The Africa Expert Summit

Paulo Gomes

Paulo Gomes is a global business leader, an active environmentalist and a key political actor in Guinea-Bissau, with more than 30 years advising governments and corporations on strategy and structural projects across Africa.

He served for eight years as Executive Director of the World Bank Group, representing more than 20 African countries, and was previously principal adviser in Guinea-Bissau's Ministry of Finance. He went on to co-found New African Capital Partners and to found Constelor Investment and Orango Investment Corporation.

He was a founding team member of the Africa Finance Corporation and a founding board member of the Green Climate Fund, and he co-chairs the AfroChampions Initiative, which promotes Africa's economic and industrial transformation.

A committed conservationist, he chairs the BioGuinée Foundation, which mobilises finance and partnerships for biodiversity conservation, sustainable community development and environmental education in Guinea-Bissau, and sits on the steering committee of the Pan African Conservation Trust.

He holds a degree in economics and international trade from Sciences Po and ILERI, and a Master's with honours in economic policy and management from Harvard University.

Manu Arthur

Based in Senegal, Manu Arthur is the founder of Business Expertiz and Digital Expertiz, platforms dedicated to sharing practical business, marketing and mindset strategies with African entrepreneurs.

Through masterclasses and in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and business experts, he has built a large and engaged community, demystifying entrepreneurship and digital growth across the continent.

His work bridges world-class business thinking and the realities of building companies in Africa.

Robert Brazza

Born in Brazzaville, Robert Brazza is a celebrated television host and co-founder of programmes on Canal+ Afrique, including +D'Afrique and Réussite.

Regarded as a reference in African show-business, he was chosen to conduct the first interview granted in Africa by a sitting French president. His warmth, presence and command of the stage make him one of the continent's most recognised presenters.

He brings that signature energy as a Master of Ceremonies for the Expert Summit.

Nadia Mensah-Acogny

Nadia Mensah-Acogny co-founded Acosphere in 2005 and serves as its Co-Founder and Managing Partner. An expert in global communications, interpersonal skills, the art of public speaking and cross-cultural communication, she holds three postgraduate degrees from the Sorbonne in Communications, Political Science and Sociology.

She served as Communications Manager for the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) and as a consultant for United Nations agencies in Syria, France, Greece and Kenya. Fluent in nine languages, she trains internationally across West, North and Central Africa.

A former columnist at Forbes Afrique for 13 years, she authors the magazine's annual report on the 100 Most Influential Women in Africa. She sits on the Board of the Batonga Foundation, is an Advisory Council Member of the Women in Africa Initiative, and served on the Board of Trustees of the Africa Centre in London. A sought-after speaker, moderator and MC, she is also a lifelong collector and champion of African contemporary art.

Gilles Acogny

Gilles Acogny is Co-Founder and CEO of Acosphere, a senior executive with a proven track record in turning around company growth, whether start-ups or multinationals. Born in Senegal and fluent in six languages, he has built his career across the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

At Xerox he served as Managing Director of Xerox Egypt and Marketing Director of Xerox Europe, Middle East and Africa. He went on to become Director of Marketing and Global Accounts at a $1.6 billion banking software leader, and held senior management positions with FTSE 100 and Dow Jones Fortune 100 corporations, before founding Acosphere in London in 2005 with Nadia Mensah-Acogny.

Acosphere transforms sales strategy within organisations and offers vital guidance in marketing, team building, motivation and leadership; since 2017 its Dakar subsidiary, Acosphere Africa, has extended that work across the continent. An accomplished speaker, Gilles is regularly invited by governments and the private sector across Africa, Europe and the Americas, and is a member of the International Advisory Board.

Charles Junior Moutapam

Charles Junior Moutapam is a young African entrepreneur and investor, and the founder of SPEAR GROUP, a start-up that supports individuals and businesses in the community with financial education, investment and IT projects.

He is also the founder of SPEAR TRANSFERT, an entirely African digital platform that makes everyday life easier for traders across different sub-regions of Africa.

He is the one who started with less than €0 and achieved financial freedom by the age of 30.

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza

Hertz Fauzan Kakooza is a product engineer, master strategist, and founder of Train of Thought, an intellectual ecosystem and coaching platform that reaches over 3.5 million people monthly. Dedicated to bridging African innovation with global capital, he has facilitated over $1.5 billion in structured deals and consulted for multinational brands like Coca-Cola, Snapchat and MTN.

With over a decade of leadership spanning Africa, Europe and the United States, Fauzan specialises in product engineering, brand strategy and commercial development. He previously served as Creative Director for DusuPay, one of Africa's pioneering digital payment gateways, and continues to drive international tech marketing initiatives as co-founder of Vera Pax Tech and Conduit Group Africa.

Fauzan's problem-solving approach stems from his roots in Kampala, Uganda, where he studied Industrial Design and Engineering at Makerere University and emerged as a pioneer in urban commercial graffiti art. Today, based in Lagos, Nigeria, he is a sought-after speaker and philosopher who leverages his diverse creative and technical background to help global founders and institutions build lasting business infrastructure.

Silfath Pinto

Silfath Pinto is a self-mastery coach, somatic expert, international speaker and founder of the Luminous Living Project. Over the past 20 years her work has spanned continents, cultures and contexts, from Dubai to Abidjan, Bali to the Fiji Islands, London to Thailand.

She has facilitated transformational experiences for individuals, entrepreneurs and leaders around the world, helping them access their highest potential, lead with greater alignment and create lives that reflect who they truly are and the legacy they are here to bring.

Silfath is the creator of LuminEssence, her signature coaching methodology, which integrates somatic intelligence, mindfulness and energy optimisation to support deep personal alignment, effective leadership and sustainable performance. She also developed YIN Flow, a movement methodology that uses the body as a gateway for self-awareness, emotional liberation and transformation.

After beginning her career in banking in Paris and New York, Silfath made a radical transition into transformation and personal development in 2007. She later moved to Dubai at a time when the wellbeing industry was barely present in the region, becoming one of the early pioneers in the field. She is trained in Mindfulness, Somatic Therapy, Body Energetics, Yin Yoga, Sound Therapy, NLP, Theta Healing and Reiki.

Olivia Yacé

Born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Olivia Yacé is one of Africa’s most compelling voices on leadership, identity, and representation. Her ascent on the international stage, from Miss Côte d’Ivoire 2021 to Miss World Africa 2022 and Miss World 2022 second runner-up, was never merely about pageantry. It was a deliberate platform for advocacy.

Educated at Widener University in Pennsylvania, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Marketing Management, Olivia speaks English, Spanish, and French fluently. She channelled this academic foundation into purposeful action: combating inequality, advancing women’s rights, and championing the right to education across Africa.

She is the founder of Olivia Yacé International, through which she places her expertise in communication, marketing, luxury management, and image strategy, together with an exacting eye for detail, at the service of those who wish to own their identity and elevate how they are seen.

The Olivia Yacé Foundation was born of personal conviction: to give the most vulnerable children, and young girls in particular, genuine access to education. Rooted in Côte d’Ivoire, the Foundation works locally, humanely, and transparently to meet concrete needs, on the belief that school can transform a life, open doors, awaken dreams, and build the future of a country.

As Tourism Ambassador for Côte d’Ivoire, Olivia elevates her country’s presence on the world stage. She represents a new archetype of African excellence: educated, principled, and unapologetically powerful.

Éric Béhanzin

Born in Paris on June 6, 1976, Éric Béhanzin overcame a difficult childhood to forge one of the most distinctive trajectories in international business coaching. He spent two decades as a professional singer, musician, and trainer, an experience that instilled in him the power of presence, performance, and personal narrative.

Building on 12+ years of entrepreneurial practice, Éric founded Explosive Business, a consulting firm operating across four countries, and developed the Business Fulgurant method: a proprietary framework enabling entrepreneurs to multiply their revenue within months by mastering three core levers: positioning, team assembly, and scalable systems.

Recognised as the #1 International Speaker of 2018 and a bestselling author ("Perle Rare", "12 Jours"), Éric works exclusively with business owners generating €500K+ annually who seek transformative reinvention. His approach bridges artistic sensibility with commercial rigour, helping leaders build brands that are not just profitable, but unforgettable.

At the Africa Expert Summit, Éric will share his methods for building a magnetic personal brand and scaling a business without sacrificing identity. His sessions are known for being direct, disruptive, and deeply practical.

Mac Attram

Mac Attram is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and executive coach with a global reputation for transforming business owners into high-performance leaders. As the founder of MindSpace Coaching (est. 2006) and CEO of Mac Attram Group, he has trained and coached hundreds of thousands of people across 50+ countries.

Named Executive Coach of the Year in the UK (2013), Mac has been featured as an expert across Sky TV, The Guardian, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and VOX Africa. Over the past two decades, he has developed and sold several profitable companies, helping business owners scale their sales revenue by as much as 200% in just months.

He holds an MBA and has shared stages with some of the world's most recognised thought leaders including Robert Kiyosaki, Les Brown, T. Harv Eker, and Blair Singer. But perhaps what makes Mac distinctive is what lies beneath the business methodology: a 5th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo and a former UK champion, bringing the discipline, resilience, and mental fortitude of a martial artist to every boardroom.

At the Africa Expert Summit, Mac will deliver a signature session on rapid business growth, mindset architecture, and wealth creation for African and diaspora entrepreneurs ready to scale their impact.

Nabou Fall

Dubbed "The African Oprah Winfrey," Nabou Fall is a Senegalese entrepreneur, author, TEDx speaker, and one of Africa's most respected voices on leadership, communication, and women's empowerment. Her journey from technology engineer to transformational coach reflects the very reinvention she champions.

Educated in Computer Science and holding a Master's in Finance & Management from ISG Paris and an engineering degree from ESGI, she deepened her leadership expertise with a Harvard Business School Leadership Certificate and a Boardroom Africa Certificate from IOD London. This cross-disciplinary formation makes her approach uniquely rigorous and human.

As CEO of Vizeo (since 2007), a leading transformational communications agency, and Founder of Nabou Fall Akademy, she has shaped the narrative for hundreds of organisations across the continent. She leads Wimnet, a network building digital skills for African women, and was selected by the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeeper committed to SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Her co-founded incubator, I-Hub, won the title of Best African Accelerator in 2022.

A published novelist (Virtual Escape, 2017) and mentor across multiple NGOs, Nabou Fall brings to the Africa Expert Summit a powerful session on transformational communication, authentic leadership, and building Africa's next generation of women founders.

Tomi Davies

Harry “Tomi” Davies, widely known as TD, is an African angel investor, board director, ecosystem architect and technology strategist with more than four decades of experience across technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and early-stage investment.

He is Founder and Collaborator-in-Chief of TVCLabs, CEO of DiaGlocal Collective, Chairman of RevUP Caribbean, and President Emeritus and Founding President of the African Business Angel Network. He also serves on the board of the Global Business Angel Network.

TD began his career in technology and digital transformation, working with organisations including Elf Aquitaine, Marks & Spencer, Ernst & Young and Sapient across Europe, Africa and the United States. Since 2000, his focus has increasingly been on strengthening Africa's entrepreneurial and investment ecosystems.

He is the creator of the POEM Framework®, a structured approach to aligning Proposition, Organisation, Economics and Milestones around measurable performance and investment readiness, and is the author of Investment Worthy Startup and The African Project Manager.

At the Africa Expert Summit 2026, TD will lead an interactive POEM Framework® masterclass on organisational performance and take part in an AI-focused fireside chat exploring how founders and senior managers can use artificial intelligence effectively without outsourcing judgement, accountability or responsibility.

Chloé Dash

Chloé Dash Inès is a dynamic bilingual speaker, certified coach, and digital entrepreneur reaching both French and English-speaking African audiences with a community of over 200,000 followers.

A Certified Growth Marketer from the first French-speaking African cohort, she is the founder of Pass The Torch CIC, a community-impact venture dedicated to mentorship and empowerment, and the host of the Get Untitled Podcast, where she explores identity, ambition, and building a life on your own terms.

At the Africa Expert Summit, Chloé brings her signature energy to conversations on personal brand, purpose, and the power of authentic communication across languages and cultures, a perfect voice for Africa's bilingual generation of leaders.

Régis Facia

Régis Facia is one of Benin's most celebrated entrepreneurs. Armed with a degree from Grenoble School of Business and a Master's in Marketing from the UK, he returned to Cotonou in 1994 and chose to build in Africa.

In 1995, with just 3,500 euros in capital, he founded Top Chrono, a mail and express delivery company. Over three decades he transformed it into a regional powerhouse operating in Benin, Togo, Niger, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, with partnerships including FedEx, Bolloré, Géoposte, and Sodexi.

Since 2006, he has served as Vice-President of the National Business Council of Benin (CNP-Bénin) and is the Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Benin. His story is a masterclass in entrepreneurial conviction on African soil.

Vanessa Adande

Vanessa Adande is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in both the United States and the CEMAC region, and the founder and managing partner of ELLIPSIS, a financial management advisory firm.

After completing her qualification in the US, she joined Deloitte Paris for four years, then moved to her first African role at Ecobank Benin. She returned to Gabon in 2012 and, after eight years of multi-continental financial experience, founded her own firm focused on accounting and financial management best practices for the African private sector.

A committed gender champion and Ambassador of Women In Africa for Gabon, Vanessa advocates for greater representation of African women in top corporate roles and is an active voice in the fight against sickle cell disease across the continent.

Senam Béheton

Senam Béheton is one of West Africa's most prolific serial entrepreneurs. Over two decades he has founded and invested in more than 35 companies, primarily in technology, making him a key catalyst for the African startup ecosystem.

He founded EtriLabs in 2009, one of Benin's pioneering innovation hubs, and later co-founded TEKXL (startup studio) and Noru Capital (VC firm). In 2019 he launched Kudizy, a financial management platform built for African SMEs.

Through the Next Health Accelerator, he has helped entrepreneurs secure over $7 million in funding. He holds an MA in International Development from American University and an MEd in Instructional Technology from the University of Maryland.

Tara Fela-Durotoye

Tara Fela-Durotoye R.O.I is an activator, inspiring communicator, and visionary business leader whose life’s work continues to empower women and entrepreneurs across Africa.

A pioneer of the Nigerian beauty industry, she founded House of Tara International, establishing the country’s first makeup academy, the first indigenous makeup brand, and the first national chain of makeup specialty stores. Over 25 years she built a sustainable enterprise that set the standard for excellence and innovation, before successfully transitioning leadership to a new Managing Director in 2024.

She is also the founder of the Building Beyond You Institute, a business development and legacy hub equipping founders, visionaries, and executives to build systems, institutions, and brands that outlast them. Through her platform SEEP Africa, she is driving an ambitious goal to tackle unemployment by training and placing over one million sales professionals and entrepreneurs in sustainable careers and businesses across the continent.

Her impact has been recognised nationally and globally. She is a recipient of the National Award of Excellence for Social Impact and Job Creation, a recognition by the Vice President of Nigeria, and has been named by Forbes among Africa’s 20 Young Power Women and 50 Most Powerful Women in Africa. She was the 2022 awardee of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.

A graduate of Lagos Business School, with executive leadership programmes from INSEAD, Yale University, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, she is a member of the Royal Order of the Iwere Kingdom (ROI). Beyond her professional accomplishments, Tara is married to Fela Durotoye and mother to three sons. Her life is a shining example of purpose, impact, and legacy.

Tosin Ogunnusi

Tosin Ogunnusi is a rare force on the international speaking circuit: part high-performance coach, part transformational experience architect. Originally from Lagos and based in the UK, he is a Certified NLP Trainer (American Board of NLP, since 2006), Hypnotherapist, and one of a small number of professionals worldwide certified to deliver breakthrough empowerment activities as tools for peak performance.

Through Mpowerment Ltd, Tosin has trained thousands globally, delivering programmes for corporate clients including Aviva, O2, and the Football Association. His flagship offerings include the 4-Day Empowerment Activities Instructor Training and the 3-Day Speaking & Presenting with IMPACT Programme.

He is also a respected elite emcee and author of Perform Like A Champion Every Time You Speak and Empower Yourself With 7 Natural Laws. His sessions blend physical intensity with psychological depth, helping delegates shatter limiting beliefs and perform beyond what they thought possible.