Renaissance Capital, an emerging and frontier markets investment bank, has appointed Funeka Beja-Maseko as Director, Retail Analyst, and Andrew Nkumbula as Vice President, Investment Banking, in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Beja-Maseko will be covering South African retail stocks and will report to Johann Pretorius, Head of Africa Research.

Nkumbula will be focused on increasing execution and coverage capabilities in South Africa and beyond and will report to Risana Zitha, Head of Africa Investment Banking.

Beja-Maseko has an over 15-year track record in markets.

In her most recent role, she led Africa Research at MUFG Bank, where she provided detailed bottom-up sector insights to unlock investor opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa and developed country ratings based on macro factors.

Her scope of coverage spanned 47 countries across all relevant sectors.

She graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Business Science degree.

In addition to her career in finance, she has been involved in non-profit tutorship and mentorship activities.

Nkumbula brings more than 10 years’ professional experience.

He has joined Renaissance Capital from ABSA’s corporate and investment bank, where he was involved in the origination and execution of M&A and Equity Capital Markets transactions for clients in South Africa and the rest of Africa.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from Harvard University and has passed the FAIS regulatory examinations (RE1).

Johann Pretorius, Head of Africa Research, said: “We are happy to be able to hire top talent in the market. We continue to strengthen our presence on the continent. Funeka brings a wealth of experience to our team. She was Head of Africa Research at MUFG Bank Ltd and covered retail companies at Citigroup prior to that. Our commitment to reinforcing our on-the-ground team is essential for providing relevant research and seamless support to our clients. Renaissance Capital’s research team covers more than 120 stocks in Africa, of which more than a half are from South Africa.”

Risana Zitha, Head of Africa Investment Banking, added: “We continue to strengthen our Africa franchise and team across the board and Andrew is a great addition to the existing team. With a sound academic background, he has a strong track record of implementing ECM and M&A transactions in South Africa and across the continent. At Renaissance Capital we continue to take a long-term view on Africa and enhance our capabilities proactively.”