Africxpress

Afric Xpress (AX) is an electronic payment solution provider focused on mobile payments. The company’s mission is to foster electronic – based markets in Africa by turning mobile phones and computers into commercial platforms with the ultimate goal of empowering our customers with security, speed, and convenience. We implement our mobile payment solutions in partnership with telecom companies and banks.

The company’s headquarters is in New York. Ghana is the first country of operation in Africa. The company is registered both in the US and in Ghana.

Afric Xpress is managed by a talented team of professional with extensive knowledge of African markets and strong experience of payment solutions.

Prior to Afric Xpress, Nvalaye spent several years in marketing and operation with The Coca-Cola Company, Africa Online and Colgate Palmolive in West and central Africa. During that period, he developed marketing and operation strategies for new and existing products, managed sales forces, handled strategic planning and traveled extensively across Africa. In 2005, He joined Citigroup Global Leadership Program in New York where he worked in different areas including international retail banking, North America distribution and Commercial Business risk. With his international experience and extensive knowledge of African markets, Nvalaye is very active in promoting innovative business solutions with a social impact on consumers in the continent. Nvalaye holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Marketing and Strategy from Poitiers University (France) and a Diploma from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce D’Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

A seasoned payment architect with over 20 years experience in banking and payment industry, Lupti is an expert in the design and development of large-scale eCommerce and payment applications. Prior to joining Afric Xpress, he was with Yahoo working as a principal engineer on PayDirect, the eCommerce and billing systems of the Premium Services Infrastructure group. He led the start-up technical team in building its first p2p international remittance, money transfer and payment infrastructure. Lupti brings tremendous entrepreneurial and technical experience to Afric Xpress. He is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley, CA with a Master of Science in Engineering Science / Operations Research.

A native of Ghana, Kofi has an extensive accounting and auditing experience in the US with Price Waterhouse Coopers. He has reviewed and audited start ups, multinationals as well as government entities. He was further exposed to Ghana financial industry through Barclays Ghana. Kofi holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in accounting from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Mrs Aboukan started her international career with the Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group as the French West Africa Marketing Manager. After launching successful blockbusters as Viagra and Celebrex, she founded Prism’ Conseils, a communication & Advertising Agency in 2001 that specialized in pharmaceutical & social marketing. She then joined Coca-Cola West Africa as a Territory Marketing Manager. Mrs Aboukan holds a bachelors degree in Biochemistry and Marketing from the University of Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

Felix has several years of experience providing strategy and operations consulting services to clients across multiple industries, including Telecommunications, Energy, Gaming and Hospitality, Consumer Goods, Healthcare, and Transportation. Prior to joining Afric Xpress, Felix worked as a consultant at A.T. Kearney and Accel Advisors where he was responsible for managing consulting engagements for major clients including Reckitt Benckiser, Harrah’s Entertainment, Tyco Fire & Security, Gillette, BellSouth, and Dominion Energy. Felix has also been involved with a number of other companies and ventures, including Ocean and Oil Holdings, an investment holding company based in Nigeria and Verlenes.com, an online hair and beauty products retail site. Felix has an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics (with distinction) from Purdue University.

Keith Keenan founded Numerax Inc., a transportation database company, in 1970. He served as President and CEO until the company was sold to McGraw - Hill Companies in 1986. At McGraw - Hill he spent nine years as Executive Vice President of Tower Group Inc., where he was responsible for acquisitions. Subsequently Mr. Keenan was a director of Telx Group, Inc. Telx was sold to GI Partners in 2006. He has also served on the Boards of Comwell Consulting and Artnewyork. Mr. Keenan holds a Bachelor of Science from the City University of New York.

William M. Hitchcock is a Principle in Pembroke Financial Partners, an NASD Broker/Dealer, and president of Avalon Financial, Inc. a private investment company. He has been in the investment business for over 45 years, having worked for Lazard Bros., London and Lehman Bros., New York. Mr. Hitchcock was a Director of Thoratec, a heart pump company, from May 1996 to May 2007. Over the years, he has served on a number of public company boards, both in the US and Canada, including Plains Resources Inc., of which he was one of the founders. He is currently on the advisory board of two SKH Partnerships and a trustee for a number of philantropic organizations.

Karanja Gakio is one of the most respected Internet specialists in Africa. He has developed, and led teams developing Internet technology, services and applications for over 10 years. As the original founder of Africa Online and its technical director, he was instrumental in establishing Internet infrastructure in six African countries. Most recently, he was director of international engineering for iBasis in Boston, the largest Internet telephony company in the world. In this position, he led engineering and deployment of the network, growing coverage from 2 to over 60 countries and was instrumental in successful project management throughout the organization. Karanja is currently CEO of Cyberplex Africa