Monica Merli Chief Operating Officer Moody's Ratings

Monica Merli is Managing Director – Global Head of Regional Management for Moody’s Investors Service (MIS). Monica has taken on this global role since August 2020, having been the Regional Head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) since October 2016. In her role, Monica reports to the MIS President and is responsible for development and coordination of regional strategies and geographic initiatives, including adjustments to regulatory changes and expansion of footprint and activities. Monica oversees the implementation of a globally consistent governance model at the regional and local jurisdiction level and is executive board member for several MIS's regulated entities. Monica is also responsible for the management and expansion of a portfolio of investments in domestic credit rating agencies in emerging markets.

Monica has a deep knowledge of the MIS ratings business and strong leadership and management skills, having led the EMEA Infrastructure Finance analytical franchise prior to moving to Regional Management. As Regional Head EMEA, Monica steered MIS’s European operations through the complex Brexit adjustments, expanded the EMEA footprint, including the establishment of a new service hub in Lithuania, and formulated a series of local initiatives to facilitate execution of MIS global strategy in the EMEA region.

Until September 2016, Monica was Managing Director for MIS’s EMEA Infrastructure Finance team and was responsible for coordinating and overseeing the activities of a 50-person analytical team covering the ratings of electric, gas and water utilities, transportation infrastructure companies, other infrastructure entities and project financings in the region.

Before assuming this position in 2008, Monica acted as MIS’s lead analyst for a broad range of European infrastructure and utility companies and authored a number of rating methodologies for UK water and other infrastructure sectors. Monica acquired a deep understanding of different financing techniques and, as a respected infrastructure credit expert, was a frequent speaker at industry events.

Monica joined MIS in December 1998 from Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, where she worked as an analyst in the bank’s credit research and supervision division. Prior to her banking experience, she had more than five years of accounting and corporate finance experience with a leading UK Chartered Accountants group.

Monica holds an Economics and Business degree from the University of Florence, Italy, and is an alumna of the London Business School, where she completed the Corporate Finance Programme.

Isabella Burke Vice President - Relationship Manager Moody's Ratings

Isabella Burke is a Vice President Relationship Manager for Africa and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Isabella’s responsibilities encompass increasing coverage and revenue from new and existing customers in Southern and West Africa. Prior to joining Moody’s Investors Service, Isabella was covering South Africa as Business Development Manager for a London based hedge fund manager. She was tasked with introducing long-only and hedged solutions into the South African market. Isabella has a great depth and breadth of knowledge of capital markets ,having previously worked at Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Investec. Isabella studied at King’s College, London and is fluent in Italian and has basic French.

Dr. Duncan Pieterse Director-General National Treasury, South Africa

Dr Duncan Pieterse has been appointed as the Director-General as from 1 September 2023.  He has served in various positions in the National Treasury over the past 10 years, including as the Deputy Director-General: Economic Policy and later Deputy Director-General: Asset and Liability Management.

Prior to joining the National Treasury, he worked as a development economist and public finance consultant in South Africa, and also conducted research at Yale and Brown Universities in the United States.

Dr Pieterse holds a Bachelor of Business Science, Master of Business Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, all in economics, from the University of Cape Town. He also has a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University. He serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town and is the current Chair of the Board of Directors of the New Development Bank.

Marie Diron Managing Director, Global Sovereign Risk Moody's Ratings

Marie Diron is global head of Moody’s Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group, with responsibility for credit ratings on countries, regional and local governments, public sector entities and multilateral development banks. Marie is also Moody’s Investors Service lead coordinator on ESG monitoring and integration across asset classes. 

Marie has worked in various functions at Moody’s in the Sovereign Risk Group and (then) Credit Policy. In particular, she was lead sovereign analyst for a number of Asia Pacific credits including Australia, China, India and some frontier market sovereigns. She then managed the Asia Pacific sovereign team, before expanding her responsibilities to today’s global role. Previously, in Credit Policy, Marie co-ordinated Moody’s Global Macro Outlook and other credit research. 

Marie was previously Director at Oxford Economics, leading the company’s forecasting and scenario analysis service to financial sector and corporate clients, after a number of years at the European Central Bank and Brevan Howard LLP. Marie received a MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge and graduated from the Ecole Centrale Paris.

Marie Diron Managing Director, Global Sovereign Risk Moody's Ratings

Marie Diron is global head of Moody’s Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group, with responsibility for credit ratings on countries, regional and local governments, public sector entities and multilateral development banks. Marie is also Moody’s Investors Service lead coordinator on ESG monitoring and integration across asset classes. 

Marie has worked in various functions at Moody’s in the Sovereign Risk Group and (then) Credit Policy. In particular, she was lead sovereign analyst for a number of Asia Pacific credits including Australia, China, India and some frontier market sovereigns. She then managed the Asia Pacific sovereign team, before expanding her responsibilities to today’s global role. Previously, in Credit Policy, Marie co-ordinated Moody’s Global Macro Outlook and other credit research. 

Marie was previously Director at Oxford Economics, leading the company’s forecasting and scenario analysis service to financial sector and corporate clients, after a number of years at the European Central Bank and Brevan Howard LLP. Marie received a MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge and graduated from the Ecole Centrale Paris.

Wandile Sihlobo Chief Economist Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa

Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of two books, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, the Challenges, the Solutions (2023)” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity, and Agriculture (2020)”.

He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand.

Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 (and re-appointed in 2022), having served on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture from 2018.

He is also a member of the Council of Statistics of South Africa (Stats SA) and a Commissioner at the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC).

Sihlobo is the Chairman of the Agribusiness Working Group of the BRICS Business Council (South Africa). He is a columnist for Business Day, The Herald and Farmers Weekly magazine.

Sihlobo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University.

Aurelien Mali Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Sovereign Risk Moody's Ratings

Aurélien Mali is currently Vice President Senior Credit Officer. He acts as the firm’s expert in Africa. His position is a combined lead analyst and analytical outreach/credit ambassador role. As a member of the Sovereign Risk Group since August 2002, he was involved in Moody’s sovereign ratings in Europe and the Middle East at the beginning of his career. Over the last 8 years, he has been at the forefront of Moody’s growing footprint in Africa. He has been sovereign lead or backup analyst for almost all sovereign issuers and multilateral development banks we rate in Africa. Aurelien was relocated to our Dubai office early 2013 from our London office. Aurelien manages a research programme that supports the development of Moody’s reputation for analytical insight and excellence. He also assumes a greater role in participating in regular Moody’s and third-party conferences on the continent, Africa-related investor briefings, and undertaking analytical outreach to inform and explain Moody’s credit judgments. Aurelien also supports other Moody’s franchises using his unique experience and visibility across multiple sectors and asset classes in the region. Finally, he remains the lead/backup sovereign analyst for few countries including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and South Africa. Aurélien holds a BSc in Economics and a postgraduate degree (DEA) in Money, Finance and Banking from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris.

Graham Taylor Senior Vice President - Infrastructure Finance Moody's Ratings

Graham Taylor is a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s EMEA Infrastructure Finance team, based in London. He is responsible for a portfolio of regulated and unregulated utilities in the United Kingdom. As a senior member of the analytical team, Graham has contributed to and/or coordinated a number of publications, in particular on energy market issues, and is a frequent speaker at investor events. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2015, Graham was City Advisor to Ofwat, the English and Welsh water regulator, through the 2014 Price Review. He was previously an equity portfolio manager at Legal & General, where he managed long-only and long/short funds and was responsible for coverage of UK utilities, transport and leisure, and health care. Graham started his career in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse in New York. He is a graduate of Queen’s University, Canada, and is a CFA charter holder. Moody’s has a leading global Infrastructure Finance franchise, rating some US$2trillion of corporate and project finance securities, representing more than 90% of all public bonds issued globally in the sector. 140 analytical sector staff cover more than 1,000 infrastructure issuers globally. Moody’s EMEA team of 50 specialists is responsible for rating around 416 issuers. The rating agency covers more than11,000 corporate issuers and 135 sovereign nations.

Lisa Jaeger Vice President - Senior Analyst Moody's Ratings

Lisa Jaeger is an Assistant Vice President – Analyst in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group based in Dubai. She is responsible for a diversified portfolio of issuers across the Middle East, Turkey and South Africa, including Investment Holding Companies and Conglomerates, Telecoms and Diversified Industrials.

Lisa joined Moody’s in 2020 after spending 5 years at Goldman Sachs in London, where she was an Executive Director and senior credit risk manager, covering leveraged lending to corporates as well as real estate and structured finance lending and investing transactions. Prior to that, Lisa spent 6 years at J.P. Morgan in London, where she started her career with the bank’s credit risk graduate program in 2009, covering a wide range of different clients and products, including financial institutions, private equity sponsors and diversified investment grade and non-investment grade corporates. During her time at J.P. Morgan, she also spent one year in the leveraged finance origination team.

Lisa holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Strategy from Sciences Po Paris. She speaks fluent English, German and French and is learning Arabic.

Calib Cassim CFO Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd

Calib Cassim is the Chief Financial Officer who leads and oversees all aspects of Eskom’s financial strategy. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and also holds a Masters degree in Business Leadership (MBL). After serving as the Acting Chief Financial Officer from 27 July 2017 and was confirmed as Eskom’s permanent Chief Financial Officer on 23 November 2018.

Calib Cassim has 21 years’ experience in Eskom. As the Chief Financial Officer, Mr Cassim provides strategic guidance and direction to the company’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors on the management of Eskom’s financial goals and strategy. Over the past 6 years, his focus has been on balancing cash flows within constrained liquidity and operational landscapes, driving financial turnaround of the organisation and currently is preparing for the unbundling of the entity into three separate legal entities.

Graham Taylor Senior Vice President - Infrastructure Finance Moody's Ratings

Graham Taylor is a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s EMEA Infrastructure Finance team, based in London. He is responsible for a portfolio of regulated and unregulated utilities in the United Kingdom. As a senior member of the analytical team, Graham has contributed to and/or coordinated a number of publications, in particular on energy market issues, and is a frequent speaker at investor events. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2015, Graham was City Advisor to Ofwat, the English and Welsh water regulator, through the 2014 Price Review. He was previously an equity portfolio manager at Legal & General, where he managed long-only and long/short funds and was responsible for coverage of UK utilities, transport and leisure, and health care. Graham started his career in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse in New York. He is a graduate of Queen’s University, Canada, and is a CFA charter holder. Moody’s has a leading global Infrastructure Finance franchise, rating some US$2trillion of corporate and project finance securities, representing more than 90% of all public bonds issued globally in the sector. 140 analytical sector staff cover more than 1,000 infrastructure issuers globally. Moody’s EMEA team of 50 specialists is responsible for rating around 416 issuers. The rating agency covers more than11,000 corporate issuers and 135 sovereign nations.

Sheri Morgan Deputy Sector, Head of Corporate and Public Sector Ratings GCR Ratings

Sheri is Deputy Sector Head of Corporate and Public Sector Ratings at GCR and has been in the ratings industry for nearly two decades.

She has extensive experience across the corporate and public sectors, having been involved in ratings for construction, industrial, agricultural and mining companies, as well as numerous property funds. In the public sector, Sheri has dealt with several entities including metropolitan municipalities. Sheri has also served in several other senior analytical roles at GCR, being a senior credit committee member and chair within the Insurance sector across the African region and Sector Head for South African Medical Scheme Ratings. Sheri holds an B.com Honours degree in Economics from Wits University in South Africa.

Mzila Mthenjane CEO Minerals Council South Africa

Mr. Mzila I. Mthenjane (“Mzila”) is the CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa (“MCSA”), the Advocacy and Impact group whose members represent 90% of South Africa’s mineral output and employ close to 480 000 people . He was previously the Executive Head for Stakeholder Affairs at Exxaro Resources Limited. He has more than 30 years’ combined experience in the resources business (Gold, Platinum and Coal) and investment banking (Corporate and Project Finance).

He has held various board positions as non-executive director in various entities including Pamodzi Gold Limited, Fraser Alexander, Impact Catalyst, Merafe Resources, and Student Support Programme. He was on the Exxaro Executive Committee, intimately involved in stakeholder engagements and strategy.

He is the current Chairman of the Board of the Impact Catalyst and is the former Chairman of the Wits University Mining Engineers Association (WUMEA) and the former President of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM).

Mr. Mthenjane holds a BSc degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand (Wits). He has completed various leadership development training including the Senior Management Development Programme from the Graduate Institute of Management and Technology (GIMT), the ABSIP leadership programme with GIBS and Advanced Management Programme (AMP), with INSEAD.

His leadership acumen has greatly benefited his current role, drawing on his experiences in building and retaining harmonious yet robust relationships with diverse stakeholder groupings..

He is credited with successfully leading the development of Exxaro’s sustainable impact approach, as well as establishing Exxaro’s ESG narrative for stakeholder engagement.  Through his leadership, Exxaro has remained among the top performers for integrated reporting, as acknowledged by local and offshore ratings agencies.

Artem Frolov Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Corporate Finance Group Moody's Ratings

Artem Frolov is a Vice President - Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s Investors Service in Moscow, covering a portfolio of oil and gas companies in Russia and CIS.

Artem joined Moody’s in 2011 after working at Fitch Ratings in Moscow for more than two years, covering telecommunications and real estate companies in Russia and CIS. Prior to that, Artem worked for 12 years at several banks in Moscow, specialising in project finance since 2004.

Artem holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Finance Academy under the Government of Russia in Moscow.

Iker Ballestero Barrutia Analyst Moody's Ratings

Iker is an Analyst in the Moody’s EMEA Corporate Finance Group based in Dubai. He covers a diversified industry portfolio, with exposure in Turkey, Africa, and the Middle East.

He joined Moody’s Dubai office in 2022, and previously worked as an associate analyst in the Moody’s London office covering the leveraged finance industry with exposure to Business and Consumer Services, Healthcare, Airlines and Aerospace & Defense. Before that, he spent 2 years working in the consulting industry in Spain.

Iker holds a Masters Degree in Investment Management from Henley Business School. He also holds a BSc in Business Management from the University of Deusto and is a CFA charterholder since 2018.

Henry MacNevin Associate Managing Director, EMEA Banking Moody's Ratings

Henry MacNevin, who is based in London, is currently an Associate Managing Director responsible for bank ratings in the Middle-East, South-Eastern Europe and Turkey, and is also responsible for Moody’s global Islamic Finance initiatives. Mr MacNevin joined Moody’s London-based banking team in October 1996, initially as lead analyst for bank in Italy, the United Kingdom, the Nordic region, Belgium, Luxembourg and Hungary, and has also worked as a backup analyst for other banking systems, principally in Europe. He was also previously responsible Associate Managing Director for Moody’s bank ratings in Italy and the CEE region and was the Country Manager for Moody’s in Italy for several years. 

Mr. MacNevin’s previous banking experience includes seven years with the Barclaysgroup, where he held positions in strategic planning, corporate banking, and credit risk management.Mr. MacNevin earned a B.A. (Hons) in Business Studies from PortsmouthPolytechnic in the United Kingdom

Mike Davis CFO Nedbank

Mike Davis was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Nedbank Group on 1 October 2020.

Mike has been a member of the Group Executive Committee from January 2015, where he previously held the position of Group Executive: Balance Sheet Management and has over 27 years’ experience in financial services.

His exposure, skills and expertise expand across finance, risk and balance sheet management, accounting and auditing, regulatory, treasury, environment and climate, IT and cyber-resilience, human resources, and marketing and strategy.

He completed his articles with Deloitte in 1997, where he specialised in banking and risk management.

In his position as Chief Financial Officer he is a member of the Nedbank Group and Nedbank Limited boards and sits on multiple board and executive committees.

He is married to Kerry and is a father of three – Kennedy (20 years), Weston (18 years) and Dean (16 years). He enjoys most outdoor activities and sports, especially with the family.

Vimbai Mandebvu Deputy Sector, Head for FI GCR Ratings

Vimbai Mandebvu is currently Deputy Sector Head in the Financial Institutions Ratings division at GCR Ratings. She is based in Mauritius and has a career spanning 8 years at GCR. Vimbai has a diversified portfolio covering African multilateral development banks, and financial institutions across sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining GCR, she worked at PFK (Port Elizabeth) Inc as an external auditor. Vimbai holds a postgraduate degree in Accounting and is also a member of the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

Constantinos Kypreos Senior Vice President - Financial Institutions Group Moody's Ratings

Constantinos is a Senior Vice President and leads a team of analysts covering banks in Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans.

Since joining Moody’s Limassol-based banking team in 2005, Constantinos has followed banks as lead analyst in South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Israel, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He has authored numerous articles covering the African and Balkan banking systems and is a regular speaker at regional conferences.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Constantinos worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, both in audit and advisory. He holds a BSs in Economics from Queen Mary, London University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

David Aldrich Managing Director - EMEA Commercial Relationship Management & Global Sovereigns Moody's Ratings

David Aldrich is Managing Director of the EMEA Commercial Group, with responsibility for all Moody’s customer relationships in EMEA, across both Developed and Emerging Markets, for Fundamental and Structured Finance. 

David is also Managing Director for relationships with Global Sovereign and Multilateral Development Banks, and previously was Head of Emerging-EMEA for Regional Management. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, David managed various fixed income, derivatives and securities services businesses at UBS, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and, latterly, BNY Mellon. At BNY Mellon, David was EMEA Business Executive for both Alternative Investment Services and Broker-Dealer Services, and was also Head of Securities Industry Banking, Europe within Global Client Management. 

David studied Economics at the University of Kent and is on the MBA Advisory Board at Bayes Business School, City, University of London.

Calib Cassim CFO Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd

Calib Cassim is the Chief Financial Officer who leads and oversees all aspects of Eskom’s financial strategy. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and also holds a Masters degree in Business Leadership (MBL). After serving as the Acting Chief Financial Officer from 27 July 2017 and was confirmed as Eskom’s permanent Chief Financial Officer on 23 November 2018.

Calib Cassim has 21 years’ experience in Eskom. As the Chief Financial Officer, Mr Cassim provides strategic guidance and direction to the company’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors on the management of Eskom’s financial goals and strategy. Over the past 6 years, his focus has been on balancing cash flows within constrained liquidity and operational landscapes, driving financial turnaround of the organisation and currently is preparing for the unbundling of the entity into three separate legal entities.

Mike Davis CFO Nedbank

Mike Davis was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Nedbank Group on 1 October 2020.

Mike has been a member of the Group Executive Committee from January 2015, where he previously held the position of Group Executive: Balance Sheet Management and has over 27 years’ experience in financial services.

His exposure, skills and expertise expand across finance, risk and balance sheet management, accounting and auditing, regulatory, treasury, environment and climate, IT and cyber-resilience, human resources, and marketing and strategy.

He completed his articles with Deloitte in 1997, where he specialised in banking and risk management.

In his position as Chief Financial Officer he is a member of the Nedbank Group and Nedbank Limited boards and sits on multiple board and executive committees.

He is married to Kerry and is a father of three – Kennedy (20 years), Weston (18 years) and Dean (16 years). He enjoys most outdoor activities and sports, especially with the family.

Sheri Morgan Deputy Sector, Head of Corporate and Public Sector Ratings GCR Ratings

Sheri is Deputy Sector Head of Corporate and Public Sector Ratings at GCR and has been in the ratings industry for nearly two decades.

She has extensive experience across the corporate and public sectors, having been involved in ratings for construction, industrial, agricultural and mining companies, as well as numerous property funds. In the public sector, Sheri has dealt with several entities including metropolitan municipalities. Sheri has also served in several other senior analytical roles at GCR, being a senior credit committee member and chair within the Insurance sector across the African region and Sector Head for South African Medical Scheme Ratings. Sheri holds an B.com Honours degree in Economics from Wits University in South Africa.

Mzila Mthenjane CEO Minerals Council South Africa

Mr. Mzila I. Mthenjane (“Mzila”) is the CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa (“MCSA”), the Advocacy and Impact group whose members represent 90% of South Africa’s mineral output and employ close to 480 000 people . He was previously the Executive Head for Stakeholder Affairs at Exxaro Resources Limited. He has more than 30 years’ combined experience in the resources business (Gold, Platinum and Coal) and investment banking (Corporate and Project Finance).

He has held various board positions as non-executive director in various entities including Pamodzi Gold Limited, Fraser Alexander, Impact Catalyst, Merafe Resources, and Student Support Programme. He was on the Exxaro Executive Committee, intimately involved in stakeholder engagements and strategy.

He is the current Chairman of the Board of the Impact Catalyst and is the former Chairman of the Wits University Mining Engineers Association (WUMEA) and the former President of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM).

Mr. Mthenjane holds a BSc degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand (Wits). He has completed various leadership development training including the Senior Management Development Programme from the Graduate Institute of Management and Technology (GIMT), the ABSIP leadership programme with GIBS and Advanced Management Programme (AMP), with INSEAD.

His leadership acumen has greatly benefited his current role, drawing on his experiences in building and retaining harmonious yet robust relationships with diverse stakeholder groupings..

He is credited with successfully leading the development of Exxaro’s sustainable impact approach, as well as establishing Exxaro’s ESG narrative for stakeholder engagement.  Through his leadership, Exxaro has remained among the top performers for integrated reporting, as acknowledged by local and offshore ratings agencies.

Vimbai Mandebvu Deputy Sector, Head for FI GCR Ratings

Vimbai Mandebvu is currently Deputy Sector Head in the Financial Institutions Ratings division at GCR Ratings. She is based in Mauritius and has a career spanning 8 years at GCR. Vimbai has a diversified portfolio covering African multilateral development banks, and financial institutions across sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining GCR, she worked at PFK (Port Elizabeth) Inc as an external auditor. Vimbai holds a postgraduate degree in Accounting and is also a member of the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

Wandile Sihlobo Chief Economist Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa

Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of two books, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, the Challenges, the Solutions (2023)” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity, and Agriculture (2020)”.

He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand.

Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 (and re-appointed in 2022), having served on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture from 2018.

He is also a member of the Council of Statistics of South Africa (Stats SA) and a Commissioner at the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC).

Sihlobo is the Chairman of the Agribusiness Working Group of the BRICS Business Council (South Africa). He is a columnist for Business Day, The Herald and Farmers Weekly magazine.

Sihlobo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University.

Monica Merli Chief Operating Officer Moody's Ratings

Monica Merli is Managing Director – Global Head of Regional Management for Moody’s Investors Service (MIS). Monica has taken on this global role since August 2020, having been the Regional Head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) since October 2016. In her role, Monica reports to the MIS President and is responsible for development and coordination of regional strategies and geographic initiatives, including adjustments to regulatory changes and expansion of footprint and activities. Monica oversees the implementation of a globally consistent governance model at the regional and local jurisdiction level and is executive board member for several MIS's regulated entities. Monica is also responsible for the management and expansion of a portfolio of investments in domestic credit rating agencies in emerging markets.

Monica has a deep knowledge of the MIS ratings business and strong leadership and management skills, having led the EMEA Infrastructure Finance analytical franchise prior to moving to Regional Management. As Regional Head EMEA, Monica steered MIS’s European operations through the complex Brexit adjustments, expanded the EMEA footprint, including the establishment of a new service hub in Lithuania, and formulated a series of local initiatives to facilitate execution of MIS global strategy in the EMEA region.

Until September 2016, Monica was Managing Director for MIS’s EMEA Infrastructure Finance team and was responsible for coordinating and overseeing the activities of a 50-person analytical team covering the ratings of electric, gas and water utilities, transportation infrastructure companies, other infrastructure entities and project financings in the region.

Before assuming this position in 2008, Monica acted as MIS’s lead analyst for a broad range of European infrastructure and utility companies and authored a number of rating methodologies for UK water and other infrastructure sectors. Monica acquired a deep understanding of different financing techniques and, as a respected infrastructure credit expert, was a frequent speaker at industry events.

Monica joined MIS in December 1998 from Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, where she worked as an analyst in the bank’s credit research and supervision division. Prior to her banking experience, she had more than five years of accounting and corporate finance experience with a leading UK Chartered Accountants group.

Monica holds an Economics and Business degree from the University of Florence, Italy, and is an alumna of the London Business School, where she completed the Corporate Finance Programme.

David Aldrich Managing Director - EMEA Commercial Relationship Management & Global Sovereigns Moody's Ratings

David Aldrich is Managing Director of the EMEA Commercial Group, with responsibility for all Moody’s customer relationships in EMEA, across both Developed and Emerging Markets, for Fundamental and Structured Finance. 

David is also Managing Director for relationships with Global Sovereign and Multilateral Development Banks, and previously was Head of Emerging-EMEA for Regional Management. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, David managed various fixed income, derivatives and securities services businesses at UBS, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and, latterly, BNY Mellon. At BNY Mellon, David was EMEA Business Executive for both Alternative Investment Services and Broker-Dealer Services, and was also Head of Securities Industry Banking, Europe within Global Client Management. 

David studied Economics at the University of Kent and is on the MBA Advisory Board at Bayes Business School, City, University of London.

Marie Diron Managing Director, Sovereign Risk Moody's Ratings

Marie Diron heads the Sovereign Risk Group for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group for Asia Pacific and EMEA. She is responsible for analytical teams covering more than 70 sovereign ratings, 15 Multilateral Development Banks and around 400 sub-sovereign ratings in about 30 countries. Marie is also a project owner of Moody’s Investors Service’s ESG scores, which were launched in early 2021.

Marie has worked as Moody’s lead sovereign analyst for a number of Asia Pacific credits, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. Marie has also worked in Moody’s Credit Policy, leading a number of macroeconomic analyses, including our regular Global Macro Outlook and other credit research work. Marie was previously Director at Oxford Economics, leading the company’s forecasting and scenario analysis service to financial sector and corporate clients, after a number of years at the European Central Bank and Brevan Howard LLP. Marie received a MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge and graduated from the Ecole Centrale Paris. 

Aurelien Mali Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Sovereign Risk Moody's Ratings

Aurélien Mali is currently Vice President Senior Credit Officer. He acts as the firm’s expert in Africa. His position is a combined lead analyst and analytical outreach/credit ambassador role. As a member of the Sovereign Risk Group since August 2002, he was involved in Moody’s sovereign ratings in Europe and the Middle East at the beginning of his career. Over the last 8 years, he has been at the forefront of Moody’s growing footprint in Africa. He has been sovereign lead or backup analyst for almost all sovereign issuers and multilateral development banks we rate in Africa. Aurelien was relocated to our Dubai office early 2013 from our London office. Aurelien manages a research programme that supports the development of Moody’s reputation for analytical insight and excellence. He also assumes a greater role in participating in regular Moody’s and third-party conferences on the continent, Africa-related investor briefings, and undertaking analytical outreach to inform and explain Moody’s credit judgments. Aurelien also supports other Moody’s franchises using his unique experience and visibility across multiple sectors and asset classes in the region. Finally, he remains the lead/backup sovereign analyst for few countries including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and South Africa. Aurélien holds a BSc in Economics and a postgraduate degree (DEA) in Money, Finance and Banking from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris.

Lisa Jaeger Vice President - Senior Analyst Moody's Ratings

Lisa Jaeger is an Assistant Vice President – Analyst in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group based in Dubai. She is responsible for a diversified portfolio of issuers across the Middle East, Turkey and South Africa, including Investment Holding Companies and Conglomerates, Telecoms and Diversified Industrials.

Lisa joined Moody’s in 2020 after spending 5 years at Goldman Sachs in London, where she was an Executive Director and senior credit risk manager, covering leveraged lending to corporates as well as real estate and structured finance lending and investing transactions. Prior to that, Lisa spent 6 years at J.P. Morgan in London, where she started her career with the bank’s credit risk graduate program in 2009, covering a wide range of different clients and products, including financial institutions, private equity sponsors and diversified investment grade and non-investment grade corporates. During her time at J.P. Morgan, she also spent one year in the leveraged finance origination team.

Lisa holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Strategy from Sciences Po Paris. She speaks fluent English, German and French and is learning Arabic.

Graham Taylor Senior Vice President - Infrastructure Finance Moody's Ratings

Graham Taylor is a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s EMEA Infrastructure Finance team, based in London. He is responsible for a portfolio of regulated and unregulated utilities in the United Kingdom. As a senior member of the analytical team, Graham has contributed to and/or coordinated a number of publications, in particular on energy market issues, and is a frequent speaker at investor events. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2015, Graham was City Advisor to Ofwat, the English and Welsh water regulator, through the 2014 Price Review. He was previously an equity portfolio manager at Legal & General, where he managed long-only and long/short funds and was responsible for coverage of UK utilities, transport and leisure, and health care. Graham started his career in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse in New York. He is a graduate of Queen’s University, Canada, and is a CFA charter holder. Moody’s has a leading global Infrastructure Finance franchise, rating some US$2trillion of corporate and project finance securities, representing more than 90% of all public bonds issued globally in the sector. 140 analytical sector staff cover more than 1,000 infrastructure issuers globally. Moody’s EMEA team of 50 specialists is responsible for rating around 416 issuers. The rating agency covers more than11,000 corporate issuers and 135 sovereign nations.

Constantinos Kypreos Senior Vice President - Financial Institutions Group Moody's Ratings

Constantinos is a Senior Vice President and leads a team of analysts covering banks in Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans.

Since joining Moody’s Limassol-based banking team in 2005, Constantinos has followed banks as lead analyst in South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Israel, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He has authored numerous articles covering the African and Balkan banking systems and is a regular speaker at regional conferences.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Constantinos worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, both in audit and advisory. He holds a BSs in Economics from Queen Mary, London University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Henry MacNevin Associate Managing Director, EMEA Banking Moody's Ratings

Henry MacNevin, who is based in London, is currently an Associate Managing Director responsible for bank ratings in the Middle-East, South-Eastern Europe and Turkey, and is also responsible for Moody’s global Islamic Finance initiatives. Mr MacNevin joined Moody’s London-based banking team in October 1996, initially as lead analyst for bank in Italy, the United Kingdom, the Nordic region, Belgium, Luxembourg and Hungary, and has also worked as a backup analyst for other banking systems, principally in Europe. He was also previously responsible Associate Managing Director for Moody’s bank ratings in Italy and the CEE region and was the Country Manager for Moody’s in Italy for several years. 

Mr. MacNevin’s previous banking experience includes seven years with the Barclaysgroup, where he held positions in strategic planning, corporate banking, and credit risk management.Mr. MacNevin earned a B.A. (Hons) in Business Studies from PortsmouthPolytechnic in the United Kingdom

Artem Frolov Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Corporate Finance Group Moody's Ratings

Artem Frolov is a Vice President - Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s Investors Service in Moscow, covering a portfolio of oil and gas companies in Russia and CIS.

Artem joined Moody’s in 2011 after working at Fitch Ratings in Moscow for more than two years, covering telecommunications and real estate companies in Russia and CIS. Prior to that, Artem worked for 12 years at several banks in Moscow, specialising in project finance since 2004.

Artem holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Finance Academy under the Government of Russia in Moscow.

Iker Ballestero Barrutia Analyst Moody's Ratings

Iker is an Analyst in the Moody’s EMEA Corporate Finance Group based in Dubai. He covers a diversified industry portfolio, with exposure in Turkey, Africa, and the Middle East.

He joined Moody’s Dubai office in 2022, and previously worked as an associate analyst in the Moody’s London office covering the leveraged finance industry with exposure to Business and Consumer Services, Healthcare, Airlines and Aerospace & Defense. Before that, he spent 2 years working in the consulting industry in Spain.

Iker holds a Masters Degree in Investment Management from Henley Business School. He also holds a BSc in Business Management from the University of Deusto and is a CFA charterholder since 2018.

Isabella Burke Vice President - Relationship Manager Moody's Ratings

Isabella Burke is a Vice President Relationship Manager for Africa and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Isabella’s responsibilities encompass increasing coverage and revenue from new and existing customers in Southern and West Africa. Prior to joining Moody’s Investors Service, Isabella was covering South Africa as Business Development Manager for a London based hedge fund manager. She was tasked with introducing long-only and hedged solutions into the South African market. Isabella has a great depth and breadth of knowledge of capital markets ,having previously worked at Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Investec. Isabella studied at King’s College, London and is fluent in Italian and has basic French.