Mark’s early career (1989-2003) was in investment banking in the City of London where he advised growth companies on M&A and capital raising. He has now been involved in financial sector development in Africa for over 20 years.

From 2004-2009 he was CEO of FinMark Trust, based in Johannesburg. He then moved back to London where he became an independent consultant specialising in financial systems change in developing countries, mainly in Africa. He joined CDC (now BII), the UK’s development finance institution, as Director of Investment Innovation, from 2011-2012 and moved to Nairobi to set FSD Africa up in December 2012. Since then, he has led on all the strategic changes in FSD Africa’s history, including its move into capital market development and establishing its investment arm, FSD Africa Investments.

Mark has written papers and articles on financial sector development and was commissioning editor for a 2010 book of case studies on financial innovation in Africa – Real Money, New Frontiers. He has an MA in Modern Languages from Cambridge University.