Laban-Cliff Onserio is a 2016 Wincott Fellow at the Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford. He has also trained with the Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa. His calling is in Business Journalism where he covers financial and macro economic news in East Africa. He has moderated and interviewed business leaders in the World Economic Forum, UNCTAD 14 and TICAD IV Global Events.

He Anchors the daily Bulletin on NTV Business and often writes for the Business Daily Newspaper, East Africa's authority in business.

Laban-Cliff was named the Best TV Business News Reporter in the 2015 Media Council of Kenya Awards (MCKA). His passion is in telling Africa's Growth Story and his work mantra is to "Tell it fast, accurately and impassively" ​

Hon. Adan Mohamed is the Cabinet Secretary for Industry, Trade & Cooperatives Republic of Kenya. Prior to this appointment, he was the Chief Administrative Officer for Barclays Africa, with responsibility for ten (10) Barclay's Bank subsidiaries in Africa. In addition, he was responsible for Brand & Marketing, Corporate Communications and Citizenship across Barclays Africa businesses.

Hon. Adan Mohamed also performed various senior roles in Barclays including CEO of Barclays Kenya for over 10 years, and Managing Director – Barclays East and West Africa since 2008. He also worked in senior Finance roles in Barclays Bank. Prior to joining Barclays, he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers (London) in the Management Consultancy and Business Advisory Services. His international career has seen him serve in the UK, US and Africa.

He has served in many other capacities both in private and public sector in Kenya, including: Chairman of Kenya Bankers Association, Member of the Kenya National Economic and Social Council (NESC), and as the Chairman of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) amongst others.

Hon. Mohamed received Presidential recognition and was bestowed the Elder of the Golden Hearts (EGH) Award for his leading role and distinguished service in both the private and public sector.Hon. Mohamed is an MBA graduate from Harvard Business School and an alumni of the University of Nairobi, Kenya where he graduated with a First Class Honors degree in Commerce (Accounting option). He is also a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Creative Serial Entrepreneur

Wanjiru Waweru Waithaka is a graduate of Interior Architecture from the Glasgow School of Art, University of Glasgow. She successfully founded and run an interior architecture consultancy called Amber Africa for 10 years. Her clients were individuals, hotels and multinationals within East Africa.

After 10 years of running Amber Africa and her passion for design and manufacturing Wanjiru realized the need to create the first global children’s brand from Africa.

Funkidz Limited is an exciting, innovative children’s brand that designs and manufactures products targeting children from age 0-16 years. Funkidz has several brands to it all geared to creating world class products . Funkidz Tech through Kidz Go Tech is focused on Transforming and leap frogging education on the African continent experientially using 21st century learning by way of tech, animation and robotics.

Wanjiru and her team have designed the first educational experimental robot in Africa and are hoping to launch it by 2019. What gets Wanjiru up every morning is a burning fire and desire to make a positive difference in the society she lives in and in the world at large.

Wanjiru strives to do this using her gift of creativity. Being a creative entrepreneur, innovator and manufacturer makes her heart beat.

Being an entrepreneur is not enough for Wanjiru as she believes in mentoring young men and women whenever she can, to believe that they can be anything they dream they can be, as well as their dreams are valid regardless of the environment they live in or were born into.

Wanjiru believes by doing what she does every day, taking a step at a time she can be part of a positive change in Africa for young entrepreneurs. She hopes to influence mindsets of “small road side trading mentality in Kenya/ Africa and instead become a continent of industrialist , both men and women.

She has a passion for empowering the youth in entrepreneurship and has been selected on several occasions to be a panelists locally and internationally during youth entrepreneurship competitions, events etc.

General Manager, Coca-Cola East and Central Africa Franchise

Ahmed Rady is the General Manager, Coca-Cola East and Central Africa Franchise, overseeing operations in 17 countries. With over 20 years senior management experience in Brand Management and Marketing, Rady joined Coca-Cola in 2000. He has since held various positions within the Coca-Cola company and its affiliates, among them, Business Unit Marketing Director for Coca-Cola Central, East & West Africa Ltd. Prior to that he worked as a Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble.

Among his most interesting and significant assignments he has overseen in his current capacity, is Why the Future is Kenya, an initiative that brings private sector players and the government together in a bid to position Kenya as a trade and investment destination through integrated marketing communication approaches. He is also passionate about economic empowerment for youth and women, and has contributed significantly towards making Coca-Cola one of the biggest employers in the countries under his jurisdiction, through company’s vast and robust distribution system.

Rady holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering, from the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is the current Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and holds various other board and committee positions within the Coca-Cola system.

Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi's Business School.

Bitange Ndemo is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi's Business School. His research centers on the link between ICTs and small and medium enterprises with emphasis on how ICTs influence economic development in Africa.

Prof. Ndemo is the Chairman of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Taskforce that will develop a road map for the country’s digital transformation road map. He is also an advisor and Board member to several organizations including Safaricom one of the leading telecommunication company in Africa, Mpesa Foundation, Research ICT Africa that is based in South Africa.

He is a former Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communication where he was credited with facilitating many transformative ICT projects. He is an Open Data/Big Data evangelist and dedicated to simplification (visualization) of data for ordinary citizens to consume. He writes two columns every week for the Business Daily and Nation on-line.

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF KENYA WOMEN MICROFINANCE BANK

Mr. Mwangi Githaiga is a visionary leader who has made great strides in championing sustainable developmental growth initiatives in the Microfinance Industry especially by fostering financial inclusion to alleviate poverty for low and middle income women and their families with an aim of uplifting their living standards.

As the Managing Director of Kenya Women Microfinance Bank Ltd, Mr. Mwangi’s leadership has grown the institution from a Deposit Taking Microfinance to a fully-fledged Microfinance Bank serving over 800,000 clients in 45 out of the 47 counties with a team of 2,800 competent and well-motivated employees.

Mr Mwangi has introduced many enriching empowerment programs at KWFT that have transformed the youth and women customers both socially and economically thus accomplishing of KWFT Mission. He has also steered development of new, innovative financial products and services, technological advancements and mobilization of financial resources in line with the Institution’s strategy.

Mr. Mwangi has served as the Board Chair of the Association for Micro-finance Institutions (AMFI) and is currently also a board member of KWFT. He is a key member of different professional bodies and is a respected and celebrated mentor in Thought Leadership, Business, Finance, Community development and Human Capital Engagements.

General Manager GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare, East Africa

Debra is the General Manager, Consumer Healthcare at GlaxoSmithKline, East Africa. Based in Nairobi, her remit covers 8 countries in East Africa & the Islands including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius and Madagascar. She is a highly-accomplished leader with a wealth of experience in consumer packaged goods gained in leading multinationals companies. She has a strong track record of delivering growth at international, regional and local levels. She is considered a challenging and versatile leader and capitalises on strong business acumen and confident leadership talent to steer teams in new directions.

Prior to joining GSK, Debra was Vice President of Unilever Africa where she led a diverse team of professionals based in Durban and South Africa. Other previous positions held include Group Marketing & Innovation Director of East Africa Breweries Ltd (EABL), Regional Marketing Manager of Diageo Plc and Group Product Manager of British American Tobacco. Debra is widely travelled and has worked and lived in Kenya, the United Kingdom and South Africa during the span of her career.

She holds a B. Com (Hons) degree from the University of Nairobi and an Advanced Management diploma from IESE, Spain. She sits on the Advisory Council of Womens’ World Banking and is a member of the Africa Leadership Network. She has served as an Advisory Council member of the Africa Retail Congress. She was honoured by the Marketing Society with a warrior award for developing world class brands in the region. She is a trustee of the Art of Music Foundation.

Debra’s interests include global travel, African art, community service and the adventure of discovering and meeting new people.