CEO, Africa Tourism Partners & UN Tourism Advisory Panel Member
Director, Africa Department, UN Tourism
Director of Fortunatus Advisory LLC
Head of the Marketing and Communications Unit: College of Tourism, Tanzania
Director - Advisory Services / BDO South Africa, South Afriica
CEO, Millvest Advisory & Director, ATLF & Awards
Executive: Risk in Relationship Banking Governance, Risk & Control, Absa Group, South Africa
Director, BDO Advisory Services, South Africa
PhD (UCT), FIAP, Tssf , Founder and Head of Centre for Business Innovation and Incubation, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa
Office Manager and Coordinator, Africa Tourism Private Sector Alliance
Marketing & Communications Manager
Manager: Projects, Media and Partnerships
Project Administrator
Founder and CEO of Saturated
Founder and COO of Saturated
Project Support
UN Tourism Senior Expert For Communications In Africa
CEO / Africa Tourism Partners
Kwakye is the CEO of Africa Tourism Partners (ATP), a Pan African tourism advisory firm and a UN Tourism award-winning firm. He serves as a tourism expert advisor for AfCFTA, Qatar Tourism and Airbnb on African Policy Development.
He is a renowned Pan-African strategist and expert in areas of Investment Facilitation and Promotions, tourism development, strategic and destination marketing, destination brand management and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition/Events). He is a recognised and highly respected personality in Africa tourism space, and speaks at global conferences, seminars and think tank fora.
Kwakye has demonstrated expertise in destination master planning as well as strategy formulation and execution, business transactional advisory and leadership development worldwide across education, finance, and hotel development. His expertise and experience have earned him the privilege to regularly serve on expert panels and think tank fora facilitated by international organizations including UNWTO, AU, SADC, The World Bank Group, GIZ, BBC, CNBC Africa, Channel Africa, ENCA, SABC and others across Africa.
He is the convener of the annual Africa Tourism Leadership Forum & Awards, Africa MICE Masterclass, Africa Youth in Tourism Summit and Africa Women in Tourism Summit series.
Director, Africa Department, UN Tourism, Spain
Originally from the Seychelles, Elcia Grandcourt joined the World Tourism Organisation, a United Nations specialised Agency for Tourism in 2013 as Director, of the Regional Department for Africa.
Elcia began her tourism career studying Hotel Management in Singapore at the Singapore Hotel Association and Education Centre (SHATEC). Thereafter, she occupied various positions in operations, reservations and sales mainly in hotels, including leading international brands such as Le Meridien and Hilton Worldwide Resorts.
She was part of the rebranding team when Hilton Worldwide Resorts took over the management of the then Northolme hotel in Seychelles. She worked with the Seychelles national airline and destination management companies before joining the public sector to Seychelles Tourism Board as deputy CEO before being promoted to Chief Executive Officer, a position she occupied prior to joining UNWTO. Passionate about tourism, Elcia is honoured to be able to contribute towards sustainable tourism development in Africa.
Elcia also holds a Master in Dynamics of Cooperation, Conflicts and Negotiation in International Relations and Diplomacy.
Director of Fortunatus Advisory LLC
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Fortunatus Advisory LLC, Safiyya Akoojee is an astute legal & private advisor based in Dubai. She is a qualified South African Attorney maintaining her status on the High Court Bar in South Africa. She has worked as an advisory professional, completing transactions on Foreign Direct Investments into Africa, offshore corporate strategy, legal counsel, UAE company establishment and a complete suite of advisory services.
Safiyya serves as the International Director for Thomson Wilks Inc., where she has practiced for 14 years, focusing on Middle East strategy & legal consulting. She advises a multitude of international clients both in the Middle East and the African continent. She has also served as President of the South African Business Council,
Dubai U.A.E and represented South Africa in procuring foreign direct investment.
Having held leadership posts in multiple businesses and providing global expertise with legal insights to advise corporations, companies, and executives alike. Safiyya has an acute business acumen and foresight allowing her to advise her clients on the intricacies of cross border transactions whilst providing access to laws and regulations. Safiyya has mandates representing clients across various businesses &
industry sectors, including oil, gas & energy; travel, tourism & hospitality; food manufacturing; real estate & construction, automotive and technology sectors.
She speaks regularly at conferences on international investments and the international legal environment providing insights to regulations and supporting business opportunities, whilst overcoming cross border and governmental challenges.
Safiyya holds degrees in Bachelor of Arts (Law, International Relations, English), University of Witwatersrand; Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of South Africa; Post Graduate Certificate, Commercial & Corporate Law, University of London (awarded merit); Post Graduate Diploma, Banking & Finance Law, University of London (awarded merit); Masters of Law (LLM), Banking, Finance & Corporate Law, University of London.
Head of the Marketing and Communications Unit:College of Tourism, Tanzania
Devota Kasanda Mdachi is a name which is well known in Tanzania, especially in the Tourism Industry for the role she played in seeing that Tanzania is placed high on the list of the world’s best African destinations.
With more than 28 years’ experience of working in the Tourism industry, Ms. Mdachi has held a number of positions both in the Public and Private sectors.
She started working with Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) in 1994 and was first employed as a Tourist Information Officer. Over the period of 10 years she rose high up the organisation’s ladder to the positions of Senior Tourist Information Officer ; Principal Tourist Information Officer and Head of the Tourist Information Centre , Dar-es-salaam and Principal Marketing Officer. In June 2011,Ms.Mdachi was appointed Director of Marketing of the Tanzania Tourist Board and later was appointed as the Managing Director of the Tanzania Tourist Board in 2015. Ms. Mdachi is the first Tanzania woman to hold the positions of Director of Marketing (2011-2015) and Managing Director of the Tanzania Tourist Board (2015-2021).
Ms. Mdachi worked with Abercrombie and Kent (Arusha) as a Tour Manager (1993-1994)) and at The College of African Wildlife Management (CAWM,Moshi, Mweka) as a Lecturer in Tourism Marketing and Events Management (2021-2023). Currently, Ms. Mdachi is teaching at the National College of Tourism, Dar –es-salaam and the Ag. Head of Department of the Events Department.
Ms. Mdachi has also worked as an Intern at the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa (RETOSA), under the Marketing and Communications Department.
Ms. Mdachi has also been a Board member of The Tanzania Women’s Bank, Tanzania National Parks and Tan Roads.
Through her position and undertakings over the years, Ms. Mdachi has been able to be a great role model to young girls and women in Tanzania , especially in the tourism sector. She is a member of The Association of Women In Tourism in Tanzania (AWOTTA) and Guardian and Advisor of the newly formed Tanzania Association of Women Tour Operators (TAWTO).
She has received a number of awards and was nominated as one of the recipients of the ‘Nyerere Golden Awards’ by The Mwl. J.K Nyerere Golden Awards in Science and Technology Achievements (2014 and 2015).
In 2016 , the CEO Global (Pty) LTD a South African based company, awarded Ms.Mdachi an award as Tanzania’s Country winner in the category of “Government Employed Official Sector of CEO Global’s Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government”
Women in Management Tanzania, recognized her as one of the Top 50 Women in Management in Tanzania in 2019 and was also recognized by the AKWAABA African Travel Market and ATQ News as one of the recipients of the African Travel 100 Women Awards in 2019. In 2021 she was recognized by Coca Cola Beverages Africa and awarded as one of the recipients of the The Mwanamke Shujaa Leadership Award.
Ms. Mdachi holds a BA degree in International Relations and Advanced French Language from the University of Dar-es-salaam (1991); M.A in Tourism from the Open University of Tanzania (2008) and a Post Graduate Certificate in Tourism from the International School of Tourism, Rome Italy (2000).
Director - Advisory Services / BDO South Africa
Christelle has more than 23 years’ consulting experience and carries out and heads project teams for macro research, economic impact assessments, valuations, marketing and organisational strategies, market feasibility studies, financial viability assessments, business case assessments and transaction advisory assignments.
Christelle has also facilitated numerous workshops and large meetings and is proficient in using a range of facilitation approaches and tools.
CEO, Millvest Advisory, South Africa
Miller Mulamule Matola has more than 25 years of management experience within the global travel, tourism, hospitality, convention industry and investment facilitation environments.
His competencies range from executive management, business administration, project management, destination marketing, nation branding to strategic planning and execution. With demonstrated business management skills, at both operational and strategic levels,
Miller has managed several large non-profit and for – profit organisations during his management career; having been CEO of Tourism KwaZulu Natal, Durban ICC and Brand South Africa respectively. Uniquely, he possesses unprecedented knowledge and networks amongst global decision makers in the Tourism, Business Events, Trade, Investment and Development sectors, both in business and government. Miller has proven stakeholder relationship management skills, having worked at executive management level with various Business, Government and Civil society stakeholders globally.
At present, Miller is Founder and CEO of Millvest (Pty) Ltd, a South African advisory and project management company focusing on the tourism, hospitality, energy and convention industries. He is a non-executive director of the Africa Tourism Leadership Forum and a member of the Premier’s Economic Growth Advisory Council and Tourism and Agriculture Work Group of the Limpopo Province.
Executive: Risk in Relationship Banking Governance, Risk & Control, Absa Group, South Africa
He is the Director of Group Internal Audit: Investment Management and Insurance at Absa Bank South Africa and an academic with a vested interest in the Futures as a discipline. He has presented on this subject matter at several conferences and organisations and has received numerous accolades. He is a PhD Candidate (Wits) and holds an MBA (Stellenbosch), MCOM (Wits), BSc Hons Management (UJ), BSc IT & Mathematics qualifications.
Lee-Anne Bac is a Director at BDO Advisory Services Johannesburg with more than 20 years experience consulting to clients in the tourism, hospitality, leisure and property sectors in South Africa and the rest of Africa. Lee-Anne’s consulting experience includes strategic planning, market and financial feasibility studies, financial evaluations, business valuations, economic impact studies, socio-economic impact studies, market research and demand assessments and strategic management consulting.
Lee-Anne holds a BSc degree in Microbiology and Zoology from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MBA degree from the University of Cape Town. She joined BDO Advisory Services in 1997 as a Senior Consultant and was appointed as a Director of BDO Advisory Services in September 1999.
Lee-Anne is regularly quoted in the printed press about issues relating to the tourism, hospitality and property industries and with regard to women in business and she regularly presents at industry functions, workshops and conferences.
Lee-Anne is passionate about the transformative role of tourism in economies and societies. As her commitment to enhancing sustainable tourism, Lee-Anne is a Director of Fair Trade Tourism (FTT).
Lee-Anne is a member of the national executive of the Woman’s Property Network in South Africa and was a recipient of the Women’s Property Network “Excellence in Property” award in 2013. She is also a member of SAMRA – the South African Market Research Association.
Founder and Head of Centre for Business Innovation and Incubation, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa
Prof Michael Twum-Darko, Ghanaian-South African, obtained his PhD in Information Systems from University of Cape Town (RSA), Masters in Computer Science from American Institute for Computer Sciences in Birmingham, Alabama (USA) and Honours Degree in Computer Science from now Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (Ghana).
Michael spent thirty-two (32) years as a lecturer Computer Science, Business Information Systems, strategic management in Ghana, Botswana, and South Africa. He has also spent 13 years out of the 32 years as an IT Project Management and Software Development consultant and IT/Business strategist in South Africa.
Michael is a Fellow of the Institute of Analysts and Programmers (UK) and has served on many high-profile committees in Botswana and South Africa as an academic, and IT/Business strategist
He is currently the acting Head of the Graduate Centre for Management and the founder and Head of Centre for Business Innovation and Incubation (BIIC) in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at Cape Peninsula of University of Technology.
Office Manager and Coordinator, Africa Tourism Private Sector Alliance
Palesa Motekase is an experienced administrative and event management professional with a strong background in Tourism, Exhibitions, and project coordination. Over 18 years of expertise in secretarial and executive support roles within the tourism industry. Highly skilled in coordinating exhibitions, sales events, and project management across Africa. Adept at fostering strategic partnerships, ensuring seamless event execution, and supporting executive teams with efficiency and professionalism.
Marketing & Communications Manager
Busisiwe Tshabalala has 20 years’ experience in event and exhibition management. She is a public relations specialist.
She spent the previous seven years working for Ikhono Thrive Global, a leading organisation in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) industry prior to joining Africa Tourism Partners.
As the Account Executive / Project Manager for the company, Busi has successfully managed reputable local and international projects including working managing aspects of Meetings Africa.
Busi was also in charge of managing and maintaining social media platforms for all Ikhono Thrive Global brands, as well as some client accounts across multiple platforms
Manager: Projects, Media and Partnerships
Palesa is a projects and partnerships professional with extensive experience supporting complex programmes and multi-stakeholder events across tourism, industry, and creative sectors. She excels at structuring initiatives, aligning partners, and driving practical, results-focused delivery.
She has coordinated continental summits, leadership forums, youth-led initiatives, music concerts, and TMC roadshows, contributing to programme design, stakeholder engagement, and scalable outcome-driven formats. Her background spans marketing, communications, and operational support across events, festivals, and hybrid platforms, including delegate coordination, media liaison, and reporting.
Project Administrator
Charlotte Tambala Kaliati brings experience in trade in services, tourism, sustainability, and project management, with a strong interest in how these areas connect to drive growth across Africa. Her work has focused on supporting
initiatives within the services sector, particularly tourism, and understanding its role in strengthening regional collaboration and economic opportunities.
She has a background in sustainability and environmental management, which shapes her approach to projects ensuring they are practical, impactful, and mindful of long-term outcomes. Charlotte has also been involved in coordinating programmes and events, working closely with different stakeholders to ensure smooth execution from planning to delivery.
She is passionate about the potential of African tourism and enjoys being part of conversations and projects that bring people, ideas, and cultures together in meaningful ways.
Founder and CEO of Saturated
Mamello is the founder and CEO of Saturated, a Johannesburg-based, sector-agnostic digital solutions and technology agency established in 2019. The agency specializes in digital product design & development, e-commerce, cloud solutions, and digital marketing, with a focus on serving clients across the SADC region.
Entrepreneur, Writer, Strategist and Technology Innovator
Nkululeko Ndumiso Nkosi is a 28 year old entrepreneur, writer, strategist and technology innovator who hails from Lekwa (formerly known as Standerton) in the Mpumalanga province. Nkululeko Nkosi fulfills his professional and leadership duties from South Africa’s
city of gold — Johannesburg, South Africa. He started out as a digital marketing professional with skills in digital data analysis, digital strategy, social media and community management.
He later grew to be one of the most edgy, most insightful and forward thinking creative strategists with a finger on the pulse of South African popular culture. His passion for
research and his understanding of African culture both urban and rural makes his strategic work not only relevant but also come with a very high degree of authenticity.
Nkululeko Nkosi was employed at an award-winning agency, MetropolitanRepublic, he has played a key role in unpacking creative strategies for world-class brands such Danone, Sony Mobile ZA, LEGiT Fashion, Leroy Merlin, Aquafresh, Med-Lemon, Ithuba National Lottery,
KOO Brands and Discovery. When you ask him what keeps him going, Nkululeko Nkosi would tell you it is the diversity in our cultures that makes our country the coolest place to be right now.
He is now focused on building the future of Africa in the entrepreneurial space where his focus is merging technology, creativity and strategy to develop solutions. He has represented South Africa through his marketing, media and entertainment consultancy work at the
ONGEA Summit in Kenya, 4th Africa Youth In Tourism Summit Innovation & Challenge in Namibia and the Financial Security Olympiad in Russia competing against youth in BRICS nations. Nkululeko is currently the co-founder of Saturated, a digital agency startup which
has developed an innovative tourism digital product titled Etela Africa for the African continent. Etela Africa translates to ‘Visit Africa’ in the Sotho languages of Southern Africa.
Project Support
Thoko has 11 years’ experience in marketing and communications space across the SADC region and with Africa Tourism Partners.
She is an experienced Communications Specialist and has worked in the public relations and communications industry over 10 years. Her expertise cuts across Employee Engagement, Event Management, Corporate Communications, Business Communications, and Public Relations.
UN Tourism Senior Expert For Communications In Africa
Kojo Bentum-Williams is the Founder and Publisher of Africa’s leading travel and tourism Publication, VoyagesAfriq. A communication professional with over 12 years in working in travel and tourism trade. His cross-cutting knowledge in the industry include working as PR official at the Ghana Tourism Authority and Press Secretary to Ghana’s Former Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture.
He is currently the Senior Expert for Communications in Africa at UN Tourism and aide to the Secretary General. He has regularly contributed to several Tourism publication and reports including the annual Africa Tourism Monitor Report published by the Africa Development Bank (AFDB), New York University Africa House Journal and Casa Africa’s Encounter with African Journalists in Spain. He is a columnist in Leading Spanish NewsPaper EL-Pais on African Tourism.
Kojo has worked closely with several African Tourism Ministers, Convention Bureaus, and CEOs of National Tourism Boards in Africa as well as the Africa’s Tourism Private Sector.