Olin Africa Business Forum 2026

Africa’s Voice Takes Centre Stage

20 March 2026

The Olin Africa Business Forum Returns!

This year’s forum tackles one of the most pressing questions of our time: How can Africa assert its voice and leadership in a rapidly shifting global landscape?

Under the theme “Resetting Governance: Africa’s Voice in a Shifting World,” we’re bringing together industry leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and scholars to explore governance innovation, sustainable development, and Africa’s role in shaping international policy, trade, and investment.

Conversations will dive into technology and digital governance, policy reform, economic resilience, and the emerging models of leadership redefining Africa’s future across sectors.

A Glimpse of OABF

Welcome to Olin African Business Forum! This year’s conference will challenge the prevailing narrative by showcasing that it is not only possible but imperative to build sustainable and profitable businesses in Africa, that can thrive for generations. The forum will discuss opportunities for intra-African trade and investment, highlighting policies that foster seamless business operations across the continent.

Our Agenda

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Keynote Address

Ola Ayeni founded St. Louis-based Claim Academy, which is helping to solve the massive software, cyber and now geospatial developer shortage in the Greater St. Louis area and nationally. Through this coding boot camp, Claim Academy trains people to be industry career ready in just 3.5-months.

Claim Academy is one of the 50 Best Coding Bootcamps in the world, according to Courserport and Switchup. Since 2020, Claim Academy has been named one of the best 16 cybersecurity bootcamp in America by Course Report and Fortune Magazine. Graduates of Claim Academy make $75,000 to start even without a college education.

Ola is a TedX fellow and a Pulitzer Foundation speaker.

When Ola is not working to change lives at Claim Academy and not with his wife Jennifer and their 4 children, he performs several civic duties. He has served on the Downtown Partnership Board, St Louis Promise Zone Workforce Board, Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship, and Design St Louis, nominated by the Mayor. And currently on the Greater St Louis Inc board - A regional initiative with over 3 Million residents. He was the Co-chair MacArthur Foundation Workforce Board and is currently on the board of St Louis Geofutures Coalition and one of the Commissioners of the Botanical Gardens - Zoological District of St Louis.

Panel On:

How do Governance Frameworks Affect FDI, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Access in Africa?

Zellipah Githui is the founder and president of Gitzell Fairtrade International, a certified WBE/MBE social impact company that connects African producers to North American markets through ethical and transparent trade networks. Her work focuses on building fair trade supply chains that expand market access for small producers while promoting sustainable economic development.

Zellipah brings a diverse professional background in international business, quality management systems, agriculture, manufacturing, and nonprofit leadership. Earlier in her career, she worked as a food scientist at Unilever and later spent 17 years with Monsanto/Bayer, gaining extensive experience in global agriculture and industry operations.

She currently serves on the boards of the Fair-Trade Federation, the United Nations Association of St. Louis, and the African Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis. Through her work in trade and entrepreneurship, Zellipah advocates for governance systems that strengthen transparency, expand market access, and unlock greater investment opportunities for African businesses.

Imade Iyamu is the founder of Arusha Wealth, a financial planning and wealth management firm focused on helping immigrant professionals and entrepreneurs in the United States build and manage long-term wealth. Her work centers on expanding access to financial guidance and helping globally mobile individuals navigate complex financial and regulatory systems.

Before founding Arusha Wealth, Imade worked at Goldman Sachs and taught at Yale University. She is also the creator of We Made It in America, a media project that highlights immigrant stories and the economic contributions of diaspora communities.

A lawyer, Certified Financial Planner, and Columbia Business School MBA graduate, Imade brings a unique perspective on how financial systems and governance frameworks influence entrepreneurship, capital flows, and cross-border investment. Her work emphasizes the role diaspora investors and global talent play in expanding access to capital and strengthening economic ties between Africa and global markets. Imade’s work has earned her recognition by the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center’s Milestone Circles and the Clinton Global Initiative Fellowship.

Ronke Faleti is the founder of Korédé House and the creator of Village Care™, a perinatal community support model designed to strengthen families through integrated care and trusted social infrastructure. Her work focuses on building systems that support maternal health, family stability, and community well-being.

Village Care integrates doula care, home visiting, peer support, and mental health screening into a coordinated care model delivered through a Family Transition Specialist. In partnership with the St. Louis City Department of Health, the 2025 Village Care pilot achieved a 78.4% reduction in preterm births, 87% of mothers below the postpartum depression threshold, and 100% postpartum follow-up.

Ronke previously served as a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Advisors before leaving corporate America in 2023 to focus on building Korédé House. Her work highlights how strong governance systems, institutional trust, and public-private partnerships can enable entrepreneurship and scale mission-driven solutions that address critical social challenges.

Rodney Boyd is a founding partner of Nexus Group, a leading government relations and public affairs firm based in Missouri. With decades of experience at the intersection of law, government, and public policy, he is widely recognized for his ability to navigate complex regulatory environments and shape legislative outcomes.

Rodney’s career spans multiple levels of state and local government, where he has worked closely with policymakers, business leaders, and community stakeholders to advance strategic policy initiatives. Earlier in his career, he served in the Missouri Legislature, clerked for the Missouri Supreme Court, and later became a staff lobbyist for the City of St. Louis under Mayor Clarence Harmon.

Before co-founding Nexus Group in 2018, Rodney held senior roles at prominent law firms, including Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (now Dentons US LLP), where he advised clients across industries such as healthcare, education, transportation, energy, and real estate. Through his work, Rodney focuses on building consensus-driven policy solutions that strengthen economic development, innovation, and public-private collaboration.

Panel On:

Governance In The Age Of AI

Arrey Obenson is the CEO and a partner at Transformunity, a consulting firm that helps organizations and corporations develop strategies to capitalize on opportunities and create meaningful impact.

Previously, he served as CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis, where he championed the critical role immigrants play in driving regional economic growth. He also founded Global St. Louis, which promotes innovation and economic development by leveraging immigrant talent, and I Am Cameroon, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring civic engagement and leadership among Cameroonians.

Earlier, Obenson served as Secretary General of Junior Chamber International (JCI), where he led the organization in implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in more than 1,000 communities worldwide. A skilled trainer and facilitator, he has engaged audiences in over 100 countries.

He holds a Master of Laws from Washington University in St. Louis, is the author of Bridging the Opportunity Gap, and has been recognized as a “Great Immigrant, Great American” by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He also serves on the boards of the International Chamber of Commerce and the Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens, continuing to champion inclusive growth, responsible citizenship, and global collaboration.

Warsan Mohamoud is a senior strategist at Google and an entrepreneur focused on responsible AI governance and essential infrastructure. In her role, she helps build foundational safeguards for high-scale products, including Google Search, Gemini, and AI Overviews, ensuring innovation advances alongside user trust and platform integrity.

With more than a decade of experience in global risk management, Warsan has worked across organizations such as the United Nations, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and GoFundMe, where she developed scalable systems that strengthen safety, accountability, and trust across digital platforms.

Raised in San Diego with roots in Somalia, Warsan brings a global, cross-cultural perspective to the challenges of governing emerging technologies and balancing innovation with responsible oversight.

Beyond her work in technology, she leads initiatives in Eastern Ethiopia, directing resources to expand sustainable water access for under-resourced masjids and community hubs. This work reflects her broader belief that both digital and physical infrastructure should be built with integrity and designed to serve communities equitably.

Irewole Akande is an entrepreneur and product builder working at the intersection of AI, design, and complex systems. His work focuses on developing high-trust tools that bring clarity, structure, and evidence to complex decision-making environments.

He is the founder of Exelita, where he is building AI-powered workflows that support the drafting of EB-1A and NIW immigration petitions, helping professionals navigate complex legal documentation with greater clarity and structure. He also leads USL Creative Studio, a design and product studio that helps ambitious teams build strong brand and product systems.

Previously, Irewole co-founded City Health Tech, where he helped develop OPAL, a connected public health device designed to improve hygiene behavior while generating actionable health analytics. Earlier in his career, he worked at Microsoft, leading product initiatives focused on improving how organizations surface expert knowledge and deliver credible answers internally.

Across his work, Irewole is known for systems thinking and user-centered execution, building practical AI tools that bring clarity, accountability, and trust to complex decision-making environments.

Oladunni “Dunni” Olowoporuko is a senior machine learning engineer at Vanguard, where she develops AI-powered solutions that improve operational efficiency, strengthen forecasting, and support smarter strategic decision-making. With more than seven years of experience building scalable data systems, she focuses on transforming complex data into clear insights that organizations can confidently act upon.

Prior to Vanguard, Dunni worked at J.P. Morgan Chase, contributing to large-scale technology systems within the financial services sector. Her work sits at the intersection of machine learning, data infrastructure, and business strategy, helping organizations leverage advanced technologies to solve real-world problems.

Born in Nigeria and now based in the United States, Dunni brings a global perspective to technology and innovation. She is passionate about continuous learning and enjoys exploring new cultures through travel, experiences that deepen her curiosity and adaptability in an ever-evolving technological landscape.