Media coverage

Robert Besseling founded EXX Africa in 2015, after pursuing a decade-long career in political risk forecasting at industry-leading companies such as Exclusive Analysis and IHS Global. Robert leads a team of partners and contributing analysts to produce commercially relevant and actionable analysis on African political, security, and economic risk. Robert also leads on many consulting projects for blue chip corporations in a wide variety of sectors.

Onyebuchi Memeh is the Head of Trade, South Africa & Southern Africa, Transaction Banking, for Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and is based in Johannesburg.  He is responsible for providing leadership and driving the strategy and execution for growing trade finance revenues across all segments of the bank in the region. Prior to Joining Standard Chartered Bank, he worked with Citibank and Oceanic Bank (now Ecobank Nigeria) and has over 20 years’ experience in corporate and commercial banking.

Zhann Meyer has a mandate to promote and expand the bank’s agricultural and soft commodity trade strategy on the African continent, leading a team that has proven instrumental in structuring and implementing innovative agricultural finance models to enhance food security and optimise risk on the African continent. He is registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Louw van Reenen is CEO of Beefmaster Group, having joined in July 1998 as a Divisional Manager. He was appointed as the chief executive officer in April 2007. Louw’s time is divided between the feedlot, abattoir, Senekal Farms and Retail Stores in Gauteng, whilst he was also the Chairman of the South African Feedlot Association from 2011 till March 2015.

Antonella Da Cunha is employed by Capespan in the position of Group Risk Manager. As a WITS polyglot graduate initially intending to teach, her qualification took her to the financial services arena, working in forex and insurance before joining Capespan. In her spare time Antonella mentors young risk managers in developing their capability to deliver effective risk management across their organisations.

Gabriel Buck has over 35 years’ experience in international banking, having previously held the role of Managing Director & Global Head of ECA & Capex Financing Solutions at Barclays. He spent 6 years as Chair of the British Bankers’ Association Export Finance & Trade Committee. GKB Ventures is an award winning independent business consultancy specialised in African markets, helping clients secure cross border transactions and access international finance.

Angelica Adamski is a senior international executive noted for launching, building and leading high performance businesses for MNCs in the banking, mining, construction, telecommunications and power industries. As a skilled facilitator of enterprise transformation, Angelica establishes collaborative partnerships with stakeholders, customers and employees to deliver sustainable improvements aligned with mission-critical business goals.

Vinod Madhavan is currently Group Head of Trade at Standard Bank. With more than 20 years’ experience in commercial banking, Vinod has worked with corporations and FIs in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Before joining Standard Bank in Jan 2014, he worked for Standard Chartered, Citibank and Deutsche Bank. Vinod is a member of the Advisory Board of the ICC Banking Commission.

Duarte Pedreira is an experienced trade financier, with an emphasis in emerging markets. He joined Crown Agents Bank in August 2016, having previously held senior trade finance roles with the Standard Bank Group, where he was responsible for African trade finance sales in South Africa and transactional banking at the bank’s Angolan subsidiary. Duarte has also previously held roles at AIG and Caspian Sea Capital.

Mandy Rapson has been involved in community development projects across various Southern African countries. She has a passion for the development of entrepreneurship and enterprises in rural communities, and is particularly interested in inclusive innovation in the agricultural sector, having first-hand experience of the value that the business of agriculture brings.