Oshodi is the Nigerian coordinator for the Dutch Alliance for Sustainable Urban Development in Africa (DASUDA’s) Lagos Lagoon City Project which is exploring Lagos lagoon as a key element in flood management, housing delivery, transportation, water and green space in Lagos. He is leading a team of local and international experts to support Edo State Government in establishing a new urban development and infrastructure planning institution.
He is also leading multiple study projects with the Heinrich Boll Stiftung (hbs) covering housing types and mortgage system for low income groups in Lagos State, transportation and climate resilient infrastructure in the city of Lagos. He is the Technical Lead for the formulation of new housing funding architecture for the city of Lagos under the auspices of the Lagos State Ministry of Housing in conjunction with Heinrich Boll Foundation and Arctic Infrastructure (AI).
He was the project manager for urban water and sanitation project with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Development Innovations Group (DIG) in Bauchi and Kaduna States, and a Technical Assistance Consultant to Eko Urban Development Project (EKO-UP), a multiple infrastructure delivery project of French Development Agency (AFD) and the Lagos State Government, Nigeria.
He is working, as a Consultant, with Save the Children International, SUPPORT of Switzerland, Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), Peru, Water Aid UK and Community Energy Scotland on various healthcare, water and sanitation, housing, energy and other strategic urban infrastructure delivery projects. He prepared the institutional reform document for restructuring of organizations tasked with the regeneration and urban development in the city of Lagos among which is Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA), served as the Program Coordinator for the reform of Nigerian Land
Use Policy under the auspices of Land Use Act Amendment Advocacy Group (LUAAAG) and worked as a consultant to review and update the National Human Settlement Policy and National Urban Housing Policy for the Republic of Rwanda. He led the preparation of 2014 Buckminster Fuller Challenge finalist Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront Regeneration Plan.
He is currently leading the formulation of Abeokuta Capital City Master Plan under the Future Cities Nigeria and UK Global Prosperity Fund. He is a Trustee in the Board of Iroko Healthcare Support Initiative (IROHES), a healthcare system provider that is working to expanding access to qualitative community healthcare in the vulnerable communities in Nigeria.
Professor,
University Of Lagos, Centre For Housing And Sustainable Development
Professor Timothy Gbenga Nubi is Housing Finance and Urban Regeneration experts. His work focuses on finding a lasting solution to housing and urban development/management problems. He holds a PhD in Construction Management from the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos. He is the founding Director, University of Lagos Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development – the Centre which was sponsored with a grant of $768,000 which he won through the support of Nigeria-Uk Housing society from African Development Bank to deliver a wide range of capacity building courses and academic research in the field of housing and real estate development and management. The Centre runs short courses and Master of Housing Development and Management. Under his director, the Centre won the rights to host a Centre of Excellence in Urbanisation and Habitable Cities under the funding of African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA). ARUA offers a $1Million grant over a period of five (5) years with additional $250 from the University as a counterpart fund. He is the current Chairman, Housing Committee University of Lagos and the Director of School of Foundation Studies. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles and supervised over 40 postgraduate level theses.
He is a prolific speaker, writer and believer in the sustainable city, he has led research on the various ramifications of housing finance and urban regeneration in Nigeria and West Africa and has been published in such high Impact Factor Journals as Environment and Urbanization, and Housing Finance International (the journal for the global union of housing finance) as well as International Journal of Law and Management.
His wealth of experience in engaging with the government, communities, NGOs and Private Sector Organizations in Nigeria, UK, US and Netherlands has led to well established policy documents and implementation of key projects in housing and urban regeneration in Nigeria.
Saadiya is an executive management professional, who is results focused, driven and dynamic with over 15 years of progressive leadership experience. She has a passion for surpassing operational, financial and operational objectives by delivering world class real estate developments and solutions.
She has lead Urban Shelter through change management in 2015 and repositioned the company to be an industry leader in real estate sector. As the MD/CEO she has the vision, talent and strong drive to develop and execute winning strategies, projects and inspire teams to adopt change and accomplish preset goals. Deriving genuine pleasure from transforming high- potential staff into outstanding leaders demonstrating the creativity critical to operational and financial success.
In past roles Saadiya has been effective in prominent decision-making roles within government and private sector leading policy dialogue & legislative advocacy; while providing leadership and strategic direction required to influence through creative innovation and nurturing talent.
Saadiya heads the Thematic Group for Housing and Urban Development of NESG. She provides governance as a board director in a number of companies including Shelter Suites & Hotels Ltd, Urban Shelter Infrastructure Ltd and North South Power. She is passionate about gender equality and lends her voice to a number of NGOs as part of her civic duties. She is an alumnus of Brunel University and School and Oriental & African Studies, University of London.
Zomunoda Chizura has over 3 decades of rich experience in investment and finance sector. He has worked for a variety of industries across Africa. He grew up the ladder in Old Mutual Investment Group and has been an integral part of the organization since 1999.
He has served as Led a team managing USD1.5bn portfolio invested in direct property, listed equity, private equity, bonds and cash, as the director in several private equity investments of Old Mutual, including Takura Capital Partners and co-investments with CDC, FMO and DEG and as the director of Old Mutual Malawi property and investment businesses.
As the CEO of Old Mutual West Africa between 2014-2017 he has led growth of newly established general insurance and life assurance business units in Nigeria, Ghana, and for further expansion into rest of West Africa, establishment of business facilities and recruitment to build business teams and was also a member of Old Mutual Emerging Markets Executive Committee.
In his current role as the Head of Impact Funds for Old Mutual South Africa he overlooks the delivery of investment performance, impact outcomes and business performance. He is also leading and motivation of teams managing about USD1bn in Impact Funds and is an Investment Committee Member of African Infrastructure Investment Managers.
President,
Zimbabwe National Association of Housing Cooperatives (ZINAHCO)
Mr Duru is the president of the Zimbabwe National Association of Housing Cooperatives (ZINAHCO), leading 12 124 members in housing delivery. He is also the President of the Zimbabwe National Federation of Cooperatives, the umbrella body of all cooperative sectors in the country, with a total membership of 3 million cooperators. He is a member of Brickforce Housing Cooperative, with 300 members. Since joining the cooperative movement in 1996, Mike held different leadership positions fromprimary society to Federation. In 2018, he was elected Vice President of the International Cooperative Alliance, and is the Southern African Development Committee chairperson for cooperatives. He sits on several other boards like the Provincial Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, Sectorial Technical Committee on Poverty Alleviation, Non State Actors’ Forum, and Housing Directors Forum.
Mike successfully brought visibility to the cooperative movement in Zimbabwe and abroad. A number of achievements and propoor policies have been witnessed like parallel land development; 30% state land allocation to cooperatives; construction of 8 000 houses for ZINAHCO members, and ZINAHCO affiliation to ICA.
Mr Duru has a teaching background and holds a diploma in education, a BSc degree in Sport Management (Research), and is currently pursuing a BSc in Development Studies. He travelled extensively on cooperative business to countries like Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, Kenya, Rwanda, Botswana, Nigeria, DRC, Morocco etc. He attended EU training workshops on finance and project management in Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria, and the Urban Local Authority–Africans Summit in South Africa. He worked closely with organisations like ILO, WE-EFFECT, Rooftops-Canada, NORAD, UN Habitat, SIDA, and Slum Dwellers. Association with these organisations greatly enhanced his understanding of cooperatives.
He is passionate about empowerment of the less privileged and aspires to see a Zimbabwean society where everyone is afforded an opportunity to cooperatively develop themselves and their communities.
Douglas Oppong is Chairman and CEO of Angel Finance Group. He has a wealth of experience as a senior finance executive in the UK Social Housing sector where he funded multi-million pounds development projects. Douglas has expertise in housing delivery and was at the forefront of the Keyworker housing concept when it was first introduced in the UK in 2003. He has sat on boards of housing companies as well as chaired the development and finance committees of several property companies. Douglas was a key advisory member on the Stratford rail lands, the site that became home to the London 2012 Olympics.
Moving into the private sector since 2005, through Angel Finance Group, he has helped thousands of individuals and companies acquire properties with a deal volume in excess of £100 million. He currently advises businesses and governments on project finance and is also the author of Pocket Without Holes – 7 Pillars to Support your Financial Habits and Decisions.
Robert Hornsby is co-founder and CFO of American Homebuilders of West Africa (africa-housing.com), a US-based firm providing high quality affordable housing and housing finance platforms to members of the West Africa diaspora and to the regional West Africa market. Robert has more than two decades of experience in West Africa, where he served in the Peace Corps as a public health volunteer (1993-95), and later managed an import business focused on fair trade products from the region. Robert has led financial strategy for AHWA since 2014, securing over $1.5M in startup financing in 2015, guiding the company to cash flow positive status by the first half of 2017 and over $1M in revenue in 2018, with average annual revenue growth over 100% since 2015. He contributes to the firm a particular blend of entrepreneurial experience, financial and strategic planning acumen, and knowledge of the macroeconomic and cultural landscape in West Africa. Since 1991 he has built and led teams as a business development and project management executive in a variety of entrepreneurial settings. From 2000 to 2004 he was President and co-founder of technology services startup Slingshot Solutions. He subsequently directed new business unit development for Overseas Strategic Consulting before co-founding AHWA. Robert holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in African Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He received a BA in Economics at Davidson College, with a focus on Economic Development. He has worked in residential construction from pouring concrete to framing and roofing, and is a principal investor in his own rental property portfolio in the US.
Managing Director,
Mixta Nigeria
Mixta Real Estate Plc – a leading real estate development company with over two decades of developing communities in Nigeria and over N130billion in assets.
Prior to joining Mixta, Kola worked in various capacities in companies such as Asset & Resource Management company (ARM), Harbor Point Limited, Schounbraun McCann Group (now FTI Consulting), Stonehenge Real Estate Group, The Church Pension Group and Goldman Sachs. He holds a B.Sc in Business Administration from the Bernard Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business and MSc Real Estate with Finance Concentration from the New York University.