2022 Africa Round-up Interview Series

Frank is the EY Parthenon and Eastern Africa Markets Leader responsible for leading the firm’s strategic growth in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia in line with EY’s significant investment plan and growth ambitions. Frank has 20+ years of experience advising Investors, Shareholders, Boards, CEOs and Government Executives across Africa, UK, US, Europe and Russia on Strategy, M&A, Governance and Transformation. Prior to joining EY, he was CEO for an M&A and Advisory firm in London and has previously held Executive roles at Deutsche Bank, UBS Investment Bank and other top global firms in UK and Africa. Frank holds Executive Management qualifications on Strategy from MIT, is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Law degree.

Esiri is a Partner with PwC Nigeria. She leads the Private Wealth Client Services team which provides specialised services to high net worth families and entrepreneurs. The team ensures they are personally tax compliant and their international structures are optimal for succeeding generations. Esiri holds a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology, University of Ibadan, is a Fellow member of several professional associations. She has done several international courses including the Private Equity Master Class in London Business School and International Tax in New York University. Esiri also mentors, writes articles and speaks regularly at conferences.

Mercy Gakii is an investment professional with 12 years’ experience in portfolio management, pensions funds investment, business advisory, infrastructure investment and climate adaptation finance. Currently, she is responsible for domestic resource mobilization to unlock capital for infrastructure investments from the private sector and pension funds in Kenya. Mercy has a strong performance record, previously managing an investment portfolio of over KES 150B in East Africa (Uganda and Kenya) as fund manager. She holds an MSc Finance, Bcom Finance from the University of Nairobi. She is a CPA finalist and has CISI certification. Her passion for sustainable investing led her to pursue a certification in climate adaptation Finance, which is ongoing to enable pension funds develop ESG investment guidelines, champion for green Financing and impact investing as well as participate in climate change discussions within the industry.