Samuel Akyianu

Samuel Akyianu is the Managing Director of the Mastercard Foundation African Growth Fund project. He brings over 25 years of experience in designing, implementing, and leading the delivery of financial advisory solutions across Africa and Asia, including export agribusiness, SMEs, private education, health insurance and services, and Private Equity (PE) funds.

Since 2006, Samuel has worked with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and has held various roles including Global, Regional, and Sector Leads. As Global Lead, Samuel managed the investment advisory for IFC’s global portfolio of 20 SME venture funds (assets under management of approximately USD $1 billion). Prior to IFC, Samuel was a Director of Investment for TechnoServe where he managed a USD $10 million investment fund to sustain TechnoServe’s operations and financing guarantees for SMEs. In this role, he also managed a team to deliver Business Development Services and investment readiness/business plans for agribusiness SMEs.

Samuel has a Master of Business Administration degree in finance, and Financial Management from the University of Ghana Business School, a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, and a postgraduate diploma in Strategic Agri-Marketing, Agricultural Business and Management from Purdue University.