Isobel Afful-Mensah

Speaker Bio

Isobel Afful-Mensah is a dual qualified transactions and corporate advisory lawyer with a background in investment banking, venture building and women's empowerment. Her professional experience spans finance, transportation (aviation, corporate jets, shipping), emerging technology, sustainable development and corporate governance.

She is a multilingual professional (French, German, Spanish & English) with over 20 years business experience across jurisdictions in Europe, Asia and Africa. She was worked for various institutions including Bank of America Merrill Lynch (UK/US), CMS Cameron McKenna Law (UK/Belgium), the Whitaker Group (Ghana/US), Yaro Capital (Ghana), AB & David Law (Ghana), and Certa Foundation (Rwanda).

As a corporate advisor, Isobel provides guidance to early-stage ventures as well as comprehensive support to senior management teams to develop and document robust frameworks that address the unique challenges of Environment, Social and Governance principles in the Sub-Saharan region. In particular, she provides leadership on corporate governance and board capacity, developing metrics to track the responsible stewardship of business, gender equity, and impact objectives, in line with global sustainability goals.

She is a thought-leader in emerging areas of law including artificial intelligence, data protection and startup empowerment, convening pan-African stakeholder meetings with strategic partners including Microsoft, the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Rwanda), Smart Africa and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. She has contributed to a number of publications, notably the State of AI Regulation in Africa Report (2024), the International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI (January 2025) and Shaping the Future of AI in Africa: Policy Brief and Recommendations (February 2025).

Isobel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from University College London, UK (with German law experience from University of Cologne, Germany), a Masters in Intercultural Communication from Birkbeck University, UK and Legal Practice Certificates from College of Law (UK) and Ghana Law School - Makola (Ghana).