ARC Ltd Staff

Mr Lesley Ndlovu
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Ndlovu was the former CEO of AXA Africa Specialty Risks, a Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicate and has extensive international experience spanning 14 years across corporate finance, audit, tax advisory, insurance and investment management sectors in several countries including Bermuda, Singapore, France and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Ndlovu is a graduate of the University of Oxford in England and at the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in France. He is a CFA charter holder, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales and a member of the Institute of Directors.

 

Ms Ange Chitate
Chief Operating Officer

Ms Ange Chitate has extensive expertise in operations and portfolio management. She joined the team from Southern Africa Trust, a non-profit entity targeting poverty reduction, where she was Business Development and Sustainability Manager and Head of Operations. Prior, she was at Acutech Business Solutions where she was a senior manager and consultant in establishing Enterprise Project Management Offices. Ms Chitate has over 10 years in corporate services and operations; sales, communications, and relationship management in the finance and telecommunications industries. She also brings project management and financial sector experience, having worked with Standard Bank and Metropolitan Retail groups.

Ms Chitate holds an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand and Rotterdam School of Management. She is a Prince2, P30 and Change Management practitioner. She sits on the board of Ripple Reading, an organization that focuses on child literacy. Born in Zimbabwe, Ms Chitate speaks English and Shona.

Mr Malvern Chirume
Chief Underwriting Officer

Malvern has over 23 years international experience gained in multi-cultural environments. He has deep insurance sector knowledge gained in US, Bermuda, Europe, Middle East, and African markets. His experience spans underwriting, investments, audit, finance, risk management, research & development, pricing, reserving, governance, and strategy. Before joining ARC, he was the Chief Risk Officer at Federated Employers’ Mutual Assurance Company. He previously spent over ten years working in the London market in various roles at major global carriers, such as Chubb and Lloyds. Malvern started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, then joined EY in their London Financial Services practice. Thereafter, he held several roles in the London insurance market, primarily in the property and casualty sector, before relocating to South Africa.

Malvern is a Chartered Accountant and is registered as a Fellow with both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is also a member of the Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA). Malvern holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School.
 

Ms Gloria Womitso 
Senior Technical Underwriting Analyst

Gloria joined ARC Ltd in 2020 after several years with PwC France (PricewaterhouseCoopers), one of the world's biggest audit and advisory firms, where she led various audit assignments and consulting projects for a diverse range of well-known insurers and reinsurers in her role of Senior Actuary Consultant.

Prior to that, she also worked as a Pricing Actuary at Groupama, a major player in the French insurance market and the number one in agricultural and public sector insurance.

Gloria holds a double Master’s degree in Mathematics x Statistics Engineering and Actuarial Science from Aix-Marseille Université and Ecole Central Marseille in France.

Mr Tim Nielander 
Senior Legal Advisor

From 2005 until 2010, Tim served as General Counsel and Managing Director of Corporate Services for the GAVI Alliance, an international development institution that supports immunization projects in over 50 developing countries. He was responsible for managing legal affairs, the insurance portfolio and corporate services in a coordinated effort with international organizations including WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, foundations, NGOs and government development agencies. Tim also coordinated project legal support for the US $4 billion International Finance Facility for Immunization and the US $3 billion Advance Market Commitment for Pneumococcal Vaccines.Prior to his role at GAVI, he practiced with the Seattle law firm, Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, where he provided counsel to a broad range of clients, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Amazon.com and T-Mobile.

Tim has worked on a variety of projects involving multinational stakeholders from the private and public sectors in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. He currently serves as a Board Member and advisor for foundations and development institutions based in Switzerland, Uganda, Thailand and India. He is a qualified solicitor in England/Wales and licensed to practice law in the U.S. He also holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, University in Geneva, Switzerland in International Studies/Law on the topic of Legal Frameworks for Global and Regional Development Public-Private Partnerships.

Ms Anais Symenouh 
Associate Legal Counsel

Anaïs is joining ARC from Rexel, one of the world’s leading professional multichannel distribution networks for the energy world, as a financial legal counsel where she was in charge of the legal aspects of bank financings, capital markets, securities and treasury transactions.
Prior to that, she was at Société Générale in Paris where she was a legal adviser on netting policies, derivatives agreements, and securities lending matters. She also brings experience on negotiation of intercontinental transactions, having worked with Ecobank.

Anaïs is a graduate in LLM Banking & Finance from Queen Mary university of London. She is happy to strengthen the legal team and is delighted to contribute to the fulfilment of the ARC agenda and help overcoming the challenges that are faced.
 

Mr David Maslo
Head of Business Development

David joined in ARC Ltd in 2016.

Former consultant on risk management, business intelligence and digital transformation to public and private sectors, he contributed to building data analytical frameworks in Africa with specific focus on health in the workplace.

He is a Member of the U.K. Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

David holds two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Pretoria in Political Sciences and International Relations and in Economics. He has completed a certification in Applied Data Science with Python from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Forbin Atabong Njoya
Finance Manager
 

Forbin has over 7 years experience across different Finance and Accounting roles mainly in the FMCG and Agriculture value chain within West and Central Africa. Prior to his recruitment he was the Financial Controller for Sustainability Management Service Ghana a subsidiary of Ecom Agro Trade Ltd, a business which main objective is to implement sustainable agricultural practices in the cocoa value chain in Ghana.

Forbin speaks English and French, and he is a Cameroonian by nationality. Forbin holds a Bsc in Management from the University of Buea Cameroon and he is an ACCA Qualified (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) UK.
 

Ms Nicole Muteba
Programme Manager

Nicole joins us from the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group.  She has over twelve years’ experience working in administrative and operational support roles. Specifically, she served for several years as Executive Assistant to the Vice-President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe, LAC and Caribbean regions.  Over the last five years she has been Portfolio Assistant, providing anchor support to the IFC portfolio risk monitoring team for Sub-Saharan Africa on all aspects of portfolio supervision and compliance.In addition to her technical, administrative and organizational skills, Nicole brings a level of maturity, professional discernment and commitment to the developmental mandate that ARC stands by.

Nicole is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from North-West University (NWU) in Potchefstroom, South Africa and is currently studying towards a Master program in Business Administration. She is fluent in French and English.Ms.

Jackline Muthengi 
Pricing and Product Manager 

Jackline Muthengi, FIA is a qualified actuary with extensive experience in product development and pricing, valuations, stakeholder management and capital modelling. In her previous role as the Actuarial Manager at Pula Advisors, she led the team in the product development, structuring, pricing and reinsurance placement for all their parametric insurance products spanning from Africa, Latin America and Asia.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science with Information Technology and a Master’s degree in Actuarial Management from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass Business School), City University of London.

 

Ms Lorraine Njue
Reinsurance Actuary

Lorraine Njue, FIA is a qualified actuary with experience in actuarial management, regulation and reinsurance. Her most recent experience has been as an actuarial manger in KPMG London where she has looked after actuarial validations for a portfolio of insurance and reinsurance companies in the London market.  Prior to this, Lorraine was head of actuarial for Continental Reinsurance, a multinational reinsurance company with offices in various parts of Africa including Kenya and Nigeria.

Lorraine holds a bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science and a Master’s degree in Actuarial Management from Cass Business School London.

In her free time, Lorraine enjoys running and hiking.

Mr Wesley Chitsike
Actuarial Analyst

Wesley joined ARC Ltd in 2019 as an Underwriting Intern. Completed his Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Promoted to Actuarial Analyst at ARC Ltd in 2020. Currently pursing Core Technical Actuarial level studies with the Actuarial Society of South Africa.

Born in Zimbabwe, Mr Chitsike is fluent in English and Shona.

 

 

Rachel Ngo Matip
Financial Analyst And Administrator

Rachel is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in accounting and auditing spanning various industries. She has a strong track record in audit and advisory services with medium and large size organizations.
EDUCATION
Rachel holds a solid educational background, with a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting Sciences from the University of South Africa and she is currently studying towards qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with SAICA. She remains dedicated to staying abreast of industry developments and continually enhancing her knowledge and skills to remain at the forefront of the rapidly evolving financial industry.
EXPERIENCE
Prior to joining ARC, Rachel was Audit Manager at KOPAX a professional services company where she successfully led various projects and client engagements. In the past she also worked for organizations such as Grant Thornton SA, the Core Group, and the Advans Group.

 

Thebe Ramanna
Senior Actuarial Analyst

Thebe is quantitative modelling specialist, who enjoys transforming complex data into comprehensible information.
EDUCATION
She is a data analysis and visualization enthusiast, with skills in a few programming languages. She holds an Honors degree in Computational and Applied Mathematics from the University of the Witwatersrand.
EXPERIENCE
In her professional journey, she has held roles such as Quantitative Analyst II at Wesbank, where she was responsible for producing month-end reporting parameters, guiding modelling data preparation, ensuring regulatory compliance, and fostering stakeholder relationships. Prior to this, as a Model Execution Analyst at ABSA, she performed similar tasks, demonstrating a commitment to excellence and regulatory adherence. She has also contributed significantly as an Actuarial Analyst at Nedbank and a Quantitative Risk Analyst at FEMA, showcasing her multifaceted expertise in risk analysis, reporting, stress testing, and capital surplus distribution.

 

Shannon Bernhardt
Grant Manager

EDUCATION
Shannon has a Master of Arts in Organisational and Institutional Studies from the University of Witwatersrand and a Bachelor of Social Science Honours in Political Communication from the University of Cape Town.  He is also PRINCE2 accredited.
EXPERIENCE
Shannon Bernhardt has extensive experience in programme management and ESG consulting. He is the former Programme Director at Concentric Alliance, a conflict management and development practice working mainly in the mining industry. Prior to this, he was Programme Manager at Democracy Works Foundation, responsible for the implementation of the USAID-funded Southern African Political Parties and Dialogue Programme, which aimed to strengthen governance and build the capacity of political parties to formulate evidence-based policymaking in the water and energy sectors.  He has a strong background in stakeholder engagement and programme evaluation. He has a deep interest in sustainability and environmental and social governance in Africa.

 

Sandile Mahagane
Actuarial Analyst

Sandile is committed to establishing enhanced, and innovative solutions to new and existing problems within the actuarial and non-actuarial world.
EDUCATION
Sandile Mahagane holds a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics from the University of Pretoria and further pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Economics from the University of Cape Town.
EXPERIENCE
Sandile has two years of experience in the retirement and investment field and more than six years in the healthcare sector. In his experience within the actuarial field, he has enjoyed the diversity of the work involved, with one of his notable abilities being his willingness to be a life-long learner.

 

Sandra Mills
Executive Assistant

Sandra Mills has extensive experience in administration and C-level assistance, with her most recent role being the Executive Assistant to the Ambassador at the Embassy of Ireland in Zambia for nearly four years. Her portfolio at the Embassy also included providing support to the Irish Aid programme team, and outreach coordination through public diplomacy. Prior to this, Sandra has held various positions in the private and NGO sector, where she has been able to showcase her passion for creativity, relationship-building, and project management.
Sandra holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in French with International Development from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, UK as well as other qualifications attained in Zambia and France. She is committed to, and enthusiastic about the mandate of ARC Ltd.

 

Oumarou Hebie
Impact Evaluator

HEBIE Oumarou holds a Master's degree in Public Economics and Applied Statistics (with a major in causal inference methods) from the African School of Economics in Abomey-Calavi, Benin, and a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the Université Joseph KI-ZERBO in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. His professional career began in October 2006, teaching mathematics in high school before moving into Development and Humanitarian Aid in 2011. Since then, he has held various Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research roles on projects and programmes related to several topics, including but not limited to Education, Migration, Children's rights, Health, and Nutrition. He has six years of field experience in his own country and seven years of experience in international Non-Governmental and Multilateral Organizations, including SOS Children's Villages International, the International Organization for Migration, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. He wrote several published and unpublished materials. His latest impact evaluation report, published in June 2023 by IOM, looks at the impact of peer-to-peer awareness-raising campaigns on some irregular migration indicators. He also co-authored a paper on the effectiveness of WhatsApp in follow-up phone surveys. Oumarou is a Burkina Faso citizen currently based in Dakar, Senegal. He is fluent in English and French.

 

Avinash Ramessur
Senior Programme Manager REPAIR

Avinash is a Mauritian/French national living in Mauritius. He is married and has two kids.

A former expert consultant for the UNDP, UNRCO, CADRI consortium and the Mauritian Central Bank, Avinash is experienced in formulating and integrating strategies and has led/advised on various projects for the integration of early warning systems, capacity building and the establishment of strategic partnerships. He has extensive experience working in Africa and the Indian Ocean region.
He has 24 years of experience in managing and coordinating projects/programme related to green finance, natural disaster risk management and reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation, renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies. He has been the programme coordinator of the SUNREF program, financed by the French Development Agency (AFD).

 

Eleanor Kigen
Business Development (ESA)

Eleanor is passionate about leadership, mentorship and continuous personal development. Her favourite quote is, “Everything is figureoutable” by Marie Forleo. She loves going to the gym and works out at 5 am, 5 days a week. She has recently discovered a love for African novels.

Eleanor is an Investment Professional and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with experience in the Investment industry in investment management, risk management, research, financial modelling, and corporate finance. She has worked as Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer, a Head of Research, a Senior Credit Analyst and a Research Analyst. At IMFact Working Capital Solutions, a company which provided working capital financing to the underserved SME sector in Kenya, she led a capacity-building initiative for SMEs funded by FSDAi. Before that, she worked at GCR Ratings as a Senior Analyst for East Africa, managing 23 credits across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. As a consultant, she developed valuation and financial models, which enabled access to funding for Agribusinesses in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Kenya. Eleanor served as the inaugural president of CFA Society East Africa. She is a member of the Derivatives Exchange Oversight Committee of the Nairobi Securities Exchange.