Born white in apartheid South Africa but raised & bred as a Zulu man learning the skills of survival in Africa, GG Alcock was raised in a mud hut in one of the most poverty stricken and violent parts of Kwazulu Natal, Msinga. GG’s activist parents Neil and Creina Alcock raised their two sons in a hut with no running water, electricity or modern conveniences, instead growing up like young Zulu’ boys herding and hunting. Zulu reared and bred, the boys learnt the essence of how to survive in a harsh world – valuable skills that have undoubtedly contributed to GG’s success as an entrepreneur.

GG has been at times a shebeen owner, political activist, community worker and African adventurer. Fluent in Zulu and conversant in most South African ethnic languages GG is the founder of Minanawe Marketing a leading activations business in SA.

In 2005, David joined Transaction Capital’s founding shareholders to acquire African Bank’s Commercial Vehicle Finance division (now SA Taxi). Shortly thereafter Transaction Capital was formed, where David established and led the capital markets team for five years and then served as the CFO of SA Taxi for 18 months. He was appointed to Transaction Capital’s main board as group chief risk officer in April 2012 and thereafter served as the group chief financial officer (CFO). In January 2014, David was appointed as the group CEO of Transaction Capital Limited. David is a chartered accountant, having served his articles at Grant Thornton, Johannesburg. He has been active in debt capital markets since 1997, holding employment at a specialist structured finance organisation and a large local bank.

Herman Warren is The Economist Corporate Network’s Network Director for Africa. Herman works with corporate clients to provide insight and analysis on a range of topics related to the broad and specific African context, helping clients to prosper in one of the world's fastest growing and most dynamic economic zones. He regularly chairs and moderates events and delivers custom briefings to senior executives. Herman is the author of a number of white papers on infrastructure, financial and commercial developments in the region. Herman has previously worked as a management consultant with Bain & Company, started and run a successful mobile technology company and has held senior posts in both public- and private-sector corporations. Herman holds a BBA degree in Finance from Howard University.