Botswana Investment Forum 2026
Meet the
Speakers.
Leaders from investment, finance, enterprise, governance and industry bring their experience and perspectives to the Botswana Investment Forum 2026.
The Voices in the Room
Experience.
Perspective.
Opportunity.
Meet the executives, investors and industry leaders contributing to the conversations around Botswana’s investment environment, sustainable development, private capital, institutional governance and enterprise growth.
Governance and Investment Readiness: Building Confidence, Protecting Capital and Driving Growth
Rizwan Desai
BDC Board Chairperson
Founder & Managing Partner, Desai Law Desai
Oteng Keabetswe
Managing Director
Botswana Development Corporation
Private Capital in Botswana: Can the Market Support Investment at Scale?
Carol-Jean Harward
Chief Investment Officer
Botswana Development Corporation
Botswana’s New Economic Reality: Attracting Capital, Diversifying Growth and Building the Next Economy
Boitshwarelo Lebang-Kgetse
Chief Strategy, Sustainability and Impact (Ag)
Botswana Development Corporation
Botswana’s New Economic Reality: Attracting Capital, Diversifying Growth and Building the Next Economy
Naseem Banu Lahri
Managing Director
Lucara Botswana
Governance and Investment Readiness: Building Confidence, Protecting Capital and Driving Growth
Muchakanakirwa “Mucha” Mkanganwi
CEO & Founder
The Pulse Group
Governance and Investment Readiness: Building Confidence, Protecting Capital and Driving Growth
Nigel Jan Bladen
Managing Partner
Governance Creed
Botswana’s New Economic Reality: Attracting Capital, Diversifying Growth and Building the Next Economy
Dr. Maximilian Matschke
Founder & Managing Partner
Anura Partners
Regional Focus: Doing Business in Africa
Sharon Bwanya
Managing Director
Red Couch Advisory
Governance and Investment Readiness: Building Confidence, Protecting Capital and Driving Growth
Melissa Morapedi
Investment Professional
Botswana Development Corporation
Botswana Investment Forum 2026
Be Part of the Conversation.
For attendance enquiries, contact the Botswana Investment Forum organising team.
Rizwan Desai is Founder and Managing Partner of Desai Law Desai, a full-service law firm in Gaborone. His practice includes corporate and structured finance, regulatory matters, mining and energy transactions, capital markets, banking, private equity, securities, mergers and acquisitions.
He is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of Botswana and previously qualified as a solicitor in Scotland, England and Wales and as an attorney in New York.
Oteng Keabetswe is an accomplished finance and investment executive with extensive experience across Africa in debt financing, mezzanine and leveraged finance, real estate investment and private equity.
He was appointed Managing Director of Botswana Development Corporation on 1 February 2026.
Carol-Jean Harward is a seasoned investment executive with extensive experience across private equity, private credit, investment banking, structured finance and development finance.
Boitshwarelo Lebang-Kgetse provides strategic leadership in shaping and executing BDC’s long-term strategic agenda, sustainability priorities and impact objectives.
Naseem Banu Lahri is a seasoned executive leader with more than 18 years of experience in the mining industry.
Muchakanakirwa “Mucha” Mkanganwi is CEO and Founder of The Pulse Group.
Nigel Jan Bladen is an international corporate governance, financial regulation and institutional development specialist.
Dr. Maximilian Matschke is Founder and Managing Partner of Anura Partners.
Sharon Bwanya is a multi-skilled advisor with expertise in commercial law, corporate finance, and investment advisory.
She is the Managing Director of Red Couch Advisory, a boutique advisory firm providing deal structuring, cross-border transaction advisory services and facilitation of inward and outbound FDI.
Melissa is an experienced investment professional with over 8 years in private debt and equity across sub-Saharan Africa.
Prior to joining BDC, she worked for a regional private credit firm where she led and participated in originating transactions worth over USD 50 million across several sectors.
She is skilled in investment appraisal, portfolio management and impact investing, having closed transactions and managed portfolios in financial services, healthcare, infrastructure, hospitality and manufacturing.