Meet Our Team
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Lemmy Manje
Founder and CEO
Lemmy is an inclusive finance expert and has 20 years of professional experience in research, training and project management of financial inclusion projects with various international organisations. Lemmy provides technical assistance and management services to various international developmental organizations, insurance companies and other financial service providers. He has published numerous works on microfinance, microinsurance and small enterprise development. He has professional experience with various international organisations including the European Union, FSDZ, Financial Sector Deepening Trust Tanzania (FSDT), Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA), Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), Care International, Mennonite Economic Development Associates, FinMark Trust, Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (Cenfri), Microfinance Opportunities, International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Africa Development Bank, specialising in financial inclusion, microfinance, informal finance, microinsurance, digital financial services, private sector development, business development services, value chain development, market development and small enterprise development. He is an alumna of the Harvard Kennedy School program, Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Innovation for Policy and Practice. His professional experience for long and short-term assignments has mainly been in North, South, Central and East Africa as well as Asia and Europe. He has a Master’s Degree (MA) in International Development from University of Manchester, United Kingdom and Bachelor’s degree (BA) in Economics and Demography from the University of Zambia.
Sandisiwe Ncube
Associate Director - Business Development
Sandisiwe Ncube is a Zimbabwean development economist with over 10 years experience across various projects and countries. She has considerable experience within financial inclusion (microinsurance, distribution of financial services and regulatory reform and design), digital financial inclusion, data analysis and women's economic empowerment and inclusion. She has worked extensively across Africa and Asia namely Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Sandisiwe worked for Cenfri (Centre for Financial Regulation & Inclusion) in Cape Town from 2010 – 2014 where she gained considerable experience in development economics, financial inclusion, regulatory design/reform, mobile financial services and stakeholder engagement. From 2014 to present, she has been working as an independent consultant and her clients include Amua Africa, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, BFA Global, Inclusivity Solutions, and the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii). Sandisiwe is also a consultant on The Better Than Cash Alliance's (BTCA) roster of international and national digital finance specialists. She completed her Masters in Commerce in 2009, Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Economics in 2007, Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and Management) in 2006 all from Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa).
Kim Chatterjee
Human Centered Design Expert
Kim is Human Centered Design (HCD) expert. She is a nomadic user experience (UX) designer, behaviour change enthusiast, communicator, business analyst, problem solver, storyteller, facilitator, trainer, gofer, team nurturer and all-round optimist. With over 17 years' experience in human centred design and spanning multiple countries in Asia and East Africa, she has successfully led design initiatives aimed at understanding local user context and behavior, designing for social impact, and building capacity. Whether it's a 2-hour workshop, a weekend hackathon, week-long design sprint, an immersive design summit, or a year-long culture-shifting software build, she ensures that everyone emerges with positive experiences, celebrates successes, and stays attuned to the end goal of meeting user needs.
Sarita Mohanty
Inclusive insurance expert
Sarita comes with more than a decades experience in the field of Life Insurance - Product Development and Management. She has been associated with leading Life Insurance companies as Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Co. Ltd., ING Life Insurance (now Exide Life Insurance), apart from that she was associated with Wipro Technologies as well. She has worked on wide spectrum of both market linked and non-market linked plans such as savings, pension, micro-insurance and universal insurance schemes targeting the informal sector. Her job entails research and analysis of national and international insurance markets for creating ideas and concepts for innovative insurance plans and ensuring smoother launch of the plans with system and processes set-up. In her current role, she looks into strategizing the product road-map for the organization and works closely with the senior management for developing products based on client & market needs.
Faith Kobusingye Mugambwa
Digital Financial Services Expert
Faith is a Digital Financial Services (DFS) expert with over 18 years working experience the payments and financial services sector. She is well versed in Product development, Strategy formulation and implementation, Project management, Strategic marketing, and Retail banking. Faith’s experience includes working with both private sector and government agencies to implement different viable inclusive payment ecosystems and value propositions. She has worked in various countries across East and Southern Africa.
Alice Merry
Financial Inclusion Expert
Alice Merry is the Founder and CEO of Merry and Co Financial Inclusion Consultants. She is a consultant in inclusive and sustainable finance, and the host of the Feminist Finance Podcast. Alice has a decade's experience working with the United Nations, NGOs and the private sector towards a financial system that works for people and for the planet. She is a graduate of Cambridge University and the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Executive Master in Development Policy and Practice.
Barbara Chabbaga
Inclusive insurance pricing expert/Actuary
Barbara has actuarial training with 10 years’ experience in the insurance sector. She has gained extensive local and international exposure in applying actuarial techniques to microinsurance with over 8 years’ experience in microinsurance in Kenya. As lead consultant at AB Consultants, she builds microinsurance capacity through market research, actuarial consulting, strategy development, pricing and product development. She has led projects in health financing, pricing and strategy development, with special focus on the informal sector. She also has interest in InsurTech and is a co-founder in a solution designed to make insurance accessible to those who need it most through technology.
Irma Grundling
Data Analytics and Research Expert
Irma is the Founder and CEO of Yakini Development Consulting. She has more than 30 years of experience in social research and data analysis. Irma holds a master degree in Biometrical Genetics from the University of Pretoria as well as a bachelor’s degree majoring in applied statistics and mathematics from the same University. She founded Yakini Development in 2010. As executive director of Yakini, Irma has consulted extensively with a variety of clients regarding financial inclusion matters. Her strengths include management of large national surveys, instrument design, data analysis and presentation.
Bwalya Penza
Gender & Financial Inclusion Expert
Bwalya Penza is a highly qualified international consultant with a MSc. in Gender, Development and Globalisation studies from the London School of Economics. With over 15 years in the field, Bwalya has extensive experience in private sector - micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) – development, financial inclusion, and gender and socio-economic development in Zambia and sub-Saharan Africa. Having worked in the financial inclusion space for over 8 years, Bwalya brings to the table a combination of skills that complement this assignment. She has experience in Zambia and Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe) as well as in Denmark. Given her wide-ranging experience in gender- based programming & work with women and youth, as well as her long-standing exposure to developing issues on the continent & particularly within the SADC region, Bwalya Penza is well placed to deliver on this assignment. Bwalya has a proven track record of delivering gender mainstreaming and financial inclusion. She has provided technical support to on projects involving the developing digital financial products and services for rural women and youth, digital financial education (insurance, savings, managing money); financial education for youth and linkages to financial services; digital financial services for female smallholder farmers and financial education in the schools. Bwalya has experience working with the private sector, government, NGOs and donor funded programmes, while delivering value for money and sticking to deadlines. Collectively, these strengths provide Bwalya her competitive edge in the industry.
Bert Opdebeeck
Inclusive Insurance Expert
Bert is the founder of Microinsurance Master, the first leadership programme designed for the microinsurance sector. Microinsurance Master wants to inspire and strengthen microinsurance leaders with best-practice learning techniques, customer-centric insights and practical frameworks and tools that will reduce the vulnerability of low-income communities and make leaders and their organisations thrive. Although independent organisation, Microinsurance Master partners with FinProbity Solutions on some inclusive insurance work.
Bopelokgale Soko
Expert- Financial regulation, supervision and policy, Micropensions
Bopelokgale Soko is a Financial Sector Regulator with 22 years’ experience in financial regulation, supervision and policy development. She has worked as a regulator and supervisor of both banks and non-bank financial institutions including asset management, custodian, pension funds, pension funds administrators and the securities market players etc. In addition to the above, she has also held senior and executive positions in two Securities Exchanges (the Stock Exchange and the Derivative and Commodities Exchange) and the Social Security institution. She has done short term consultancies for the World Bank and the African Union Commission in the areas of capital market regulation, financial integration, and other related areas. She has also been instrumental in the financial sector policy development initiatives in the region. She has a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of Botswana, Bachelor of Business Management and Administration (Honors) from the University of Stellenbosch Business School and a Master of Business Management and Administration (Finance) from the University of Stellenbosch Business School.
Liz McGuinness
Financial Inclusion Expert
Liz has 20 years of experience in international development with extensive experience in leading, designing, implementing, reporting and presenting research and evaluation results to a wide range of public and private stakeholders. Her areas of specialisation include inclusive finance, women’s economic empowerment, digital and financial literacy, youth financial inclusion, and SME development. He has MA and BA in Economics. Liz also has analytical software skills in MaxQDA, EPI-Info and SPSS.
Anne Kamau
Inclusive Insurance Expert
Anne is an insurance professional with a mission to make insurance accessible to those who need it most. She is passionate about inclusive insurance. she is an innovative thinker and entrepreneur who brings life to financial services. She brings the end-users face to every product, reminding financial service providers that there is a real person behind every number crunched and revenue collected. She is contagiously enthusiastic and passionate about matters inclusive insurance. She has over 15 years’ experience designing, prototyping, and managing distribution of inclusive insurance solutions in Kenya and other Sub-Saharan countries. She also served in the National microinsurance steering committee hosted by the Insurance Regulatory Authority, that developed the national microinsurance policy and regulation in Kenya.
Jeremiah Siage
Digital Financial Services Expert
Jeremiah has over 20 years’ experience in digital financial services, business management and marketing across Africa. He is also a DFS Specialist (Consultant) at IFC (International Finance Corporation) focusing on go-to-market strategies and execution in sub-Saharan Africa. He has demonstrable results from setting up and managing a Mobile Money implementation in Kenya (yuCash), implementing a Mobile Phone-based insurance distribution structure (M-Bima), and providing DFS Technical Assistance (TA) to a range of MNOs and Financial Institutions across Africa. Jeremiah holds a BSc, MIBA, Practitioner Certificate in Project Management - PRINCE2®; and Certificate in Digital Marketing. Jeremiah is a co-founder of CoverApp, a leading insurtech platform in Kenya.
Justina Moonga
Inclusive Insurance Expert
Justina is an insurance expert with more than 10 years’ work experience in the insurance industry in Zambia. She has held various senior positions and managed various projects within her job roles including Health insurance, Bancassurance & Alternative distribution and Microinsurance. Her strengthens are in strategic planning, marketing and project management. She has proficiency in new product development; market research, prototype development and sales. Justina has a master’s degree in Business Administration from Heriot Watt University, Bachelor’s degree in Science in Natural Resources from the University of Zambia, Diploma in Insurance and a Post Graduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation. Justina is a philanthropist and supports philanthropic activities. She served on the Board of Directors for the Zambian Governance Foundation for Civil Society from 2012 to 2018 and is a member of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and a member of the Zambia Institute of Marketing. She is currently serving within the insurance industry in Uganda.
Dr. Simeon Numbem
Agricultural Finance Expert
Dr. Simeon Numbem is an agronomist, a banker and expert in development finance who has in the past 20 years been at the forefront of market-oriented and investment-led promotion of agricultural finance and investment promotion using the value-chain based-approach in various sectors like agriculture, agribusiness, nutrition and livelihood, forest management, ecotourism and non-timber forest products, water distribution, and rural electrification. With over a decade of management-level banking and small enterprise finance experience with pioneering Ag-finance bank Afriland First Bank in Cameroon, Dr. Numbem brings expertise in the use of debt, venture and risk capital, guarantee instruments and has also established specialized funds investing in SME and agriculture with the Value Chain-based Approach. Dr. Numbem has spent over 10 years “teaching banks to think like farmers” and has facilitated trainings, especially TOT (training of trainers) in agricultural finance. Dr. Numbem today, consults with various international organizations including the World Bank, FAO, AfDB, Adam Smith International, BRL-France in the formulation and implementation of agribusiness projects and programs using the value chain-based approach in more than 20 English and French speaking countries in Africa. He has provided technical support to agricultural intensification through sustainable soil fertility, land evaluation and land use management; erosion control and water resources management working for IRAD (the national Institute for Agronomic Research), IITA (International Institute for Tropical Agriculture), and post-graduate research at USDA and assisted governments with renewable energy, carbon finance, and CDM (clean development mechanism). Dr. holds a PhD from Cornell University in New York, USA, a Master degree in Agronomy with concentration on Land-use systems from the University of Ghent, Belgium, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Corporate Finance from the Middlesex University London, UK; and many professional diplomas on Environmental Finance from the World Bank, IMF and FMO.
Dr. Ajay Verma
Agricultural Insurance & Finance Expert
Dr. Ajay Verma, Founder and Director, ARTHGRAM Agri & Business Services Pvt. Ltd. and a veteran of General Insurance, has 40 years of diversified experience. He has served the academic institutions (Agriculture Universities, Gujarat and MP States of India), Govt. Veterinary Department, Public and Private Insurance Companies (Oriental Insurance and Future Generali), and an International NGO (Swisscontact Worldwide) in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Dr. Verma invested his 35 years in the General Insurance industry. He was business head for Rural, Micro, and Agriculture Insurance Business in Future Generali India Insurance Co. for a long time. He set up an entire business vertical to design products, develop processes, business development, and claims management. He implemented the Crop Insurance Program for the company successfully throughout India. He participated in various Govt. sponsored schemes, tied up with Common Service Centres, MFIs, NGOs, and Rural banks to distribute low ticket size products to their customers. He led an SDC sponsored project on the crop, livestock, and disaster insurance in Bangladesh as an International Team Leader for implementing the pilots in 2017-18. Dr. Verma laid the foundation of ARTHGRAM to extend a wide range of consultancy services like training, crop health monitoring, crop claims management, crop loss assessment, to name a few, to various insurers, reinsurers brokers, technology service providers, banks, and the Governments institutions in respect of crop, microinsurance, and rural insurances. He is a visiting faculty to the Insurance Institute of India, a premier insurance training institute for Agriculture and Rural Insurance. He has conducted international training programs in India and Bangladesh. He is an advisor to the board of Dvara E-Dairy Solutions Pvt Ltd, a company under Dvara Trust.He is Post Graduate of Veterinary Science and holds a Diploma in Management. He is an Associate of Insurance Institute of India. Publications of a couple of scientific research papers and authored articles are to his credit. He is a regular attendee and speaker to various forums of Agriculture and Microinsurance.
Enock Sing’oei
Agriculture and climate insurance Expert
Enock Sing’oei is an agriculture and climate insurance consultant with experience in design, distribution innovation and evaluation of Agriculture and Climate insurance in Africa and Asia. Enock is a Microinsurance Master 2020 alumni, Fellow from ILO Impact Insurance Facility and currently working as inclusive insurance consultant. In recent past, Enock has been involved in ILO’s Impact Insurance trainings in Africa and Agriculture and climate insurance country assessment/evaluation work in Uganda, Cambodia, and Indonesia using the 3-D Client Value Assessment Tool. Using the same tool Enock has done assessment of Acre Rwanda crop and livestock insurance and provided a high-level recommendation on how to improve client value at scale, more details are available here. Enock is also working as a consultant supporting Microinsurance Master in current evaluation of Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) Insurance Client-Centric Cycle (I3C) project. Over the last 9 years Enock has worked on various inclusive insurance projects in Africa and Asia with: Kilimo Salama now Acre Africa in Kenya & Rwanda, Kifiya Financial Technology in Ethiopia, WorldCover in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, CNAAS Assuarance in Senegal, ILO-GIZ trainings in Zambia, Syngenta foundation feasibility studies in Sudan and Morocco amongst many other advisory roles across Africa and Asia. Enock is passionate in supporting projects that decrease risk and improve wellbeing of the global poor.
Dr. Nyamwaya Munthali
ICT4D expert | M&E for social enterprises specialist
Nyamwaya is an Information and Communication for Development (ICT4D) expert and adept researcher. In the last 10 years, she has worked on and managed a number of ICT4AG projects as well as published scientific articles on ICTs (social medias’) role in African extension service delivery. Her experience in the agricultural sector also extends to other types of projects. Over the years, she has contributed to the development and implementation of practical monitoring, evaluation and communication systems on livelihood enhancing, and business and social enterprise development projects, affiliated to varied development organisations (United States Agency for International Development, Mennonite Economic Development Associates, Netherlands Development Organisation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Nyamwaya obtained her PhD from Wageningen University and is a part-time thesis supervisor/researcher at the University of Lusaka. Her research interests and expertise - that involves field work in Zambia, Tanzania, India and mostly recently Ghana - relate to the social situatedness of (ICT) technology and the potential and role of strategic/digital communication mechanisms to foster agricultural development as well as the pervasive nature of these innovations.