Jesse is the General Counsel and Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at M-KOPA, one of the leading connected asset financing companies in Africa, where he is responsible for corporate, commercial, ESG, regulatory, data privacy, risk, governance and control matters. Jesse is a dual-qualified lawyer admitted in New York and England & Wales. He previously worked in New York and London for Weil, Gotshal & Manges and was an Executive Director, Assistant General Counsel at JPMorgan. Prior to joining M-KOPA, Jesse worked for the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

Chuks Ibechukwu is a partner at Olaniwun Ajayi (UK) LLP – the London-based international practice of Olaniwun Ajayi LP, one of Africa’s leading law firms.  He also chairs its Corporate Finance Practice. 

A highly experienced lawyer and development financier, who specialises in private-sector led financing in developing countries, with a focus on Africa, he has advised development organisations, financial institutions, governments and corporate investors on more than 50 project, corporate and structured finance deals that have achieved financial close, contributing over US$40 billion of committed debt and equity capital across various industries in 20 developing countries / emerging economies. He has also worked on hundreds of advisory and upstream development mandates in almost 30 countries in Africa alone.

Chuks was formerly the Africa Regional Lead Counsel for Advisory Services and for Private Equity and Funds at International Finance Corporation, the private sector-focused investment arm of the World Bank Group. He sits on the Legal & Regulatory Committee of the Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (AVCA).

Christina leads the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) team at Bowmans Kenya. She advises clients on all aspects of environmental, regulatory and governance issues, across a wide range of sectors and is heavily involved in advising various actors in the carbon markets space in Kenya. With a profound understanding of both the legal intricacies and the market dynamics of carbon trading, Christina has helped numerous clients navigate the evolving landscape of emissions reduction, carbon offset projects, and sustainable business practices.

Christina has extensive experience in all aspects of corporate practice including public and private M&A, debt and equity capital raisings in private and public markets including IPOs, corporate restructurings and private equity deals representing both target companies and funds. Christina has transactional experience across East Africa and has worked in South Africa and in the United Kingdom.

As Legal Manager with the largest and most innovative bilateral development finance institution in Europe, Rutherford leads a diverse team of lawyers overseeing a portfolio of equity, blended finance and renewable energy with annual investments in excess of one billion euros. With a particular focus on legal innovation for fragile state investments and groundbreaking concessional finance instruments, Rutherford is a frontrunner in emerging markets investment law.

Rutherford holds a Juris Doctor cum laude (University of Michigan Law School, USA), a Masters degree in corruption in post-conflict markets (University of Michigan, USA) and is a recipient of the Bates Fellowship in international law.