Management

Management

As a responsible financier with the proven ability to manage risk effectively, our team works alongside businesses, shares our local knowledge and expertise and provides valuable business support and guidance.

The Executive team

Jurie Willemse

Jurie Willemse is the founder and Managing Director of the GroFin group. As start-up entrepreneur he established several successful businesses over the past 25 years spanning the manufacturing, clean energy, real estate, internet and service sectors. His passion and understanding for entrepreneurship and the SME sector is the driving force behind the development and growth of GroFin. Jurie studied business economics at the University of Pretoria where he also graduated with a Masters in Business Administration. He serves on several boards through his business and personal interests in the finance, investment, real estate, wildlife and conservation sectors. Married to Linda, they reside in Mauritius with their two children.

Anton Wewege

Financial Director, is responsible for all financial and accounting functions of the GroFin Group, its subsidiaries and funds. Anton has extensive experience in the financial field as an accountant, auditor, advisor and project leader. He is a chartered accountant and a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Anton serves on several boards and resides in Mauritius.

Charles Reed

Charles Reed is the Chief Commercial Officer for GroFin Africa. He has extensive financial services experience having worked in the South African insurance sector for Liberty Life where he was the Head of Umbrella Fund Solutions as well as for several international banks. These include HSBC Midland (UK), JP Morgan Chase (JHB) and the emerging markets head office of Barclays Bank where he was the SME Head for Africa and the Indian Ocean. Charles has also served as a Director of YBSA (Young Business for South Africa) who aim to actively empower Africa’s future leaders through the development of business leadership skills within the corporate and entrepreneurial arenas. Charles has a B.Soc.Sc degree majoring in economics and psychology and a post-graduate in Finance, Banking and Investment Management. Charles, Tracy and their son reside in South Africa.

Guido Boysen

Chief Executive Officer: GroFin Africa has experience in managing investment portfolios in South Asia and East Africa and has worked as a management consultant and business analyst in Nicaragua, Lesotho, UK, Singapore, USA and the Netherlands before joining GroFin. He has served on the boards of a number of banks, private equity funds and institutions in Africa. He holds a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University, New York and a Master of business economics degree from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Guido, Shaheen and their little daughter reside in South Africa.

William Morkel

Chief Financial Officer: GroFin Africa is responsible for the finances of the GroFin Africa Operations. He is a registered CPA (SA) with a certificate in taxation. William completed his articles with BDO Spencer Stewart and went on to work for a large multinational company. He brings with him vast experience and international exposure.

Eugene Honiball

After serving his national duty as an officer in the South African Artillery, Eugene completed a B Comm Accounts and B Compt (Hons) degree. He cites his career as an an adventure exposing him to a variety of positions spanning internal auditing, credit risk management, financial management, General Manager of Operations, Chief Operations Officer and Chief Executive Officer. He enjoys kayaking and mountain biking with his family.

Sarisha Naidoo

Sarisha Naidoo, HR Manager, brings nine years of experience to the team. She holds a Bcomm degree in industrial psychology and has a passion for driving diverse teams across Africa in developing the SME sector.

Lizel Channon

Lizel Channon, Credit Risk Manager GroFin Africa is responsible for the planning, designing and implementation of the overall credit risk management process. After spending two years working for an international oil company in Scotland, Lizel gained valuable management experience as credit, operations and collections manager, notably so in the microfinance environment. Lizel was also appointed as a member of the turnaround strategy of a development finance institution in the capacity as project manager. This mother of two obtained Hons degrees in both Psychology and Criminology and holds a diploma in Credit Management at the Institute for Credit Management Africa. Lizel also completed a Management Program through GIBS.

Samuel Sedegah

Samuel Sedegah, General Manager for the Ghana office has extensive knowledge and experience in SME financing. With ten years experience in the financial industry in Ghana, Samuel has held various Management positions in Credit Risk, Collection Management, Credit Sales as well as Investment/Fund Management. He holds a B.com (Accounting) degree, an MBA (Banking & Finance) and a Certificate in Negotiation of Financial Transactions from the United Nation Institute of Research and Training (UNITAR).

Emmanuel Elisante

Emmanuel Elisante, General Manager for the Tanzania office brings over 10 years experience in the financial sector, having dealt with regional banks in co-financing and syndication deals. He has extensive experience in deal structuring and credit management experience, coupled with an intimate knowledge of the Tanzanian market and its allied networks. He holds an MBA (Finance and Banking) and B.A (Economics) Honors.

Rishi Khubchandani

Rishi Khubchandani , General Manager for the Kenyan office is passionate about entrepreneurship and small and medium businesses. Rishi has worked across a number of different industries and geographies from banking in New York, to launching a start-up pharmaceuticals venture in the UK. Prior to GroFin, Rishi served as Regional Manager for East Africa of a Kenyan SME focused on ‘bottom of the pyramid’ target markets. He holds a strong track record for managing growth and turning around SMEs and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Felix Awonaiya

General Manager: Nigeria has over 24 years experience in the finance industry and holds an MSc degree in Mining Geology, an MSc in Banking and Finance, an MBA and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Throughout his career he has held various senior executive positions, including the management of the finance department of the recently listed CDMA network in Nigeria. Felix also worked for our investor CDC, in finance and investment positions in Nigeria, Tanzania and London.

Walter Ogwal

General Manager: Uganda has a wealth of financing experience through working at Bank of Baroda, DFCU, Standard Chartered Bank and GroFin. Walter holds an MBA (Finance), is a certified credit risk manager and has an intimate knowledge of the Ugandan market.

Eric Rwigamba

General Manager: Rwanda has worked at several institutions where he gained extensive experience in strategic business planning, financial management, taxation, auditing and management information systems. He holds a BCom (Finance) degree and is currently completing his ACCA and post graduate studies (MBA) through the Maastricht School of Management.

Bill Crew

General Manager: Oman has been working in the small and medium enterprise sector most of his career. Both in the USA and internationally Bill has helped to finance thousands of small businesses via direct approval and through the development of small business lending platforms in commercial banks. He was a member of the central credit committee for the largest SBA (Small Business Administration) lender in the USA and since then has worked primarily with banks in developing their SME lending divisions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Bill holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Chris Delport

General Manager: Southern Africa gained extensive experience as the Divisional Manager for Credit Risk at a large development finance institution before joining GroFin. Chris has an long track record in SME financing, credit risk and collections management, and was the winner for two years running as the provincial Credit Risk Manager of the year as hosted by the Institute of Credit Management. Chris holds a B Com degree obtained from the University of Pretoria and has completed a Project Management Diploma through the University of Stellenbosch as well as a Senior Management Program through the University of Pretoria.

	After years of running a successful printing business, entrepreneur Godwin Mate identified an opportunity in the market for large scale digital printing. However, due to resource and capacity constraints his business was unable to respond to the growing demand.

	With GroFin’s finance Godwin purchased a large format flatbed printer - the first of its kind in Ghana.

	GroFin provided him with constant guidance on growing his business. Noticing the detrimental effect a sudden change in Foreign Exchange would have on the company’s budget for imported paper stock, GroFin suggested the company import stock in bulk in order to manage an unexpected fluctuation in currency. We also gave Godwin invaluable advice on record-keeping and accounting, resulting in the hiring of an accountant to manage the company’s finances.

	With the flat-bed technology and professional service he provides, Godwin has attracted the business of high profile corporate companies in Ghana, ensuring that Glade Digital is well on its way to a successful new chapter.

a winning formula

Management

Client success story