Mookho Mathaba

Principal, Climate and Nature Finance - Development Bank of Southern Africa

Ms. Mathaba leads the design, structuring, and implementation of innovative financial instruments aimed to de-risk investments and unlock investment opportunities for climate and nature based programmes across Africa. Her role includes mobilising private sector capital and public climate funds to establish scalable blended finance mechanisms that catalyse sustainable infrastructure and nature-positive investments. With over 15 years of experience in business development and investment banking, she has successfully guided several projects to financial close. Her academic credentials include an MBA with specialism in Finance from Edinburgh Business School (United Kingdom), an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, and a Master’s degree in Finance and Investment, both from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). Ms. Mathaba has contributed her expertise to other funding institutions, including the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Edge Growth venture capital firm, the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and The Innovation Hub. As a committed volunteer mentor, she supports emerging entrepreneurs and future science and engineering leaders in bringing innovative ideas to market through various programs, such as the Nkathuto Edu-propeller Programme by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP) initiated by UNIDO, GEF, and TIA, and the Gauteng Accellerator Programme (GAP).