Faculty & Guest Speakers · Season One

Practitioners.
Not presenters.

Every River Hub session is led by someone who has done the work — not someone who teaches about it. Our faculty and guest speakers are drawn from the institutions and firms that define the field. Names are confirmed and shared with registered participants ahead of each session.

Every faculty member below is confirmed. Names are disclosed to registered participants 10 days before each session. River Hub withholds names by design — not because speakers are unconfirmed, but because calibre should speak before personality does. You see the institution, the track record, and the mandate. The name follows when you're in the room.
Identity confirmed
· not yet disclosed ·
Revealed to registered participants
Season One confirmed
Track A · Blended Finance
Senior Investment Officer
British International Investment (BII)
Over 15 years deploying DFI capital into African infrastructure and climate projects. Has structured blended finance transactions across East and West Africa, working directly with co-investors, project sponsors, and national development banks.
Blended FinanceDFI CapitalEast AfricaInfrastructure
Identity confirmed
· not yet disclosed ·
Revealed to registered participants
Season One confirmed
Track A · Track B
Climate Finance Director
Nordic Development Finance Institution
Specialist in climate-aligned investment structures and EU Green Taxonomy application across emerging markets. Has advised governments and private sponsors on transition finance frameworks and green bond issuance in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Climate FinanceEU TaxonomyTransition FinanceGreen Bonds
Identity confirmed
· not yet disclosed ·
Revealed to registered participants
Season One confirmed
Track B · ESG & Climate
Environmental & Social Standards Lead
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Leads ESG due diligence and IFC Performance Standards implementation for private sector investments across Africa. Works directly with fund managers, banks, and project sponsors to structure E&S frameworks that satisfy DFI LP requirements.
IFC StandardsESG Due DiligenceTCFDPrivate Sector
Identity confirmed
· not yet disclosed ·
Revealed to registered participants
Confirming
Track C · Capital Markets
Head of Capital Markets
Pan-African Investment Bank
Senior capital markets practitioner with 20 years across African stock exchanges, sovereign debt issuance, and private equity structuring. Has led IPOs, Eurobond transactions, and secondary market development across East and Southern Africa.
Capital MarketsSovereign DebtPrivate EquityIPO
Identity confirmed
· not yet disclosed ·
Revealed to registered participants
Confirming
Track D · Premium Convenings
Managing Director, Africa
European Institutional Fund of Funds
Allocates on behalf of European pension capital into Africa-focused private equity and infrastructure funds. Has conducted due diligence on over 40 African GPs and sits on multiple LP advisory committees. Leads the LP–GP Dialogue sessions.
LP PerspectiveFund Due DiligencePension CapitalGP Relations
Identity confirmed
· not yet disclosed ·
Revealed to registered participants
Confirming
Track A · Track C
Partner, Africa Practice
Global Law Firm · Mauritius & London
Specialises in fund structuring, cross-border investment vehicles, and regulatory frameworks for Africa-focused funds domiciled in Mauritius. Has advised DFIs, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds on structuring compliant vehicles for African deployment.
Fund StructuringMauritius IFCRegulatoryCross-Border
Why it matters

No career
academics.
Ever.

River Hub has a single faculty rule: every person who stands in the room must have done the work they are teaching. Not studied it, not published about it — done it. That means people who have signed DFI term sheets, argued with LP advisory committees, and made calls under real time pressure.

This is not snobbery about PhDs. It is a recognition that the tacit knowledge — what DFIs actually want to see, what makes LPs walk away, what the due diligence call really feels like — can only be transmitted by people who have it.

Join a session →
01
Active mandate, not emeritus
Every faculty member is currently working — not retired from the field. What they share reflects what is happening in deals and processes right now, not what was true five years ago.
02
Institutional authority
Faculty hold roles at institutions with real mandates — DFIs with capital to deploy, LPs with allocations to make, law firms with deals to close. Their perspective carries authority because they make decisions, not recommendations.
03
The room knows
River Hub participants are mid-to-senior professionals. They can tell immediately whether the person in front of them has done the work. Faculty who have not done it lose the room within minutes. River Hub faculty never do.
04
Name disclosed on registration
We hold faculty names until 10 days before the session by design — so the decision to attend is made on substance, not celebrity. Once you register, you know exactly who is in the room with you.