Bio

Lewis is a co-founder and Executive Director of Africa Rising Capital. Lewis has over 25 years of experience in corporate and investment banking; development banking; capital/financial markets and treasury; and financial management on the African continent and internationally. He founded and was the Chief Executive of Africa Next Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, established in 2008 to pursue investment and advisory opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Next subsequently merged with Afris Capital. Lewis also served as the Chairperson of the Investment Committee for a Venture Capital Fund based in Nairobi (focusing on East Africa) between 2010 and 2013. Lewis was the Director and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) for Standard Bank Africa in charge of all CIB operations in sub- Saharan Africa outside of South Africa. Prior to that, Lewis spent 9 years at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) in various investment banking and treasury roles. Before joining the DBSA, Lewis spent 11 years at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in various senior roles including as Head of Capital Markets and Financial Operations. Lewis is a Chartered Accountant CA (SA), a Chartered Management Accountant, an Associate Member of the Corporate Treasurer’s Association and holds an MBA from the University of Warwick (UK) and a Bachelor’s Honours Degree in Accountancy from the University of Zimbabwe. He is also alumni of the SEP at Stanford University.