Who We Are - Certified Digital Finance Practitioner (2024)

Adenike Okunbolade has over 10 years of cumulative experience in Mobile Money and Customer Service/Contact Centre. She is passionate about Digital Finance, Financial Inclusion and Customer Satisfaction. She holds a B-Tech in Agricultural Economics and Extension from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Nigeria. She has a Certificate in Leading Digital Money Market, Certificate in Digital Money, Certificate in Digital Humanitarian Payments, Certificate in Product Management for FinTech, Certificate in Digital Identity, Operationalising Mobile Money, Certificate in Money Transfer Int. Remit, Certificate in Digital Finance for All, Certificate in Digital Humanitarian Payment from Digital Frontiers Institute. She is also a Certified E-Business Professional and has Customer Relationship Management Certification with EC Council.

Adenike has a strong and assertive personality with an eye for details and a passion for results, she’s a self-motivated team player with an optimistic and enthusiastic outlook to work and people and is always committed to delivering high quality and professional service. She also believes that developing strong relationships is the foundation of everything she does, both professionally and personally. She like meeting people and organizing events.

Carmen has over 19 years of banking and finance experience, with expertise in financial consolidation, Credit management, Financial Engineering, Research, Strategy and Corporate Governance, Bank Management, Financial Diagnosis, International Finance, and Digital Finance. Her current role is Director of Retail Banking, where she has launched value-adding digital products and Atlantic Mobile. 

She completed the Certificate in Digital Money with Digital Frontiers Institute in 2017 and holds an MBA (Finance) from Paris Graduate School of Management.

Chikhulupiliro John Mphatso is an accomplished Digital Financial Services Practitioner with over 8 years experience in Sales and Marketing, as well as building Sales and Agent networks. A holder of a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA from the Polytechnic, University of Malawi) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Management (University of Derby) as well as a Certificate in Digital Finance (Digital Frontiers Institute).

He worked as Key Accounts Manager for Unilever SEA from 2010, before joining TNM as Manager for National Channels in 2012.  He was promoted to Head TNM Mobile Money Division in August 2015, a position he held until 1st 30th June 2019 when he was appointed as General Manager for TNM Mpamba Ltd, a subsidiary of TNM Plc.

Mr Ear Mohammad is serving Bangladesh Bank (central bank) since 2012 and is currently in the position of Deputy Director. He was responsible for monitoring the Lead Bank Scheme which is aimed at forging a coordinated approach for providing agricultural credit to achieve the overall development of rural areas in the country, for the last three and half years. He was an adjunct faculty member of the Economics and Banking Department in a leading private university.

Mr Ear Mohammad obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics from the University of Chittagong and Master’s in Business Administration from Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka. He had completed Professional Master’s in Banking & Finance from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok. He was an admin and supervised the regulatory issues of an online-based agricultural credit project under the Ministry of ICT. The project aims to simplify the process of agricultural credit available to farmers namely “Online Krishi o Polli rin Sohozikorn” (http://onlinekrishi.gov.bd/en). Currently, Chattogram is the pilot area of the project to be implemented.

He had completed a Certificate in Digital Money (CIDM), Leading Digital Money Markets (LDMM) and Regulation in Digital Financial Services.

Graduate of a DESS in Banking and Finance at the Center for Financial, Economic and Banking Studies (CEFEB) in Marseille (France), a DESS in Management at the Institute of Business Administration (IAE) of the University from Paris 1 Sorbonne Panthéon, and a Master’s in Marketing – Communication at the International Institute of Management (IIM-Benin), Mr Eloi GOME is currently preparing his PhD in Digital Finance and Financial Inclusion. Eloi GOME was a major of the Certificate in Digital Money (CIDM) cohort 5 of Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI).

Expert-consultant and trainer, he has led several studies and consulting assignments in digital finance, including:

• Principal Consultant in the setting up of a digital finance platform at the National Microfinance Fund and at the nine (09) microfinance institutions (MFIs) partners in Benin.
• Senior Consultant in the training of market agents of the Agency for Applied Monetics Systems (ASMA Group) in Benin.
• Consultant-trainer for the animation of a training module on business models in digital finance in Yaoundé, Cameroon for the benefit of microfinance institutions. This training was funded by UNDP.
• Consultant-trainer for the animation of a training module on financial education in digital finance for the staff of the Permanent Secretariat for the Promotion of Microfinance. This training took place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
• Consultant member of the team of experts recruited for the launch of Togocel’s digital finance activities (TMoney) in Lomé, Togo.

Esselina Macome is an Associate Professor at the Eduardo Mondlane University. She holds a PhD in Information Technologies and an MSc in Analysis, Design and Management of Information System from LSE – University of London.

She concluded courses in Digital Money, Leading Digital Money Markets, Leading for Frontiers, Bitcoin and Blockchain, Gender, Regulating FinTechs, Humanitarian Payment offered by the Digital Frontiers Institute and in Leadership for Financial Inclusion offered by The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. 

She worked at the Central Bank of Mozambique from 2005-2015, as Executive Director and Member of the Board. She was responsible for currency-issuing, payment systems, information technology and financial inclusion portfolio.

Presently, besides her academic activity, she is also working at the FSDMOç (Financial Sector Deepening Moçambique) as the Chief Executive Officer since July 2017. 

Her areas of interest include the usage of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for development, Financial Inclusion with more focus on Digital Financial Services (DFS) and ICT for Gender-related issues.

Ethel is the founder and Executive Director of MoneyMart Finance. She has nine years’ experience linking finance to business operations, and five of them specialise in micro-finance focusing more on innovative ways in digital finance. Ethel grew up in rural Gokwe in Nembudziya Zimbabwe, where she experienced first-hand the devastating effects of financial exclusion, especially the exclusion of women. She is passionate about financial inclusion through digital platforms and has focused the efforts of MoneyMart Finance on the provision of micro-credit to excluded micro and small business with a strong focus on female entrepreneurs. To date, MoneyMart has served over 2,500 micro-entrepreneurs, 70% of the women, and disbursing over $3.5 million in loans over a 5-year period.

She is on her Certified Digital Finance Practitioner (CDFP) journey with Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI) and is one of the members working to form a digital finance professionals association in Zimbabwe. She strongly believes she has a role to play in the Sustainable Development Goals, in the fight against poverty, in creating wealth, and in changing lives through digital finance.

Fahad is a Certified Digital Money Practitioner with extensive experience in the Field of Digital Payments and Financial Services. Founding member of the 1LINK (National Payment Switch) of Pakistan, leading the product development role and business implementation. 

He is of the very few individuals in the country who have strong domain knowledge of payment systems both business and technical aspects. Passionate about human development, economic empowerment, digital money, blockchain, gender and financial services and inclusive growth.

Jimmy Rutabingwa is a techpreneur, digital finance and payments specialist. He is currently a COO of URWEGO BANK PLC. He used to be the CEO of IMAGINET Ltd, software and e-commerce applications development. He is a Chartered Accountant (ACCA) and obtained a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from Makerere University Uganda, a Post Graduate Diploma in E-Commerce and Management from London School of Commerce and an MBA from Charles Stuart University Australia. He is currently Pursuing a Chartered Digital Finance Practitioner certification from Digital Frontiers Institute.

He has over 10 years of experience in private sector development, financial inclusion, digital finance and payments, Jimmy is passionate about improving financial livelihoods and experiences of people leveraging technology as an enabler.

Jimmy is a member of the Rwanda Leaders Fellowship and Serves on several Boards namely, Klab, Christian Life Assembly, ICT Chamber as the Vice Chairman, Trinity Int. Academy as co-founder and board member, and Chairman of Africa Smart Investments Ltd.

João Gaspar has over 30 years of experience in the design, implementation and management of business and services in telecommunications, information systems, banking and electronic payments. He has worked for 16 years in SIBS, the Portuguese Interbank Society, as Telecommunications Director and 8 years in Portugal Telecom where he held several Management positions related to Bank services. He was Managing Director at Megarede, a 2.000 brick and mortar network for bills and utilities payment. As a partner of Consulpay, he worked with Banco de Angola and Banco de Moçambique, where he helped to define the country’s interbank services network SIMO.

Since 2018 he is CEO and founder of PAYTEK, one of the first Mozambique Fintech Payment Service Provider and in 2019 helped to create FINTECH.MZ, Mozambique Fintech Association, becoming the president.

Residing in Maputo since 2013, João has a B-Level degree in Electronic Engineering and telecommunications and several specialization courses in business development, leadership, and technology with a special focus in the Digital Financial Services area.

Joseph Michelo holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Master’s Degree in Business Administration – both from the Copperbelt University. He has held various positions that include merchant sales, business development of project cum strategic business unit, branch sales manager and regional sales manager of digital products biased towards agency business expansion.

He was part of the team that pioneered the banks agency banking business in Zambia. He is on a Certified Digital Finance Practitioner journey and has so far completed LDMM, CIDM, Product management in FinTech and Blind Spots: Gender in Digital Financial Services. He is a digital financial services expert and founding member of the Association for Digital Finance Professionals in Zambia.

Madi is a deputy managing director at the Headquarters of Central Bank of West African states at Dakar Senegal. He is a multidisciplinary expert, including monetary policy, financial markets, payment systems, digital finance, and public debt management. 

Madi has a Certificate in Digital Money, a DES (Management) from HEC University of Montreal, and a DEA (Finance) from the University of Abidjan

Manal is a futuristic FinTech expert based in Sudan. She has more than 10 years in the financial and telecommunication industries. Currently, she is an Independent FinTech Expert providing consultancy services, and a Co-founder and General Manager for The Sudan FinTech Association (Shom*oul). Also, Manal is the DFI Brand Ambassador for Sudan territory. Previously, she worked for Sudan’s national telecommunications company – Sudatel, where she established and led the FinTech unit. Before that, she worked for Electronic Banking Co – EBS, a technology company delegated by the Central Bank of Sudan to operate national payment systems.

Manal is a Certified Digital Finance Practitioner from DFI – SA & Tufts University – US and a Certified Professional Marketer from CIM – UK. She holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Khartoum – Sudan, and a Project Management Certificate from PMI-US.

Manal’s mission is to achieve equality for needy people.

Mr. Md. Rashed is serving Bangladesh Bank (central bank) since 2006 and currently in the position of Joint Director. He was responsible for AML/CFT related supervision of Money Remittance Services and Digital Financial Services for 7 years. He was the lead researcher/ author of the Study Paper, “AML/CFT Regulation for Mobile Money: Policy Options for Bangladesh” (2017) and “NGO/NPO Sector Assessment of Bangladesh” (2015).  

Mr. Rashed obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the University of Dhaka. He had completed Professional Masters in Banking & Finance from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok. He was member of Focus Group on Digital Financial Services (FG-DFS) and on Digital Fiat Currency (FG-DFC) of International Telecommunication Union, Switzerland. 

He had completed Certificate in Digital Money (CIDM), Leading Digital Money Markets (LDMM), Digital Identity, Mobile Money Operations, Digital Finance for All, Money Transfer, AML/CFT Compliance and Gender in Digital Finance online courses from Digital Frontiers Institute. He is the Founder and Convener of ‘Digital Finance Forum Bangladesh’, the professional association for digital finance and inclusion practitioners. He speaks on digital finance, inclusion and AML/CFT issues in different local and international training, seminar, conference and webinar, etc. He has been working as member of different government and central bank committee/panel/working groups related with digital finance, inclusion and FinTech innovation.

International standards, policy, regulation and supervision of digital finance, digital economy, inclusive growth and AML/CFT are his areas of interest.

Ophelia Ama Oni has over 14 years combined experience in branch banking, e-banking, mobile money and financial inclusion. She is currently the Financial Inclusion Expert with Digital Disruptions a US-based consulting firm that focuses on strategy, design and product innovation. She was previously the Strategy and Business Development Manager for the Inclusive Banking unit of Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited with the responsibility of pursuing its financial inclusion agenda.

Ophelia is passionate about using technology as an enabler to develop solutions to reach the unbanked and underbanked to give them greater access to financial services. She is a founding member of the Financial Inclusion Forum Africa and a Certified Digital Finance Practitioner.

Teshome is currently working as executive director of the Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI), which is an umbrella institution for 42 MFIs in Ethiopia and Ethiopian Inclusive Finance, Research and Training Institute (EIFTRI). Prior to this position, he has served as the CEO for the Ethiopian Inclusive Finance Technology Company (ETIFT). In this capacity, he had managed a shared technology platform for mobile and agent banking services which is shared by six larger MFIs in the country. He also worked as a Managing director for one of the largest biggest MFIs in Ethiopia, OCSSCO. Also worked as a research and academic in staff at Jimma University. Have been serving in the financial sector at different capacities for more than 25 years. He has also served as a member of board members of various institutions and is still serving as a member of national level steering committees.

Professionally, he holds BA Degree in Economics, an MA degree in business and an MA degree in RLDS, AA University. He is also a certified trainer in different fields of finance. He obtained a Certificate in Digital Money (CIDM) from Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI) in partnership with Fletcher school, Tufts University.

Tim has been engaged with transforming financial services through creativity and disruption resulting in value-adding financial solutions for the masses. With over 20 years of experience working on the African continent, ranging across countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda and in various roles and capacities, his wealth of experience and knowledge is as rich and diverse as can be. He is happy to share the knowledge, experiences, networks, expertise and skills gathered and honed over the years, as well as provide training guidance, mentorship and advisory if that will contribute towards impacting the lives of many in a positive way.

He focuses on a wide range of digital and financial innovation applications such as financial inclusion, value-adding finance, agency banking, digital credit, insurance, trade finance, healthcare, education and agricultural value chains.

He is an ardent believer in the application of technology as an agent of change, and that when used in a smart way, has the potential to drastically improve the livelihoods of the masses.

Yves Danielle Dote specialised in digital finance and particularly in the management of agent networks. She started her professional career in 2009 at MTN Côte d’Ivoire with the MTN Mobile Money service as Sales and Distribution Representative where she helped set up the first agents’ network. 

She then joined Top Image Côte d’Ivoire as MTN Mobile Money Regional Team Leader then MTN Mobile Money Field Operation Manager until 2015.

Since 2016, she is an Agent Network Manager for Baobab Côte d’Ivoire (formerly Microcred), a microfinance institution, and is responsible for developing alternative distribution channels.

Natalie has 20 years’ fintech experience across various competencies including general management, strategy, business development, IT solution delivery, and people management. In the last 12 years, she focused exclusively on financial inclusion (FI) and held several senior leadership roles at Visa as well as executive roles at disruptive fintechs like Oradian and Fundamo.

As General Manager at Fundamo, she led the business unit responsible for the delivery of 14 mobile money solutions in 12 markets. As Senior Director at Visa Emerging Market Digital, she advised banks and telco’s on their mobile money strategies and Go-To-Market plans. Natalie also advised central banks on Financial Inclusion, Digital Benefit Transfers helped build the ecosystem and business case for mVisa in East Africa.

As Senior Director for Financial Inclusion, she created Visa’s FI strategy in Africa. In partnership with NGO’s, Natalie developed several Visa-funded programmes including a Technoserve program to digitise the dairy value chain in Kenya and a programme to design credit scores for savings and loan groups with CARE Kenya. After leaving Visa, Natalie served as the Managing Director for Africa, at Oradian – a fintech company offering cloud banking solutions to microfinance institutions.

More recently, she consulted to the International Finance Corporation at the World Bank and Oxford Policy Management as a Digital Financial Services Specialist.

During her tenure at IFC, Natalie led the product strategy for the Digital Transformation Programme of a leading African MFI. She also designed an Agritech Input Procurement Platform for a leading Mobile Network Operator in Africa.

Natalie regularly speaks at Pan-African conferences and chair banking conferences in South Africa. She also serves as an ambassador for African Women in Fintech and Payments in South Africa.

With 18 years of professional experience in the sectors of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Daouda Hamadou has been able to acquire critical skills within:

• Network Services
• Telecommunications
• Servers
• Database
• Web and Mobile Application Development
• Connected Objects (IoT)
• Design Thinking & Human Centered Design (HCD)
• GIS Geographic Information Systems
• E-Voucher System for the Distribution of Agricultural Inputs
• Access to E-Agriculture services to farmers and breeders,
• Digital Services
• Consulting in Digital Marketing
• Sales Strategy
• Digital Transformation
• Knowledge Management via Digital Platforms.

His strong ability to lead and manage digital teams and projects in “Agile” mode have allowed him to understand the real needs of organisations, users and customers in order to find them innovative and adapted solutions taking into account especially the constraints of time, budget and quality to enable them to achieve their strategic objectives and create real added value.

Oscar Mmari is a Tanzanian Banker with over eight years of experience in Banking and Financial services delivery. Passionate about solving the financial inclusion gap through designing, supporting and availing digital financial services.

Oscar joined Diamond Trust Bank’s Graduate Management trainee programme and within 2 years he was appointed as the Head of Cash in the Masaki branch, where he held the position for nine months. His role involved supervising Bank Tellers and overseeing Cash in Transit services as well as ATM Services. He was later reallocated to Mlimani branch as Head of Front Office Operations, where he served for two years as Branch Supervisor, overseeing all day-to-day branch operations and managing customer relationships.

In 2019, he was reassigned to the CMS Department, a department responsible for handling the bank’s digital banking channels which are Mobile Banking and Internet Banking. This role involved managing end-to-end Service Delivery via the channels. This included onboarding new clients, training customers and branch staff on the products, reconciling and reporting relevant control accounts and float accounts, customer support and query resolution. He was also engaged in several projects, including digital lending and saving product development, digital channel product enhancements and the development of process flow and customer journey to accommodate the new instant payment method (TIPS) implemented by the Central Bank of Tanzania.

In October 2022, he joined BancABC Tanzania as Manager of Business Acquiring and Issuing. The role involves pioneering and implementing a thought-lead innovation strategy throughout the business and striving to ensure that the organisation is ahead of the game in the evolving digital financial services landscape. He also works with other stakeholders to ensure the bank’s digital transformation yields the expected profitability.

Jacinta is an experienced corporate lawyer with over 16 years experience in financial sector regulation; 13 years of which as in-house counsel in the legal department of the Central Bank of Uganda. She is passionate about contract negotiation and drafting, regulatory strategy to address gaps in the financial sector, regulatory policy development, drafting financial sector laws and regulations, providing legal and regulatory advice on financial sector issues, licensing, regulatory compliance, network growth and stakeholder relations.

In carrying out her tasks, she has worked with government, development partners, telecom industry, financial institutions, payment service providers, fintechs, private sector stakeholders and regional regulators.

Jacinta is a Director at Founder Institute Kampala Accelerator and a Certified Digital Finance Practitioner from the Digital Frontiers Institute.