Samuel Akyianu is the Managing Director of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (the “Fund”), representing MEDA as the lead implementing partner. In this role he leads a consortium of five partner firms to deliver investment capital and technical assistance to investment vehicles (“IVs”) across sub–Saharan Africa. The Fund is targeted to reach 20 IVs (private equity, venture and debt funds) with catalytic capital integrated with technical assistance to ensure Gender Lens Investing, and business growth to the indirect portfolio of 200 SMEs – all towards our ultimate goal of jobs for women and the youth.

Sam has over 25 years of experience in designing, implementing, and leading delivery of financial advisory solutions across Africa and Asia, including coverage of Private Equity (PE) funds, Startup ecosystems, export agribusinesses, SMEs, private education, health insurance & services, and business sustainability.

Prior to the Fund MD role, Sam worked with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for about 16 years, and has held various roles across several sectors.  In his role as Global Head, Sam managed investment advisory for IFC’s global portfolio of SME Ventures funds providing investment and technical assistance advise at fund manager, portfolio company levels and to regulatory ecosystems.

Before this, Sam was a Director of Investment for TechnoServe where he managed an 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. Sam also worked as a Corporate Finance Consultant with EY Ghana, formerly PKK Consulting.

Sam holds a Master of Business Administration degree, Finance and Financial Management from the University of Ghana Business School, is a Chartered Accountant (ACMA/UK), has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, from Kwame Nkrumah’ University of Science and Technology, and a post graduate diploma in Strategic Agri-Marketing, Agricultural Business and Management from Purdue University.

During his time with IFC, Sam benefitted from several certifications on Investment, Technical Assistance, Sustainability and graduated from IFC’s Global Business Leadership Program.