Events

Alice Azevedo is a seasoned trade finance professional with a strong foundation in corporate credit and currently serves as Deputy Director, Head of FI Trade & Payments at BFA. She joined the FI team in 2023 to lead the Trade & Payments portfolio, bringing a depth of expertise in managing complex credit assessments and building strategic financial institution partnerships. Alice holds an MBA and an Executive Master’s in Banking Management, and throughout her career, she has developed a solid track record in optimizing corporate credit portfolios, mitigating risk, and delivering actionable financial insights to support strategic decision-making. Her core expertise spans financial analysis, trade finance, and credit risk management. Committed to continuous professional development, Alice remains engaged with evolving industry trends and best practices, ensuring clients and stakeholders benefit from forward-thinking, trade finance solutions.

Tod Burwell is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BAFT. Prior to being promoted to CEO, he served as the Senior Vice President of Trade Products with oversight of all trade-related initiatives including the Global Trade Industry Council, Trade Committees, and other strategic initiatives of the organization. Mr. Burwell has over 25 years of trade, supply chain and cash management experience as a banking practitioner, as well as serving as a consultant to global corporations and suppliers of strategically integrated trade solutions. Prior to joining BAFT, Mr. Burwell was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase and held senior global management roles responsible for trade operations, launching the logistics business and managing global product sales for trade finance and logistics management.

Ms. Ntare joined the Bank in April 2014 with over 26 years of experience in accounting and finance. She was previously employed by the Central Bank of Rwanda for 20 years in several capacities including as Director General for Financial Stability and Director of Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions. She also worked at the Tanzania Electric Supply Company. Ms. Ntare holds Advanced Diploma in Accountancy and a MBA from Cardiff Business School, University of Wales. She is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR)

Mwaya Siwale is Associate Executive, Trade Finance at Trade and Development Bank (TDB) Group. She joined the Bank in 2021 as Head of Trade Finance and brings over 20 years of experience in global financial institutions. Prior to joining TDB, she served as Executive Director and Country Head of Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered Bank Zambia, where she led the bank’s Transaction Banking unit. She holds a Master of Commerce in Development Finance and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Cape Town.

Esther leads the evolution of M-PESA from a payments platform into a full-stack digital financial ecosystem spanning credit, wealth, insurance, APIs, and merchant solutions. She is a transformational fintech and financial services leader focused on leveraging technology, trust, and partnerships to drive inclusive economic growth at scale. With more than 19 years of experience across Sub-Saharan Africa, Esther has led strategy, product, sales, operations, and channel management functions, delivering significant growth across payments, lending, and trade finance. She is recognized for building future-fit financial platforms, leading large-scale transformation initiatives, and aligning commercial growth with strong governance, ESG outcomes, and customer trust.

Ahanna Anaba is Head of Sales & Partnerships at Finverity, a leading supply chain finance technology provider for emerging markets. She leads the adoption of Finverity’s platform by banks and NBFIs across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Previously, she led the transactions team at Africa’s first deal origination platform, facilitating over $1.3 billion in African debt, equity, and trade finance deals. Ahanna is also the founder of the Women in Trade Network and chairs the working group for MSME Trade Finance within ITFA’s Africa Regional Committee, advocating for improved access to trade finance for businesses across the continent.

Jeremiah Mutune is a senior international banker and trade finance leader with over 18 years of experience across Africa and global markets. He is Head of Trade and Working Capital Product Management at Absa Group and previously led Absa’s trade digitization as Head of Trade Digitization and Partnerships. He specializes in trade finance and digital transformation, with a track record of building, scaling, and reshaping trade and working capital businesses to deliver sustained, return-driven growth. He is an active voice in shaping Africa’s trade digitization agenda—working across banks, clients, fintechs, and development institutions to advance more connected, efficient, and inclusive trade ecosystems. His focus is on aligning market realities with execution—driving adoption, improving access to finance, and unlocking cross-border trade at scale. Jeremy brings a pragmatic, Pan-African perspective to digitization, grounded in what works across diverse markets. He advocates for deeper ecosystem collaboration, interoperable solutions, and data-led standardization as critical enablers of Africa’s trade transformation and integration into global value chains. Alongside his executive work, he mentors young professionals and contributes to developing the next generation of leaders in banking and finance.

Lilian is Absa Kenya’s head of financial institutions that spans - Non-Bank Financial institutions, Development organizations, banks, fintech’s, insurers and (DFI’s). These are key enablers of cross border solutions, liquidity support and sustainable development that strengthen ecosystems and deepen capital access across markets. Lilian’s passion lies in the ability to provide strategic solutions to her corporate banking clients. It gives her great pride when they turn this into stories of impact.