Leah Kibe

Leah is a strategic partnerships and development finance executive with experience across Africa and globally. Her work spans catalytic capital, innovative finance, investment design, and institutional strategy, helping institutions mobilise capital, build partnerships, and scale sustainable impact.

Leah has held senior leadership roles at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and KPMG East Africa, advising governments, development finance institutions, and philanthropic partners on development strategy, capital mobilisation, investment design, governance, and institutional effectiveness. At KPMG East Africa, she led international development and development finance advisory mandates across Africa and beyond, including multi-donor funds, financing strategies, and institutional transformation. At CIFF, she served as Africa Director, Co-Funding & Partnerships, and Country Director, Kenya, leading strategic partnerships, development finance, and pan-African co-investment approaches.

Leah has also helped shape Africa’s philanthropy and development finance ecosystem. She founded the Africa Corporate Philanthropy Leaders Initiative, co-convened AfricaXChange alongside the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and served as Secretariat Lead for the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) Philanthropy Forum (Africa). In addition to her role as Special Advisor to the Africa Capital Hub Advisory Board, she is also a member of BwB's Global Expert Group, contributing her expertise to the development of Africa-focused capital and partnership platforms.

Currently, Leah is Principal, Strategic Partnerships & Catalytic Capital, at Catalyst Impact Collective, where she works selectively with high-impact institutions, philanthropies, faith-based organisations, and founders on strategic partnerships, capital solutions, and institutional strategy. Her experience spans multi-donor investments and development finance portfolios across 24 Sub-Saharan African countries and globally.

An actuary by training, Leah holds an MSc in Development Finance from the University of Manchester and is a certified accountant.