Stephen is a finance professional bringing over 25 years of experience in Emerging & Frontier Markets overseeing investments, financial management and the execution of strategic plans. Stephen has worked across a broad range of sectors with deep expertise in financial services, agribusiness, manufacturing and communications. Stephen is passionate about fostering innovation, utilizing technology and improving operations to achieve efficiency gains and better manage risk in Emerging & Frontier Markets. Within financial services, Stephen has worked extensively with incumbent institutions and start-up companies to deliver technology enabled products, enhanced risk management tools and deliver services via digital platforms.
Stephen provides business strategy, merger and acquisition and capital advisory services to CrossBoundary clients ranging from early-stage, high-growth ventures to multinational corporations expanding into new markets. He has advised on numerous bank recapitalizations, acquisitions, and cross-border expansions. Stephen also co-leads CrossBoundary’s venture capital fund, Dhow Ventures, which invests in early-stage, high growth opportunities across global emerging markets.
Stephen spent a decade at Pan African Capital Group, LLC (“PACG”) where he managed investments, philanthropic initiatives, and political advocacy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Stephen co-managed the group’s investment portfolio, with particular emphasis on investments in the financial services sectors of West Africa.
From 2007 to 2016, Stephen served on the Board of International Bank (Liberia) Limited, where he oversaw the reengineering of the underwriting process, negotiated and managed correspondent banking relationships and developed frameworks to manage liquidity, KYC and credit risk.
Prior to joining PACG, Stephen worked at The Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the Emerging Markets and International Affairs group, where he was responsible for assessing economic, financial, and political developments affecting global capital markets and financial institutions in a number of Emerging Markets across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Stephen is a director at an early-stage, satellite communications company utilizing proprietary hardware and software to make IoT technology accessible in remote areas. Stephen serves on the boards of Yamba Malawi, a non-profit organization working with vulnerable communities in Malawi to break the cycle of poverty, and the Society of International Development-USA, providing a perspective on strategy, programs and membership from beyond Washington, DC. Stephen graduated with honors from Villanova University with a degree in International Business and received his MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.