Our Team

Sheila is a financial services professional with 20 years of experience in the African financial sector. Her areas of expertise include digital financial services, transactional banking, SME banking and corporate banking. Key aspects of her roles in financial services include strategy formulation, business development, portfolio management, risk management, eChannel development and optimisation, client and stakeholder relationship management, project management and capacity building.

Sheila has worked with several reputable banks in Kenya including Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Standard Chartered Bank and Commercial Bank of Africa. In this time, she held key roles as a Senior Corporate Banking Manager and Head of EChannels. Sheila has also worked in the digital financial services sector, helping to build capacity and knowledge in digital financial services amongst banks, fintechs and regulators. Sheila is currently a Chief Investment Officer in the Financial Intermediation and Inclusion Division of the African Development Bank.

Sheila holds an executive MBA and a Bachelor of Commerce from Strathmore Business School in Kenya.

An effective communicator with a proven track record of over 20 years supporting financial inclusion, social and economic development, using strategic and hands-on communications and knowledge management skills.

Lou brings broad expertise from building brand awareness, sharing impact and learning to using communication to connect with stakeholders and partners.

Her finance sector clients include the Bank of Tanzania, finance ministries and regulatory authorities in Tanzania and Malawi, Financial Sector Deepening Trust in Tanzania and FinMark Trust, as well as social and economic development agencies such as CARE International, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières, Oxford Policy Management and the Foundation for Mother and Child health.

Lou holds a Masters in International Development from the UK Open University, Diploma from the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing and a degree in French and Economics from London Metropolitan University.

Ibrahim is a financial sector specialist, leading and contributing to high-level policy development and advisory services on the financial sector. Over the past years, he worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), FAT Africa and ActionAid International (Ghana Country Programme), where he supported African governments, financial sector regulators and the private sector to develop policies on improving financial inclusion and overall economic growth in Africa. Ibrahim also worked as an Assistant Professor at the School of Business and Law, University for Development Studies (UDS), Ghana.

Prior to joining ADFI, he was the Research Officer for Making Finance Work for Africa Partnership (MFW4A) – an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB). Ibrahim obtained a PhD in Economics and Finance from Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and holds an MSc in Development Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK and a BA degree in Economics (First Class Honours) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST, Ghana).

Josue is a researcher and consultant with over 10 years' experience in digital transformation within the global south, with specific focus on ICT4D, financial inclusion, Government 2.0, health information systems and blockchain for development. Throughout his career, he directed a number of digital projects in rural Africa, such as "Citizen Space", a municipal digital application designed to decentralise public services to remote locations. He has worked with numerous governments, consulting firms and international organisations such as the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), AMBERO Dorsch Gruppe, and the Norwegian government.

Josue’s research has been published in business journals such as the Wall Street Journal, scientific publications and in top journal and conferences such as the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), The Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) and the European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems (EMCIS).

Josue holds a master’s degree in Management Information Systems from Catholic University of Central Africa. He strongly endorses using science and technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), reduce poverty and increase prosperity.

Stephane is an administrative officer with demonstrated experience in operations management and execution in both the International development and private sectors. Prior to becoming the ADFI Operations Consultant, he spent nearly two years in the African Development Bank's Resources Mobilisation and Partnerships Department (FIRM) as the Coordination Support Officer of the African Development Fund Project Preparation Facility (ADF-PPF), and before that as the Reporting/Compliance Officer of the Korean Trust Fund (KOAFEC) and the India Trust Fund (INAFEC). He also worked for the African Community of Practice Secretariat (AfCoP), which was based in the African Development Bank's Performance and Quality Result Department, for more than four years as the Operations and Finance officer.

He is familiar with the African Development Bank Group's policies and processes, including procurement, financial control, and financial management. Furthermore, he has been with the African Development Bank's Group since 2013.

Stephane hold a master’s degree (Msc) in Business Administration from the Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Poitiers (France) as well as a master's degree in Project Management and Entrepreneurship from the Centre Africain d'Etudes Supérieures en Gestion (Senegal).