With 20+ years of experience in Technovation, Yuvraj has played various roles in driving innovation, digital transformation, and cloud-based solutions for the financial sector. He is a leading authority in Design Thinking and excels in co-designing and developing impactful solutions based on customer challenges.

As a Senior Innovation Manager for EMEA & Americas, Yuvraj brings extensive global experience in taking ideas from inception to implementation. He is a TED Talk speaker, an avid 10k runner and a guru in leading Co-Innovation workshops to address the unique needs of each bank.

Nicky is Nedbank’s Chief Economist. A position she’s held since February 2020. She has been the Senior Economist since 2000. Nicky received her Masters in Economics from the University of Stellenbosch in 1994 and soon advised government on economic procedures and policies in her capacity as an economist in the Central Economic Advisory Service, which has since been integrated into the President's Office.

Her experience in the banking, securities and brokering industries has given her a broader knowledge of a wide range of fields within economics, including sector analysis, fixed investment trends, as well as the relationship between real economic trends and developments in the financial markets. 

At Nedbank, Nicky focuses on trends in the overall economy, looking at cycles in the economic growth, inflation and interest rates. She gives talks regularly throughout the country to all sorts of audiences, including business forums, property groups, large corporate firms and government entities.

Molefe Lenyai is the Head of FX Trading at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), with nearly 20 years of experience across global and frontier foreign exchange markets. He has built a career specializing in G10 currencies, African currencies, and market making ZAR FX (spot and forwards).

At RMB, Molefe leads strategic trading initiatives and brings a nuanced understanding of both developed and emerging market dynamics. A passionate advocate for the FX industry, he has served on the board of the local ACI Financial Markets Association, promoting professional standards and market development. Molefe brings a pragmatic and forward-looking perspective to the panel discussion on the evolution of the FX market, offering insight into emerging trends, structural shifts, and the challenges facing market participants today.

Fikile Mbhokota is a seasoned leader with over 20 years’ financial markets and investment industry experience covering indexation and active investment management and consulting, operations, research, strategy, fund administration, custody management, executive client account management and business origination.

Most recently she held the positions of Acting Head of Investments and trustee at the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), Africa's largest pension fund with more than 1.2 million active members and assets worth more than R1.7 trillion.

Fikile holds a Master of Commerce in Finance and is currently studying towards a Doctor of Philosophy in Finance. She has completed Private Equity, Strategic Asset Allocation, Manager Selection, and Master Custody programmes at the Institute for Limited Partners in Chicago and World Bank in Washington DC, USA respectively.

Iva has spent the majority of her career consulting to some of the largest pension funds in the country. For the first 10 years of her career, she worked at Alexander Forbes Financial Services, spending two years in the investment team focused on portfolio construction of their global solutions. She subsequently worked at Investec, focusing on bespoke investment solutions for small- and medium-sized retirement funds, and then at NMG Benefits, where she led their key account management program across the business.

Iva joined Sygnia in January 2020 to provide advisory services to some of our larger clients and to focus on the development of the Sygnia Itrix business. She is passionate about working with people and building long-lasting client relationships.

Iva holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Statistics degree from the University of Pretoria, a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning from the University of the Free State and is a CFA charter holder.

Paul is responsible for funding and liquidity management for SBSA including, accessing local and international loan and capital markets, long and short-term funding, and intraday liquidity and cash management. He manages treasury portfolio and risk management functions. In addition, Paul manages the Money Markets Franchise business in CIB including client deposits and short-term market-based funding requirements across corporate, public sector and non-bank financial institutions.

Paul represents Standard Bank at various industry forums focused on market development and currently chairs the SARB MPG Transition, Planning and Coordination workstream.

Paul is a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)) and has a completed a B. Bus Sci (Hons) qualification from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Shobhit Thapar is Head of Index Solutions, CEEMA (Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa) at FTSE Russell, an LSEG business. He joined the company in September 2021, and is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Shobhit has extensive experience in investment management, portfolio construction, strategy & product development, and marketing & selling investment products. He works closely with clients to design and deliver indices and strategies that utilize FTSE Russell’s expertise in custom index design, Shariah-compliant investing, ESG/ Sustainable investing, and asset allocation across asset classes.

Prior to joining FTSE Russell (an LSEG business), Shobhit worked extensively with portfolio & risk management solutions, and index solutions with other financial services organizations, covering multiple geographies, working with Asset Owners, Asset Managers, Central Banks, and Sell-Side institutions.

Shobhit earned his MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is a certified FRM (Financial Risk Manager) and CIPM (Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement).

Albert is the Emerging Markets Business Development Manager for LSEG FX. With +20 years’ experience gained across the Emerging Market OTC Trading, FX business, Albert is currently based in the UK and takes a responsibility for market development across LSEG’s EM franchise in Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Joining Reuters in FX in 2002 working in strategic markets and moving to the Middle East in 2010 Albert has been responsible for growing trading communities, across MENA. For the past 4 years, Albert has worked at developing emerging markets trading communities working with local and leading financial institutions to enhance their FX propositions. Albert is responsible for the growth of FX Matching & LSEG FXall.

Albert holds a BA Hons from the University of Greenwich and a MBA from the University of Roehampton. 

Zakhele heads the SARB Benchmarks and Advanced Analytics (SBA) and Market Intelligence divisions of the Financial Market Department. SBA is responsible for the administration of ZARONIA and the effort to reform domestic reference rates. As such, Zakhele is intimately involved in all aspects of the JIBAR transition and participates in the structures of the Market Practitioners Group and the Reference Rate Oversight Committee.

Prior to joining the SARB in 2017, he spent over a decade performing various roles in prime broking at Nedbank CIB and Deutsche Bank before focusing on corporate and business strategy for about 3.5 years at Nedbank CIB.

Zakhele holds a Master of Development Finance (Stellenbosch University), an MSc in Finance (Quantitative Finance) (University of London), and an MPhil in Corporate Strategy (University of Pretoria). He obtained his Bachelor of Business Science at the University of Cape Town.

Thembi Mda-Maluleka is the Head of Bonds, Currencies and Interest Rates Derivatives at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). In her role, she is responsible for the efficient running of the JSE’s fixed income and currencies trading platforms, as well driving the growth strategy through the introduction of new products and enhancements of existing offerings.

Thembi previously worked for the National Treasury in various roles, where she built a thorough understanding of the South African economy, debt capital markets, liquidity and risk management, and the international economic environment.

In her last role at National Treasury, she worked in the Asset and Liability Management Division as Acting Director: Debt Issuance and Management where she was responsible for managing government’s R500 billion funding programme.

She holds a Master of Commerce in Economics and BCom (Hons) from the University of Pretoria and a BCom in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Johannesburg.

Gaby is the Senior Trading Specialist at LSEG covering the Africa markets and is currently based in South Africa. Prior to joining in 2013, Gaby started her career on the trading room floor at Absa and then moved onto Royal Bank of Scotland in Johannesburg, where she traded FX, Money Markets, Fixed Income and Commodities.

Over the past 12 years she joined the group as part of Thomson Reuters and has been instrumental in developing the FX trading proposition across the continent.

Gaby currently works with emerging market central banks to ensure the development of their FX markets by creating market transparency and enable electronification of FX transactions across the continent. She is also responsible for building and maintaining key client relationships within the commercial banks sector across the continent.

Gaby holds a BCom Hons in Quantitative Mathematics and a BCom in Economics and Econometrics from the University of South Africa.

Rupert Nicolay is a Director in Microsoft’s Worldwide Financial Services team.  In this role he works with Tier 1 financial services customers globally to share Microsoft’s technology strategy in financial services, learn from their successes and support major Microsoft engagements practically applying Microsoft technologies in complex or innovative scenarios.

Nicole Borges, one of the youngest female leaders in Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), has risen to an executive position at the age of 32. Her career progression is a testament to her unwavering resilience, strategic foresight, and commitment to excellence.

As Global Markets CIO, Nicole leads a high-performing team focused on delivering cutting-edge technology platforms that support Standard Bank’s retail, corporate, and commercial clients in the capital markets space. Her portfolio encompasses platform solutions for pricing, aggregation, execution, risk management, and post-trade services. She is instrumental in enhancing client self-service and execution capabilities, while navigating the complex regulatory and data requirements of a global financial ecosystem.

Nicole is a passionate advocate for people-centric leadership and describes Standard Bank CIB as a values-driven, human-first organisation. She is dedicated to nurturing high-performing teams by identifying individuals who demonstrate resilience, a growth mindset, and a strong sense of integrity and trust.

A committed champion of mentorship and inclusion, Nicole plays an active role in coaching emerging talent—especially women—into leadership roles within STEM fields, encouraging authenticity and bold ambition. She promotes the power of mentorship and sponsorship in navigating professional challenges and unlocking opportunity. Her influence extends across various strategic programmes, including Leadership Development, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), and Graduate Talent initiatives within CIB Technology.

With deep expertise in Fintech, Digital Transformation, and Strategy, Nicole is regarded as a forward-thinking industry leader whose work continues to shape the future of banking and technology. Her distinguished career is marked by a lasting impact on the industry, the communities she serves, and the broader society.