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Dear ,The first interactive panel discussion at the 8th Annual FATE Institute Policy Dialogue Series on Entrepreneurship will look at “Designing and Scaling Sustainable Access to Finance Models”. Meet the Panel Speakers:

• Dr. Doyin Salami, Chief Economic Adviser to the Nigerian President

• Dr. Cecilia Värendh Månsson, Founder/CEO, Talent Up, Africa

• Olusola Obadimu, Director-General, National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA)

• Toyin Bakare, CEO, SAS Textiles and President, FATE Foundation Alumni Community

• Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director, FATE Foundation (Moderator)

Dr. Doyin Salami, Chief Economic Adviser to the Nigerian President: Dr. Salami is a foremost professor of economics and chief economic adviser to the Nigerian President. He advises the president on domestic economy issues sand present views on them to the President; closely monitors national and international developments, trends and develops appropriate policy responses; develops and recommends to the President national economic policies to foster macro-economic stability, promote growth, create jobs, and eradicate poverty, among others. He will be speaking on key economic policies currently in place to facilitate MSME growth and development. Dr. Cecilia Varendh Mansson is the CEO / Founder of TalentUp Africa, an enterprise with operations in the US and Africa with the goal to help solve the global tech talent crisis by unleashing opportunities for African talent. She is a Fellow in World Economic Forum’s Council on “Responsive Financial Systems” and a Fellow at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School where she is a tutor in entrepreneurship for students enrolled in Said Business School’ CDL accelerator program. She further publishes in leading top tier academic journals and writes blogs for the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative. Her PhD thesis investigated fintech’s and mobile technology’s impact on microfinance organizations work in Africa.Sola Obadimu, Director General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA)  which is the umbrella organisation for various affiliate member Chambers of Commerce within Nigeria including City, State and Bilateral Chambers; Business/Professional Associations; and Corporate Bodies. NACCIMA  champions the course of business through its advocacy role and influences public policies that promote free enterprise. He will be speaking broad range challenges and opportunities around access to funding for Nigerian entrepreneurs leveraging on insights and experiences from MSME groups.Toyin Bakare, CEO, SAS Textiles and President, FATE Foundation Alumni Community: Toyin is a seasoned entrepreneur running a trans-generational business called SAS Textiles which is a leading textile retail-store chain in Nigeria. She successfully steered SAS Textiles from a one-room shop to a leading brand in the textile space in Nigeria. She is also the President of the FATE Foundation Alumni Community which is a community of over 6,500 entrepreneurs who have graduated from FATE Foundation entrepreneurship programs over the years. She will be providing an entrepreneur's perspective; sharing her personal experience accessing finance as a business going through the different business stages and as a woman-led business. She will also share perspectives of the community of entrepreneurs she represents.Moderator: Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director, FATE Foundation: Adenike leads the work at FATE Foundation and has over 20 years’ professional experience spanning entrepreneurship ecosystem enablement, research and policy advocacy. She has pioneered the development of thought leadership and insights on fostering conversations to better enable Nigeria’s promising entrepreneurship segments and lead’s the Foundation’s work in driving entrepreneurship knowledge, enterprise support; and entrepreneurship policy advocacy. She will moderate the panel conversation on “Designing and Scaling Sustainable Access to Finance Models”.

The second interactive panel discussion at the 8th Annual FATE Institute Policy Dialogue Series on Entrepreneurship will look at “Bridging the Finance Gap through Sustainable Policy Approaches”. Meet the Panel Speakers:

• Jonathan Potter, Head, Entrepreneurship Policy and Analysis Unit, The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

• Teju Abisoye, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)

• Wilson Erumebor, Senior Fellow at the FATE Institute and Senior Economist, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG)

• Yvonne Johnson, Managing Director/Co-Founder, Indicina

• Isaiah Owolabi, CEO, EFInA

• Seyi Bella, Board Director, FATE Foundation and Partner, Banwo & Ighodalo

Jonathan Potter, Head, Entrepreneurship Policy and Analysis Unit, The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): Jonathan Potter is Head of the Entrepreneurship Policy and Analysis Unit of the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities. He directs OECD work streams including country reviews of SME and entrepreneurship policy, evaluation approaches for SME andentrepreneurship policy, policies for inclusive entrepreneurship including support for youth and women, and policies for entrepreneurial ecosystems at national and regional levels. He will bring an international perspective to the conversations, sharing examples of sustainable policies that have worked across countries and that can be adapted to the Nigerian context.

Isaiah Owolabi, CEO, EFInA: Isaiah is a global development expert with 15 years of experience in harnessing public, private and social sector resources and competence to accelerate economic productivity interventions in Africa. He is the CEO of Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) which is a Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) organisation that promotes inclusive finance in Nigeria. EFInA is renowned, within Nigeria’s financial sector, for providing thought leadership toward achieving financial inclusion and championing the unbanked. Since its founding, EFInA has contributed to the increased focus on financial inclusion in Nigeria, convening and supporting stakeholders to develop and work toward the implementation of a National Financial Inclusion Strategy. Isaiah will be speaking from the perspective of financial inclusion in enhancing Access to Finance policy making.Wilson Erumebor, Senior Fellow at the FATE Institute and Senior Economist, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG): Wilson Erumebor is an economist with over a decade of experience in research, finance, and advocacy. Wilson’s areas of expertise include macroeconomic research, monetary and fiscal policies, industry analysis, education, youth development, and poverty studies. As a Senior Economist with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nigeria’s leading private sector-led thinktank and advocacy group, Wilson leads the preparation of its foremost influential report, The NESG Macroeconomic Outlook, which sets the NESG’s advocacy agenda for the year. Wilson has anchored several high-level committees, including the Technical Committee of the Nigerian Economic Summit. Wilson was part of the research team that worked on the 2022 State of Entrepreneurship report and will be sharing insights culled stakeholder conversations on the supply and demand side dynamics to the access to finance problem.Yvonne Johnson, Managing Director & Co Founder, Indicina,: Yvonne is a strategic thinker with a demonstrated ability to influence change by leveraging innovative solutions. She comes with over a decade of leadership experience supporting executive management on strategy within Financial Services. She leads Indicina, a challenger Credit Agency that use advanced machine learning technology to build powerful decision-making tools that unearth unique customer financial data thereby making lending to businesses easier and data driven using data points and smart analytics financial income and expense patterns. Yvonne will be sharing about the role of fintech and regulations in easing access to finance. Teju Abisoye, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF): Teju Abisoye is a lawyer with extensive experience in development finance, project planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian projects, government interventions and investment opportunities. Prior to joining LSETF where she serves as the Executive Secretary and leads the team in designing and implementing funding solutions for businesses in Lagos state; she served as Director (Post Award Support) of YouWiN! where she was responsible for managing consultants nationwide to provide training, monitoring & evaluation for a minimum of 1,200 awardees annually. She will be moderating the panel conversation on “Sustainable Policy Approaches to Bridging the Access to Finance Gap”. Teju will be providing a state level perspective sharing insights on policy approaches adopted in Lagos state to bridge the access to finance gap. Moderator: Seyi Bella, Board Director, FATE Foundation and Partner, Banwo & Ighodalo: Seyi is a lawyer with a thorough understanding of financing documentation and the ability to hold a multi-party transaction together. She primarily advises on project finance and corporate finance transactions but also participates in M&A and capital markets transactions. She advises local and international banks and financial institutions on various types of financing transactions covering several sectors, including real estate, telecoms, power, oil and gas, shipping and trade etc. Her emphasis is on secured lending and asset finance and she has advised clients in a number of syndicated lending, refinancing, and debt-offering transactions. At FATE Foundation, she serves as a Director on the Board and a member on the Board Communications and Advocacy committee which is the committee that directly oversees the research and policy advocacy work at the FATE Institute. She will moderate the panel conversation on “Bridging the Finance Gap through Sustainable Policy Approaches”.

Have your registered to attend? You can register to attend here .Time: 10.00amDate: Thursday, November 17, 2022Venue: Ecobank Pan-African Center, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Lagos We look forward to receiving youThank you. Warm regards, The FATE Institute