Innovation Hub

PartnersOur Team

Each team member works towards a comprehensive vision for development of the tourism sector in Africa. This includes positioning tourism as a policy priority across African countries through Thought Leadership, capacity building and value-partnerships.

Safiyya Akoojee

Affiliate Partner

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Giju Varghese

Affiliate Partner

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Kwakye Donkor

Chief Executive Officer

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Frema Ashkar

Managing Partner

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Adedayo Adesugba

Managing Partner

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Elise Milenge

Managing Partner

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Vanessa Baldwin

Managing Partner

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Francis Doku

West Africa Regional Representative

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Jerome Touze

Non-Executive Director

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Miller Matola

Non-Executive Director

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Tom Buncle

Affiliate Partner

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Affiliate Partner

Safiyya Akoojee

Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Fortunatus Advisory LLC, Safiyya is a Dubai based South African Attorney & advisory professional, with more than thirteen years of law practice experience, coupled with business interests spanning FMCG, real estate, tourism and including wild game conservation.

Safiyya is a dynamic, performance driven professional who has held leadership posts in multiple businesses and provides global expertise with legal insights to advise businesses and executives alike. Safiyya has an acute business acumen and foresight allowing her to advise her clients on the intricacies of cross border transactions and offshore establishment.

Having gained a significant amount of experience representing various businesses & industry sectors. Fortunatus Advisory has mandates representing clients in multiple diverse sectors of the economy including oil, gas & energy; travel, tourism & hospitality; food manufacturing; real estate & construction sectors. Representing high net worth clients through Africa & the Middle East, securing foreign direct investment, and advising on offshore strategy providing a complete suite of services, Safiyya is an astute legal & private advisor.

Safiyya previously had success in completing foreign direct investment transactions, and practicing in commercial and corporate law matters, both litigious and non-litigious. Having successfully advised and represented international trade, company formation specialty and offshore company strategy.

Safiyya worked as Director of Thomson Wilks Inc. in association with DWF for thirteen years as the sole international attorney, focused on Middle East strategy & legal consulting. She speaks regularly at conferences on international investments and the international legal environment & regulations supporting business opportunities, whilst overcoming cross border and governmental challenges, in an ever-increasing multicultural society.

She has also served as President of the South African Business Council, Dubai U.A.E as and represented South Africa in procuring foreign direct investment.

Safiyya holds multiple 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

Affiliate Partner

Giju Varghese

Born in Ethiopia & raised in Zambia, Giju developed an early interest in nature-based tourism. After his family relocated to South Africa in 1983, he went to train as a hotelier and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management in India. After managing hotels and service industry since1990 in SA, his expertise, interest & career took a focus on organizational development & turnaround.
 
He then received an MBA in 2002 (De Montfort University, UK). Giju’s understanding of the tourism industry made him an authority in Public Private Partnership in tourism. As the Head: Business Development at the South African National Parks from 2002, he ensured the principles of responsible tourism were achieved through PPPs at a globally benchmarked level for 14 years.
 
He was also Acting Managing Executive: Tourism, Development & Marketing, leading operations, sales & marketing, research & the loyalty program. He has presented papers and made presentations in various countries – Brazil, India, Gabon, Mozambique & Congo on Responsible Tourism & authored a chapter on book on Responsible Tourism (published in the UK & forwarded by the UN World Tourism Organization).
 
Giju assisted the Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency as Executive Director: Commercialisation for 2 years where he mirrored his previous. With wide interests he founded an advisory business (Bhoomi Yatra) recently with clients within SA provinces and in neighbouring countries. Such include being Tourism Expert for ANAC, (conservation body for Mozambique) – he led a team from Ernst & Young project funded by the World Bank. He advised the Swaziland National Trust Commission on Responsible Tourism development.
 
He also assisted in the setting up of a Tourism Company in the private sector in South Africa. Giju sits on various national and regional panels on tourism investments. Since August 2022, he advises the NW Parks Board on Commercialization & the Wildlife Economy. Whilst the above is what Giju followed over the last 22 years as a career, he is also an entrepreneur and is involved in Logistics, IT platforms, and import (of yarn) on a medium scale to South Africa & the region. Most importantly, Giju is a husband and dad to two amazing daughters.

 

Chief Executive Officer

Kwakye Donkor

Kwakye Donkor is a renowned strategist with over 25 years’ experience in strategy formulation, strategic Marketing, brand management and communications.

He has demonstrated experience in education, financial services, hotels and hospitality as well as travel and tourism industries. He is skilled and strong in Strategy Formulation, Business Advisory, Leadership Development, Coaching, Digital Marketing and Innovation, Brand Strategy Development, Market Planning, Mega Event Planning, Project Management and Hotel & Resort Development Business Advisory.

Kwakye is the lead professional in ATP’s advisory services team, and leads the ATP’s formulation of tourism strategies, destination marketing strategies and plans, as well as our capacity and skills development assignment.

Prior to joining becoming CEO of ATP, Kwakye worked in senior executive positions at RETOSA, and as the Executive Marketing Director of Plattner Golf (Pty) Ltd t/a Fancourt, one of the leading golf resorts in the world.

He has also worked for, among others, Provident Financial (UK and South Africa) and African Bank Investment Ltd (ABIL). He is a Chartered Marketer with a Bachelor Degree in Marketing, Graduate Diplomas in Marketing, Graduate Diploma in Advertising and MBA.

Managing Partner

Frema Ashkar

Frema Ashkar is a Journalist, a seasoned media practitioner with cross platform experience including radio, TV and Public Relations . Frema is a Philanthropist, Professional MC , Artist Manager and CEO of Fablinksmedia. Frema spent her formative years at St. Monica’s Secondary School in Kumasi. She then further her education at University of Ghana where she holds a degree in Radio/Television and Film from the school of Performing arts in Legon.

Frema currently holds, a degree in Radio/Television and Film from the school of performing arts, University of Ghana. She has attended a number of training courses with Canon France Internationale and Voice Of America (VOA).

Frema has covered lots of international assignments. Frema began her professional career in radio at Radio mercury , in Kumasi starting off as an intern where she quickly learnt and became the host of prime time radio program .She moved on to Fox FM also in Kumasi and was a senior radio news presenter and a reporter .

Due to her excellent work she was poached in 2007 by TV3, one of Ghana’s leading television stations, to be a senior news anchor and reporter, where she worked for 4years. She moved on to work with Etv news as the news anchor and presenter for the Breakfast TV and Panorama, a current affairs program. She was the assignments editor from 2011 -2013.

Frema went on to become the PR manager for Agams Group (Hope city Project) from 2013 – 2015. She is currently the host of Ghana’s most watched morning television program, Good Morning Ghana on METRO TV. Frema’s passion for media has spurred her on to set up her own company, Fablinks which she runs successfully till date. Under her expect guidance, Fablinks ‘ flagship program Utour which is aired on Metro TV every Sunday at 6pm received the best tourism reality show 2016 by the brand and excellence awards.

Frema is also one of the most sort after master of ceremonies in Ghana. She has emceed many high profile events in Ghana. Frema is the manager of Ghana’s Highlife music sensation Kwabena Kwabena.

Managing Partner

Adedayo Adesugba

Adedayo is an experienced Hotelier and Restaurateur who has been in the industry for upwards 40 years. After his secondary school education at the C.M.S. Grammar School in Lagos, he attended Kwara State College of Technology, Ilorin where he graduated with an H.N.D. in Catering and Hotel Management in 1982.

In 1985, he was employed by the Sheraton Corporation as one of the pioneer staff of their new hotel in Lagos. He benefited from an in-house “train-the-trainer” course organised by Sheraton Corp. amongst other courses, and went on to train the hotel’s Food and Beverage staff. He worked as a supervisor in the Food and Beverage Department, where he supervised the bars and later in the restaurant and rooms service.

He is strong in food and beverage service having worked hands-on with first class food and beverage operations staff at both junior and supervisory levels. He obtained an MBA from the Delta International University, Louisiana, USA, in 2009. He has consulted for many hospitality establishments, including Eko Hotel & Suites. He is a Fellow of the British professional body, Institute of Hospitality (IH) and a Fellow of the Nigerian Hotel & Catering Institute, (NHCI).

He is the publisher of Hospitalitylink Magazine, the premier hospitality business magazine in Nigeria. Dayo served as the Chairman of the Institute of Hospitality, UK, Nigeria Branch from October 2017 to November 2020. He is the CEO of Nexus318 Hospitality Management & Investment Co. Ltd. He also recently took up hotel inspections with BDRC Continental, UK, a renowned hotel audit and research firm. He began lecturing at the Northeast College, Ireland early 2017.

An appointment he took up through Vantage Dymensions Global Consulting. He was appointed to the Academic Board of the Business Entrepreneurship Skills Technology (BEST) Centre of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) and recently as Coordinator of the Institute of Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN), Lagos State of Nigeria. He is married with children.

Managing Partner

Elise Milenge

Elise joined Charleston Travel Rwanda Ltd. as a travel expert with over 25 years experience in the international travel and tourism industry. Her background extends from customer service and airport passanger handling, to airline representation and tourism in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and USA.
 
She is a highly self-motivated leader with a proven record of exeptional leadership, mentorship and multi-tasking skills. Elise has the ability to keep a level head at all times, deliver innovative new solutions to challenges and also nurture a business to make it a dynamic and progressive organization.
 
She possesses excelent client facing and configuration skills and has established sustainable and profitable relationships with customers, suppliers and Stakeholders. Elise has been actively involved in the strategic development of the Rwanda travel and tourism industry. Raised and educated in Uganda and Kenya, Elise now lives with her family in Kigali.
 
Elise sat on the board of directors of Rwanda’s national airline, Rwandair from 2002 – 2012. She has also served as the Vice President of the CHamber of Tourism in the Rwanda PRivate Sector Federation, as well as the Vice Chair of the Rwanda Tours and Travel Association.
Managing Partner

Vanessa Baldwin

Vanessa Baldwin Mushi, Has a background in international business marketing, tourism destination development and management with extensive experience in the tourism industry. With a network of over 15 sub-saharan African countries and organizations across the global community.
 
She has previously spearheaded sustainable tourism development and conservation projects in various African countries thus partnering with organizations like UNDP(2015), RETOSA and TANAPA(2015). She is market savvy providing a unique client-oriented perspective as a tourism marketer.
 
She is currently the director of VANDON LUXURY SAFARIS and is passionate about community outreach lending her voice to causes such as Stop Human trafficking, clean water provision in local communities.
West Africa Regional Representative

Francis Doku

Francis Doku is a distinguished figure in the Ghanaian marketing communications and media industry, renowned for his extensive experience and significant contributions spanning over two and half decades. With a solid background in media planning, buying, digital marketing, and marketing management, Doku has worked with and on some of the biggest global blue-chip brands.
 
His media career began with Graphic Showbiz, where his exceptional reporting skills and editorial insight quickly propelled him to influential positions as the country’s foremost newspaper columnist and radio and television pundit on arts, tourism and entertainment, radio and television. He transitioned into Media Planning and Buying when he joined Premier Media Company (MediaCom) as an Account Manager.
Non-Executive Director

Jerome Touze

Bring to the table win-win survival strategies to ensure proactive domination. At the end of the day, going forward, a new normal that has evolved from generation X is on the runway heading towards a streamlined cloud solution. User generated content in real-time will have multiple touchpoints for offshoring.
 
Capitalize on low hanging fruit to identify a ballpark value added activity to beta test. Override the digital divide with additional clickthroughs from DevOps. Nanotechnology immersion along the information highway will close the loop on focusing solely on the bottom line.
 
Podcasting operational change management inside of workflows to establish a framework. Taking seamless key performance indicators offline to maximise the long tail. Keeping your eye on the ball while performing a deep dive on the start-up mentality to derive convergence on cross-platform integration.

 

Non-Executive Director

Miller Matola

With a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of the North, Miller Matola began his career as a lecturer at Vista University where he worked for four years. During this time, he obtained a BA Honours (Cum Laude) from the University of Potchefstroom. Thereafter he took on a project management course whilst working as a Project Manager at Technikon in South Africa.
 
He was then awarded a scholarship by the United States Agency, for international development, to travel to the US amongst others as part of the USAID South Africa- Namibia Institute. Upon his return to South Africa in 1996, Miller was assigned to design a tourism course, which fuelled his interest in the tourism sector.
 
Since then he has worked with various organizations in Executive positions in the tourism and hospitality industry, including working with the Department of Tourism, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife KZN, Tourism Grading Council of SA, Durban Chamber of Commerce and the International Convention Center Durban, amongst others.
 
Miller Matola was the Chief Executive Officer of the International Marketing Council: Brand South Africa in 2010 to 2015. His passion and commitment to his work is evident in the numerous awards which he has received, such as the Kaelo-ABSA award for achievement (in 2004 and 2011), Leading Managers Awards (2009), to name a few.
Affiliate Partner

Tom Buncle

Tom Buncle is Managing Director of Yellow Railroad Ltd., an international destination consultancy that helps countries, cities and regions to improve their competitiveness as tourism destinations. He has worked for clients in the UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East, North America and the Caribbean. Tom established Yellow Railroad in 2000.
 
Tom has over 35 years’ experience in tourism marketing, branding, development and place-shaping on four continents (UK/Europe, North America & Caribbean, Asia, Africa & Middle East). Prior to establishing Yellow Railroad Tom spent 4 years as Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourist Board (STB, now Visit Scotland). Before that, he was International Marketing Director at STB and ran British Tourist Authority (now Visit Britain) operations in Southeast Asia, Norway and California.
 
Tom has worked on consultancy projects in the UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Caribbean: Destination branding and marketing strategy development: Namibia, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Gabon, Rwanda, Southern Africa, Jordan, Kuwait, Tunisia, Bosnia, Serbia, Belarus, Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France; Destination management planning, place-shaping, tourism policy, sustainable/community-based tourism, and organisational restructuring: Dominica, Barbados, Eastern Caribbean States, Lithuania, Georgia, Iceland, England, Northern Ireland, Commonwealth Games; Crisis recovery: Britain after 9/11, England after Foot & Mouth Disease, UNWTO trainer.
 
Tom lectures at universities and business schools in the UK and Europe, and is a regular speaker at international conferences on global travel trends, place branding, and destination marketing. He also writes for academic textbooks and business publications on these subjects.
 
He authored the definitive Handbook on Tourism Destination Branding, published in 2009 by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and European Travel Commission (ETC). Tom has served on several boards as a non-executive director in the fields of tourism, branding, marketing, culture and the natural environment, including: the Edinburgh International Festival Council, the Cairngorm Partnership (Scotland’s second national park) and Scotland the Brand.
 
He was an adviser to the UK Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) on the European Capital of Culture 2008 award, and is a former member of Contact Singapore’s European Panel (formerly the guardian and promoter of Singapore’s international image).
 
He is a Fellow of both the UK Tourism Society and the UK Tourism Management Institute, a member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Panel of Experts, a member of the Experts’ Committee of the World Tourism Cities Forum (China), and a member of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Alliance (Africa).
 
Tom started his tourism career as a tour guide in Europe, after obtaining a degree in Law and Sociology followed by an MA in Criminology – an interest he pursued as a non-executive member of the Scottish Prison Service Risk Monitoring and Audit Committee for 10 years.

 

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