Board of Directors
The Board of Director’s external profile
Mr. Deva Mariane
Non-Executive Director
Mauritian
BSC
ACIS
Deva Marianen is the founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the SAFYR Group which is a well-established financial services group, headquartered in Mauritius. Deva is also the founder of Safyr Capital Partners, which is an investment banking institution licensed by the FSC in Mauritius and which specializes in asset management, corporate finance, and investment advisory servicing predominantly the African market. Through Safyr Capital, Deva has led more than USD 1 billion of deals in the form of structured debt, equity, trade finance, project finance in sectors such as healthcare, renewable energy, real estate and agriculture. Deva is an economist and a chartered secretary and administrator.
Mr. Vaughan Heberden
Independent Non-Executive Director
South African
BA
LLB
Vaughan holds BA and LLB qualifications and is a shareholder and director of Bellerive Corporate Management Services (Mauritius) Ltd, the Chairman of the Old Mutual US Dollar Money Market Fund, Director of Grindrod Mauritius Ltd and a member of the Listing Committee of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. He was previously the CEO of Cim Group, a listed, diversified financial services group located in Mauritius with offices in Singapore, Australia, the UK and South Africa. The Cim Group included consumer finance, insurance, asset management, stock broking, technology and international administration services with a local and international institutional client base. Prior to relocating to Mauritius, he was Director, Southern & East Africa, of Barclays International & Private Banking, where he grew these operations to become two of the biggest contributors to the Barclays International and Private Banking businesses. He was CEO of Ansbacher South Africa, the Private Banking arm of FirstRand Bank Limited. Vaughan has in excess of 30 years in business, with significant experience at CEO, Director and Chairperson Level.
Mr. Hendrik Petrus Barnhoorn
Independent Non-Executive Director
South African
B.Com (Honours)
CA(SA)
MBA
Henk currently holds the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Creation Group, (www.creation-capital.com) a South African regulated and licensed investment manager. Creation Capital is a Finance House with a pragmatic investment philosophy specializing in Private Credit. He currently resides and work from the Netherlands. Henk previously worked as the Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), since 2008, for Geneva Management Group, which is a regulated and licensed multifaceted global financial services group, which operates in various jurisdictions, and spent the last two years based in the Switzerland office until he resigned in 2020. During his 12 years with the group, Henk served on all the key Boards including the Group Board, the Fund Management and Insurance divisions and took on the responsibilities for Group Compliance and Risk. Henk has many years of senior executive experience across various industries, including an New York Stock Exchange (NSE) listed entity, working in both the USA and the Netherlands. His focus has been on the Financial Industry, including listed (public) and privately-owned companies. He serves on several Boards and Audit Committees. Henk is a qualified Chartered Accountant, started his career with PWC in the Netherlands and South Africa, and is a member of South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). He has a degree in Investment Management (B.Comm Hons) and holds an executive MBA from the Erasmus University, Rotterdam (the Netherlands).
Mrs. Kim Setzkorn
Non-Executive Director
South African
BA
LLB (Honours)
Kim Setzkorn has been with Geneva Management Group, a multifaceted global financial services group, since 2008. In 2022, Geneva Management Group Trust Business was transferred to TrustQore. Kim is based in the Mauritius offices and presently holds the position of Chief Operating Officer at TrustQore (Mauritius) Ltd.
Kim holds LLB and BA degrees, both from the University of South Africa and after successfully completing the attorney admissions requirements was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 2002. She started her career as a professional assistant at a general law practice in South Africa where she gained
experience in diverse areas of the law, including drafting of corporate and commercial contracts and active participation in commercial and corporate arbitration and litigation matters. In 2004, and after deciding to leave legal practice, Kim joined Sentinel International Advisory Services (Pty) Ltd to specialize in trusts and corporate affairs as well as tax and structuring. At the time of leaving Sentinel in 2008, Kim had been appointed as legal counsel and was responsible for the overall management of a portfolio of high net worth clients (both domestic and foreign). Kim is registered with the Law Society of the Northern Provinces on the roll of non-practicing attorneys .
Mr. Hendrik Johannes Dreyer
Non-Executive Director
South African
B. Com (Cum Laude)
B. Com Honours (Cum Laude)
M.Com (Cum Laude)
Hendrik is the CEO and co-founder of Direct Transact (Pty) Ltd, the largest independent provider of fintech services and expertise for banks and brands in South Africa. Hendrik started his career as a lecturer, later moving into banking as a senior executive before becoming the entrepreneur behind the award-winning Direct Transact, SA’s first Banking-Software-as-a-Service provider, 22 years ago.
Hendrik is an internationally respected 30-year veteran in the banking and payment technology space and has been involved in the evolution of digital banking in Southern Africa since 1991.
The business has won numerous industry awards and has earned the trust of banks, retailers, fintech’s and regulators for its service excellence and ethical business practices in line with global best practices and continually updated standards.
Hendrik is also a seasoned philanthropist. His great life passion, the Direct Transact Foundation, runs more than 10 charitable projects concurrently for the protection of vulnerable children and the elderly, and is funded from about 10% of the company’s annual operating profits. Hendrik is deeply passionate about stewardship, and believes we all need to take accountability for that which is entrusted to us - people and nature - with great care, responsibility and compassion.
Mr. Anthony de Gray Birch
Non-Executive Director
South African
B.Compt Honours (CTA)
CA (SA)
Anthony is the Managing Director and co-founder of Direct Transact (Pty) Ltd, the largest independent provider of transaction infrastructure for banks and businesses in Southern Africa. A chartered accountant (CA) by training and SAICA member, Anthony has a very deep understanding of how to grow a lean, financially sustainable, scalable business from the ground up. Anthony started his career in auditing banks before he found a position as a junior accountant at a South African bank. Here Anthony worked across divisions, as well as with the 20twenty online banking venture. It is here that he met his future business partner Hendrik Dreyer with whom he embarked on the ambitious - and at first very daunting - 22+ year entrepreneurial journey into the world of banking and payments.
Today Anthony is a leading authority on Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), interbank processes, banking operations and regulatory compliance.
Built on a proud 22-year history, the company has unrivalled expertise in payments processing. Over the years it has earned the trust of banks, retailers, fintech’s and regulators alike for its service excellence and ethical business practices in line with global best practices and continually updated standards.
Mrs. Arina McDonald
Non-Executive Director
South African
C.A. (S.A.)
B Com
Arina is a professional banker and businesswomen with diverse skills and experience in both South Africa and Internationally. Arina is a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA).
She currently serves on the Boards of Governance of Companies in the Financial Services, Information Technology and Biomedical services industries.
Arina was CFO of Atlas Mara Ltd, a UK listed banking group that was set up to strategically focus on building-up strong local banks across 7 African countries. Before that, Arina was also the CFO for the Standard Bank Group’s African businesses for 5 years, with a 17-country representation across the African continent. Prior to that role, she was a Director in the Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd.’s Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisition, and Debt Advisory Services team, and held leadership roles in both the Group Tax and Finance functions.
Arina has a focus on good corporate governance, regulatory compliance, instilling a corporate social responsibility framework where a real difference can be made by businesses in the markets they operate within. She believes in integrity and humility as non-negotiables for any leader, and is focused on championing a learning spirit within a team environment.