Carole Wainaina

Carole holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. 

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She is passionate about the economic and social development of Africa through enterprise as well as the empowerment of women and youth as agents for change. She is a board member of 3 nonprofit organizations: Discovery Learning Alliance ' Impact(ed), International Executive Service Corp (IESE), and United Success.

Carole is the Senior Advisor to the CEO and former COO of Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform capitalized by African countries, the African Development Bank, two African Central Banks, and other institutional investors. She serves on the boards of Helios Towers PLC (LSE) and the Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company as a non executive director. She is also an angel investor, supporting mainly women entrepreneurs through investments and coaching.

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Carole is a well-respected business executive with global experience in the private and public sectors at senior levels, including strategy formulation, leading multidisciplinary teams, and driving organizational transformation. Before joining Africa50, she served as the Assistant Secretary General for Human Resources at the United Nations, leading transformational initiatives for the Secretary General and member states. Prior to joining the UN, she served on the Executive Committee of Royal Philips in the Netherlands as EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer. Before this, she worked for 13 years at Coca-Cola Company in senior roles, including Chief of Staff for the Global Chairman and CEO, Group HR Director Eurasia & Africa, and President of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation. She started her career as a management consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Carole is a member of Class 24, serving her fellowship at Africa50 under the mentorship of Greg Horowitt (Class 15), Managing Director at Jun Capital Partners.