Hamdiya is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Savannah Impact Advisory. She has over  23 years of experience in Finance and Investment with over 16 years’ experience in fund of  funds investing. She was the General Manager of Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF), a  Ghanaian based fund of funds vehicle established to support emerging managers investing across West Africa.

Hamdiya has significant experience in Venture Capital/Private Equity (VC/PE) Fund  Structuring, fund investing, fund management and understands the entrepreneurial  ecosystem development issues firsthand. She has championed and supported PE/VC  ecosystem development through education and influencing policy and regulatory  outcomes of the industry in Ghana and Africa.

She is an Angel Investor and was instrumental in the design of the Ghana Angel Investor  Network (GAIN). She is also a Director of the Ghana Angel Fund and a Founder of the Lady  Angel Network, an angel network investing in women owned/led businesses. She is also an  impact investor and has led several initiatives on impact investing including serving as the  chair of the taskforce that established Impact Investing Ghana; the Ghana National  Advisory Board affiliated with the Global Steering Group (GSG) for Impact Investing and  also served as a Trustee of the GSG from 2020 – 2022.

Ms. Ismaila sits on several Boards and Councils including the Ghana Alternative Exchange  (GAX), a second tier listing platform for SMEs under the Ghana Stock Exchange and also  serves on the Investment Committee of the USD$200 million Mastercard Africa Growth  Fund.

She is a regular speaker on various Private Equity/ Venture Capital Conferences including  Super Return Africa, Africa Private Equity and Venture Capital Association Annual  Conferences, Global Impact Summits, Ghana Private Equity and Venture Capital Annual  Conferences among others.

Hamdiya holds an Executive Certificate in Private Equity and Venture Capital from Harvard  Business School, a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University in the City of  New York, BBA (Honors) from Monroe College and an LLB degree from the GIMPA Law  School. She is a Finance Leaders Fellow with the Aspen Institute and a member of the  Aspen Global Leadership Network.