17 July 2018
On 17 July 2018, Human Science Research Council (HSRC), South Africa, facilitated a video conference with project partners Center for Internet & Financial Innovation (CIFI) and LianLian Pay, both China, and Emerging Market Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) to discuss progress on the research activities in the Challenge Fund project “Banking on Africa – Opportunities for Fintech Development in Southern and Eastern Africa”
Intermediate results included:
The next phase of the project will focus on fieldwork to validate the findings as well as include the entrepreneurial and investor perspective towards the opportunities for Fintech innovation in Africa.
In August, the research partners will hold a workshop during the “BRICS and African Development” Conference, taking place 22-24 August in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to reflect on the preliminary results. EMSD will contribute to the conference through presenting in two panels.
For further questions please contact nina.roth@giz.de
Oliver joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) programme in April 2021 as a project assistant. He supports the EMSD team in the areas of Sustainable Finance and Sustainable Infrastructure. Oliver studied Business Administration with a focus on finance and taxation at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (B.Sc.) and Finance at the Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon, Portugal (M.Sc.). In addition, he spent semesters abroad at NUCB Business School in Nagoya (Japan) and at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands).
Before joining EMSD, Oliver gained internship experiences in KPMG’s tax advisory division, Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking and wealth management divisions and a venture capital consulting boutique.
Lea joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) programme in April 2021 as a project assistant. She supports the EMSD team in the areas of Sustainable Finance and Sustainable Infrastructure. She holds a double Bachelor’s degree in International Business Administration from the Berlin School of Economics and Law and the University of the Basque Country with a focus on financial management.
Prior to EMSD, Lea interned at the German Federal Foreign Office in foreign trade promotion, focusing on corporate sustainability agendas, industrial decarbonisation processes and green finance. During her studies, she gained further experience at Daimler Group Services and Médecins Sans Frontières.
Dominik joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) programme as a Junior Advisor in September 2020. Previously, he worked as a Policy Officer for Sustainable Finance at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. In this role, he supported the development and implementation of national Sustainable Finance initiatives such as the German Sustainable Finance Strategy and contributed to the issuance of the first German Sovereign Green Bond.
Dominik holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from the Goethe-University Frankfurt and the Norwegian School of Economics, as well as a CEMS Master in International Management. During his studies, he focused on environmental economics and specifically the management of natural resources.
Sarah joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) programme as a Project Assistant in August 2020. In her role, she supports the EMSD team concerning Sustainable Infrastructure. She holds a B.A. in Political Sciences and Sociology and is currently finishing her M.A. in Development Studies from the University of Bayreuth. During her studies at the SOAS University of London, she focused her research on concepts of Global Cities and City Infrastructure.
Prior to joining EMSD, she interned at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Uganda where she worked on Sustainable Urbanisation processes in the light of Social Justice concepts. Her overall interest in Gender Mainstreaming approaches results of her work at an international NGO in Sri Lanka. Additionally, she gained valuable insight into global institutional processes during her time at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in New York.
Lynn joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) programme as a Junior Advisor in August 2020. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Technical University Dresden and a M.Sc. in Political Economy of Emerging Markets from King’s College London. During her studies, she focused on green and inclusive development processes in the Latin American region.
Prior to joining EMSD, Lynn interned at the GIZ project “Green Economy Transformation”, where she worked on green recovery efforts and green fiscal policies. In 2018/19, she was a European External Action Service (EEAS) Graduate Trainee based in the EU Delegation to Chile. In this role, she contributed to the EU activites related to the Chilean COP25 presidency and supported the EU cooperation in Chile.
Qian joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) in 2014 mainly supporting in the fields of contract, financial, event and administrative management of EMSD China Team. She has been working for GIZ China in different projects areas since October 2008, including natural forest, social responsibility and regional economy. She holds an MA degree in Education from the University of York, UK.
As the Office Manager of the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) Programme, Heike is responsible for the administrative and back-office procedures. Before joining EMSD, Heike worked as legal assistant for an international law firm. Furthermore, she has lived, studied and worked in Ethiopia and Scotland. Heike holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Glasgow.
Mariya Ivato-Kolodziejski is a controller in the GIZ programme Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) and responsible for the financial management as well as for the contract management. She works closely with the programme manager, adviser team, GIZ areas, external experts and clients to monitor, coordinate, supply and report financial information.
Mariya has been working for GIZ since 2008. Before she joined the EMSD programme, she was responsible for financial planning, control and reporting to different co-funders/donors for the Access to Insurance Initiative project. Prior to this position, she worked at the Department Mediterranean Region and Middle East supporting bilateral and regional projects.
Mariya graduated with a Master’s degree in German, Economics and English from the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany).
Simone is responsible for financial, contract and administrative management of the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) Programme. She has been working for GIZ in different projects in the fields of environmental management and policy, energy and human capacity development in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the MENA region since 1991.
Simone holds university diplomas as interpreter and translator for English, Portuguese and French Language of Berlin Humboldt University and Sorbonne Paris and a postgraduate degree in environmental and quality management of the Berlin School of Economics and Law.
Manuel joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) program as an Advisor in November 2018.
Previously, Manuel was seconded to the office of Federal President Horst Koehler. In this function, he was advising on mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, on Chinese Politics as well as on German-African relations.
Manuel studied International Affairs, Economics and Philosophy at the University of York (B.A.), Peking University (LL.M.) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (M.Sc.). He was editor-in-chief of VOX journal for Politics, Philosophy and Economics at York in 2013-14. Manuel interned with the Global Public Policy Institute’s (GGPi) Global Norms and Rising Powers Team in 2013 and worked at Cognoscere Consulting as a pro-bono consultant for Save the Children UK in 2015-16.
Mario coordinates the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) activities in Mexico.
Previously, Mario worked in the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the negotiation team for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change negotiations 2013-2016.
Mario studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana (B.A) and holds a Master´s in Public Administration and Social Impact by the London School of Economics and Political Science (MPA). He is also advisor of the GIZ for the Institutional Strengthen for the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation for Development. Mario had worked as a Consultant for the Social Value Institute leading and coordinating development projects, mainly related to citizenship education, youth participation, and social development – all within national and international institutions.
Brigitte heads the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) Programme at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) in Eschborn.
Before joining EMSD, Brigitte headed the Sector Project Global Initiative for Access to Insurance. In this role, she was responsible for advising BMZ in the broad field of inclusive insurance and representing BMZ in different global fora. She represented GIZ within the Governing Council of the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) from 2009 until 2018 and was responsible for setting up an independent Secretariat of A2ii hosted by GIZ since its launch in 2008. In addition she was member of the ExCom of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest) representing a constituency of bilateral countries and she was member of the ExCom of the Microinsurance Network (2008-2015). Between 2004 and 2010, Brigitte headed the Sector Projects Financial Sector Development and Private Sector Development.
During her tenure with GIZ, Brigitte was further based in India for six years. As team leader and principal advisor to the NABARD-GIZ Rural Finance Programme she led the German international cooperation contribution in the areas of self-help group linkage banking and the revitalisation of rural cooperative banks. Prior to this assignment, she held positions in GIZ Headquarters in Eschborn. She was also seconded as GIZ young professional to the FAO, Rome in the field of agricultural finance.
Before joining GIZ, she was lecturer and research associate at Humboldt University of Berlin on agricultural market development and freelance consultant in the field of Rural und Microfinance. She earned her Ph.D. in economics from the Free University in Berlin, conducting empirical research on rural financial markets in Colombia. She also holds a diploma degree in economics from the Free University of Berlin.
Vanessa joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) program as a Junior Advisor in November 2019. She studied Intercultural Communication with a focus on Japanese culture and language at the University of Milan-Bicocca and the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts (B.A.) and International Relations at the University of Cambridge (M.St.).
In 2018-2019, Vanessa was a Carlo Schmid Fellow at UN Environment in Geneva. In this function, she contributed to a series of policy papers and high-level events on sustainable infrastructure as well as training products on green industrial policy. Prior to that, Vanessa worked as a communications consultant at imaginary srl, an Italian SME specializing in gamified learning and eHealth solutions, and as a public sector advisor at PwC Luxemburg where she supported a European Commission-sponsored program helping European SMEs tap into various Asian target markets.
Max is an expert on strategy and organizational design, with focus on digital disruption.
He leads the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues’ (EMSD) work on digital economy. Previous assignments include consulting, research & analysis, and the design of advisory projects for OECD, the German Ministry of Finance and ministries and government agencies in 12 countries in MENA, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Max has earned his MSc and PhD in international economics from Sciences Po Paris and has held academic scholarships at École normale supérieure Paris, Princeton University and Harvard University. He is alumnus of Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.
Lan works for EMSD on Sustainable Finance, being the key contact for Chinese partners. She joined GIZ in 2008, and be fully responsible for the “Sino-German Financial Stability Project” in partnership with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) from 2008 to 2014, the “Sino-German Securities Market Retail Investors Protection Project” (2010-2014) in partnership with China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), as well as the bilateral government cooperation projects in City of Tianjin, including the “Sino-German Asset and Equity Market Reform Project” (2008-2010) and the “Sino-German Project on Tianjin Modern Financial System Development” (2010-2014) in partnership with Tianjin Municipality. Moreover, Lan was also co-responsible for the “Consumer Data Protection Project” from 2014-2016. Lan was the Project Director of Sino-German Center of Finance and Economics of GIZ. Since 2016, she is responsible for green finance work in China for EMSD. Currently, she also works as the China Coordinator for Strategic Partnership for the Implementation of Paris Agreement (SPIPA), a project co-funded by German Federal Ministry of Environment and the EU.
Between 2005 and 2008, Lan worked for Ernst & Young Beijing, as the manager of Transaction Advisory Service Department, engaging in the NPL transactions and M&A transactions. Qi Lan holds a MBA degree on Strategic Management from Sauder Business School, University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada.
As Project Manager, Yiqi takes care of partner relations as well as topics of sustainable infrastructure, digital economy and circular economy in China. Prior to her current role, Yiqi worked for the Sino-German Quality Infrastructure Project of GIZ China. Before joining GIZ in 2014, she was Senior Manager of China’s ICT Industry CSR Pilot Programme of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Yiqi had previously worked at China Youth Daily, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29th Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the Insurance Institute of China (IIC).
Yannick is a financial sector specialist at GIZ. He leads the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues’ (EMSD) work on Sustainable Finance. In his previous position, Yannick advised various GIZ projects on financial sector regulation and supervision, capital market development, and green bonds.
Prior to GIZ, Yannick worked as a bond originator at Citigroup’s Debt Capital Markets team, which forms part of the Fixed Income Capital Markets division of Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Bank. His focus at Citigroup was on financial institutions and public sector bond issuers. Yannick was responsible for the Private Placement business, covering financial institutions and public sector clients, in Germany and Austria. He holds a Master/Diploma in Economics and Politics (Univ. Cologne).
Luc joined EMSD as Junior Advisor in December 2019. Parallel to his engagement at GIZ, he is currently finishing his PhD in Organization Studies and Cultural Theory at the University of St. Gallen. In his research, Luc analyses translation processes from national policy to local municipal practices on the case of the Brazilian school food programme. Prior to that, he studied Law & Economics at the same university.
Luc interned at EMSD followed by consultancies to GIZ and to the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva. From 2015 to 2018, he worked as Research Assistant & Project Manager for the University of St. Gallen Institute of Management Latin America in São Paulo, Brazil, focusing on impact investing & sustainable business models.
John leads the work on Sustainable Infrastructure at GIZ´s Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD). EMSD works with the private and public sectors as well as financial institutions to advance and implement the sustainable infrastructure agenda in emerging markets.
Previously, John worked as an advisor with GIZ´s Economic Policy Forum and led a GIZ project on Eurasian connectivity. From 2014 to 2017, he worked on legal and investment policy issues at the OECD’s Investment Division in Paris.
John studied law, politics and economics at Sciences Po, the University of Edinburgh and Columbia University. He completed his doctorate at the University of Cologne on the legal and policy framework for investments in the extractive industries in West Africa. During his PhD studies, John also worked as a research assistant with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.
Isabelle joined the Emerging Markets Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) programme as a Project Assistant in August 2019. She holds a BSc in International Business and is currently completing her studies in Public Policy and Human Development at United Nations University/Maastricht University with a focus on Foreign Policy and Multi-level Governance. Throughout her studies, she was involved in projects analysing the effectiveness of the governance structure and public private partnerships in sustainable waste management and infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, and international investments in Africa’s mining industry.
Stefanie works at the intersection of technology and sustainability and leads the Emerging Market Sustainability Dialogues’ (EMSD) work on digital economy and digital finance.
Stefanie has 10 years of experience in international development cooperation. She has been working in the international insurance regulatory environment with the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii), implementation partner of the global standard-setter for insurance, the IAIS. She led A2ii’s work on digital financial inclusion and was responsible for A2ii’s engagement with funders and G20 policymakers.
Previously she was seconded to BMZ as an advisor to the Africa Personal Representative of the German Chancellor and to the team preparing the German G8 presidency and has worked with GIZ in the area of private sector development. Stefanie also gained private sector experience working for a start-up in the IT-sector. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Economics.
