January 2025
New Year, new life? I have the pleasure of kicking off the year by introducing our new CEO.
Dear Pharo Foundation Family and Friends,
New Year, new life? You can say that again. I have the pleasure of kicking off this new year by introducing our new CEO, Tom Mason. Tom grew up and was educated in Africa before completing his MBA in Europe, and joins us from Bioline AgroSciences, having built and sold Dudutech over the past decade. His career spans agriculture, water and pharmaceuticals, as a business leader and as a non-executive director for private equity and development finance institutions in Africa. I have every confidence he will contribute to our success, and wish him a warm welcome to the Pharo-verse.
We have also appointed a new trustee, Funsho Allu, CEO of Urban Africa Partners, who replaces Mustafa Jama; our thanks to Mustafa for his pivotal contribution. On the logistical front, we have just opened our new Ethiopia office in Addis Ababa, on the 12th floor of the Minaye building on Flamingo Road.
Before setting up for 2025, we closed 2024 with a bang: our new CEO, fellow board member Nicolas Sagna and I took stock of the year through a December visit to our operations in Ethiopia, Somaliland and Kenya. I hope you enjoy this issue, and wish you all a Happy New Year.
Guillaume Fonkenell, Founder, Pharo Foundation
On the road with Pharo Foundation’s trustees
A look back at 2024 through the eyes of two trustees, Nicolas Sagna and founder Guillaume Fonkenell, as they toured Foundation projects in December and introduced new CEO Tom Mason to the country teams.
Watch on YouTube →Fostering excellence in early childhood education
By Joy Kimani. At Pharo School Nairobi, a three-day training led by Pharo School Kigali’s Principal unlocked the potential of learning through play, a cross-border collaboration equipping educators with new strategies.
Read on LinkedIn →A new partnership with Unicaf
We announced a partnership with Unicaf, a leading online higher education provider in Africa, extending educational opportunities to our team members.
Read about the Unicaf partnership →